The money is coming from…well, us …a blog response.

In my classmates blog “Where is the money coming from” ryt discusses the major issues she, like many other Americans, have with this excessive “bailout” scenario. No, neither the agriculture nor the tech industry received a bailout when they were suffering all those years ago. Of course neither one of those industries had a crony of their own in the presidential cabinet. Henry Paulson didn’t really have the best interest of this country in mind when he suggested a *gasp* $700 billion bailout for the financial industry. He was thinking of the poor, poor CEO’s of these mutli-million dollar companies who would not be receiving their ludicrous bonuses each year. The auto industry simply followed along on their coat tails. It’s almost like watching children begging for help from their parents, “You gave him that much what about me?” And what about the auto industry? They’re requests are meager in comparison to what Paulson’s buddies were asking for. I mean come on what’s $36 billion in comparison to $700 billion, why it’s chump change. But, of course asking for my and your tax dollars does not mean they have to give up life’s little luxuries like private jets. I mean everyone has one of those, right? How embarrassing that these men had to have this ridiculous blunder pointed out to them by Congress while they sat there with a stone face and asked for money.
I think that the when the financial bailout was agreed on it set a horrible precedent for industries of this country. Because, not only did the financial industry want a hand out they wanted it without any strings attached, meaning no government involvement. The auto industry should have kept up with the times and begun making fuel efficient cars about the same time the overseas auto makers were. But, of course the big money wasn’t in fuel efficient cars it was in huge 4x4 trucks and Hummers. Well, sometimes bad financial decisions lead to bad results, and sometimes that’s just a hard pill one needs to swallow.
I agree that President-elect Obama has his work quite cut out for him. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a little concerned of the challenges he faces ahead of him. But, I’m also hopeful that with new blood come new ideas and a new start to changing the way this old game is played.

Delusions of Grandeur

In a recent interview with his sister, Dora Bush Koch, President George W. Bush stated that he would like to be remembered as the president “who liberated 50 million people and helped achieve peace” in Iraq. I am unsure how to even get passed this initial statement to comment on the rest of the interview. Invading a country under false pretenses, at the cost of thousands of American soldier and Iraqi civilian lives and doing so under the protest of the UN does not a grand legacy make. He claims that he came into office “with a set of values…and leaving with the same set of values”.
Bush has stated that his ‘No Child Left Behind’ program was also one of his greatest achievements. He was quoted as saying “The promise of No Child Left Behind has been fulfilled," it sounds like he was given misinformation on this front too. A program that started out with good intentions but ended being widely criticized by the very people it set out to help and managed to close down schools in the most needed parts of the country.
I have to believe that every dark cloud has a silver lining and the Bush administrations came in the form of Laura Bush. A person who did truly hold stead fast to the beliefs she came with and used her position for the greater good. The work she did with the women of Afghanistan and with the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa, are the sort of acts one would expect to be linked back to the most powerful country in world.
Now, while I am hopeful for the new administration, I also fear the atrocity that the old one has left behind. The exit of the Bush administration will be bitter/sweet. It’s sort of like that old car you never get rid of. It always breaks down, leaks oil and the A/C doesn’t ever work quite right, but at least you already know that you’re going to be disappointed when you jump in behind the wheel.
Fair well President Bush we, as a country, took the plunge and traded in for a more eco-friendly model.