We have created a handout and bailout society where every constituency earns a welfare payment. Here is a partial list from Obama world:
● Bear Stearns 2008 – As the financial giant neared collapse, JP Morgan Chase and the federal government bailed out Bear Stearns. JP Morgan bought it for $236 million and the Federal Reserve ensured the sale with a $30 billion credit line. Taxpayer cost – $30 billion
● Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac 2008 – On Sep. 7, 2008, Fannie and Freddie were placed under the conservatorship of the Federal Housing Finance Agency; i.e. under the terms of the rescue, they were effectively nationalized. , The Treasury has invested billions to cover the companies’ losses. Initially, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson set an investment ceiling of $100 billion each. In February, Tim Geithner raised that tab to $200 billion. While the money was authorized by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, by Executive Order we have unlimited taxpayer liability. Taxpayer cost so far – $400 billion
● American International Group (A.I.G.) 2008 - On four separate occasions, the government offered aid to AIG to keep it from collapsing, beginning with an $85 billion credit line from the Federal Reserve to a combined $180 billion between the Treasury ($70 billion) and Fed ($110 billion). $40 billion of this Treasury commitment is also included in the TARP total. Taxpayer cost – $180 billion
● Auto Industry 2008 – In late September 2008, Congress approved a more than $630 billion spending bill, which included a measure for $25 billion in auto industry loans. These low-interest loans are primarily intended to aid the Detroit Big Three (GM, Ford, Chrysler) in their push to build more fuel-efficient, environmentally-friendly vehicles. Taxpayer cost – to be determined.
See History of US Gov’t Bailouts
In addition to the bailouts, economic stimulus measures purportedly saved millions of public and private sector jobs. For those workers not “saved” by Obama’s stimulus measures, Congress extended unemployment benefits.
Punishing the Elderly
One significant group has not benefitted from Obama’s ubiquitous fiscal largesse. A consequence of Administration policy is the growing impoverishment of the American elderly. Let’s examine Bernanke’s and Geithner’s handiwork:
- Interest rate Policy – Zero interest rate policies penalize the elderly. After a lifetime of savings the elderly may be lucky to earn one percent on their savings. Of course, they are welcome to gamble in the stock market casino. Unfortunately the last ten years have shown no return on stock market investments and the public has been traumatized by two major bear markets.
- Social Security Cost of Living Adjustments (COLAs) – The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) massaged COLAs to penalize the elderly. John Williams at shadowstats.com has consistently pointed out how the Bureau has tortured the consumer price index to avoid reflecting its actual upward movement. Mr. Williams estimates that the effective annual consumer price index (CPI) has risen 9.76% v. the BLS-reported 2.63%.See Protecting Profits from the Apparent Recovery
- Health Care – Medicare reimbursements to physicians have been cut 21%. This will compromise the quality and availability of medical care.
- Employment – Given the high levels of unemployment and meager job growth, the elderly have limited opportunities to reenter the workforce.
The Non-Barking Dog?
Are the elderly the new silent majority? Where are the militant Gray Panthers of yester year? The strangely quiet AARP and the elderly should be bombarding Congress with emails and letters publicizing their plight.
Are the elderly the dogs that don’t bark? They should be howling right now! And by the way, the elderly do vote. In key states like Florida, Texas, Arizona and California they are powerful constituencies.
With excesses like the above, the elderly and almost elderly should be barking like crazy. And with their votes and voices, these aging children of the sixties know how to bite as well.
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