New Stimulus Package...Will it work?

[mitch768292]

Good points Jayman. That first installment of the TARP money I'm afraid to say went mostly down the toilet. Those institutions just hoarded most of it, threw way some of it on corruption and still stiffed the taxpaying consumer in providing credit. That money was extorted from us. They said if you don't bail us out of from the consequences of our own greed, corruption and mismanagemnt we'll take the whole economy down with us. So we caved.

The issue of bonuses is a favorite topic nowadays. The convoluted logic and double talk that they give the public on this just bogles the mind. They use our money to give themselves bonuses that they didn't earn. There is no requirement that bonuses be linked to performance. They drove good companies into the ground and then paid themselves the same as if 2008 had been a banner year. They try to say that they have to reward their best employees so they don't quit and go somewhere else. Bullshit! If these top employees are so spectacular that they are indispensible then why is the company teetering on bankruptcy? They are lousey excuses for employees. They deserve to be fired or laid off, not rewarded. Just like we would be if we tried this at home in our own jobs. Show them the door! With no golden parachutes. Duh! In our jobs we don't get merit raises or bonuses without a performance review.

Let them quit and go somewhere else if they think they are not being compensated fairly. Good riddance... Any company that does hire them deserves whatever it gets. "Yeah I was CEO of a company that went bust. And I will bring all my skills and experience to work even harder for you." Yeah... Good luck with that. Very few top executives are going to quit in this economy anyway and risk being unemployed or at the botom of seniority in another company. The logic of all their petty justifications is so full of holes it's rediculous. They just think that we're stupid enough to buy it and are now seeing the backlash of that miscalculation.

As for unions' role in the current crisis there is plenty of blame to go around there too. The $75 an hour figure you cite is a bit inflated for a low skill worker. That is to say that it's less. At $75 an hour an employee would gross about $144,000 a year. That's not happening. I agree though that even the lower numbers are eye popping. The idea that a high school dropout can be working assmebly line or driving a forklift and making $25-$30 an hour plus generous health insurance, pension, sick time etc. is absurd. It's not a sustainable business model. And they (the Big 3) cannot count on being wards of the federal government, i.e. subsidies/nationalization indefinitely.

Tampa, nobody said their wages are $75 an hour. The wages plus benefits come to $75 per hour. It has been broken out in the Wall Street Journal numerous times.

 

[tampa24]

Tampa, nobody said their wages are $75 an hour. The wages plus benefits come to $75 per hour. It has been broken out in the Wall Street Journal numerous times.

If memory serves, Jayman's prior post was not entirely clear on that point. I was merely stating that their average hourly take-home wage was not $75. I'm sure the value of their other benefits makes the cost per each employee go up considerably.

 

[tampa24]

It Really IS As Bad As We Thought

The economic balance is off all over the world not just in the USA. I think the stimulus package is going to help some. However; it may not be felt for a long time to come. One concern I have is that there are some things in the package that force all spending to remain on the purchase of US products. If foreign markets do the same thing; it will do nothing to balance the world economy. Instead it will do more to erode them all in general. There is a sound investment strategy in the package though. At least they tried to do something all we can do now is see it through.

I really think we should never have bailed out Wall Street. I think we should have fucked over the fat cats that came up with these lame brain schemes to make money by inflating home mortgage values and escalating foreclosures. They make no money in foreclosures. We should have forced them to refinance for a fair mortgage that was affordable.

I also think we should have force the big three auto manufactures into bankruptcy and or forced them to merge into other companies. I think some labor unions may have out lived their usefulness in this country. Yes, people would have gone bankrupt everywhere and nobody but maybe the Broke Straight Boys would have any money. However; newer jobs paying a fair wage would have been created and labor unions would have been forced out.
It kind of sucks knowing that because of a labor union some guy gets paid $75.00 per hour to use a hydraulic wrench to put lug nuts on a car and he doesn't even have a college degree.

However; I also think it is ridiculous that aguy with an MD get paid $100.00 just to see you for all of 10 min. to say take two asprin and call me in the morning if you are not any better. I realize they went to medical School for nearly 12 years and may owe $200,000.00 in debt. But they don't need to pay it all back in one year.

Good points Jayman. That first installment of the TARP money I'm afraid to say went mostly down the toilet. Those institutions just hoarded most of it, threw away some of it on corruption, and they still stiffed the taxpaying consumer in providing credit. That money was extorted from us. They said if you don't bail us out of from the consequences of our own greed, corruption and mismanagemnt we'll take the whole economy down with us. So we caved.

The issue of bonuses is a favorite topic nowadays. The convoluted logic and double talk that they give the public on this just boggles the mind. They use our extorted money to give themselves bonuses that they didn't earn. There is no requirement that bonuses be linked to performance. They drove good companies into the ground and then paid themselves the same as if 2008 had been a banner year. They try to say that they have to reward their best employees so they don't quit and go somewhere else. Bullshit! If these top employees are so spectacular that they are indispensable...then why is the company teetering on bankruptcy? They are lousey excuses for employees. They deserve to be fired, not rewarded. Just like we would be if we tried this at home in our own jobs. Show them the door! With no golden parachutes. Duh! In our jobs we don't get merit raises or bonuses without a very good performance review.

Let them quit and go somewhere else if they think they are not being compensated fairly. Good riddance... Any company that does hire them deserves whatever it gets. "Yeah I was CEO of a company that went bust. And I will bring all my skills and experience to work even harder for you." Yeah... Good luck with that. Very few top executives are going to quit in this economy anyway and risk being unemployed or at the botom of seniority in another company. The logic of all their petty justifications is so full of holes it's ridiculous. They just think that we're stupid enough to buy it and are now seeing the backlash of that miscalculation.

As for unions' role in the current crisis there is plenty of blame to go around there too. The $75 an hour figure you cite is a bit inflated for a low skill worker. That is to say that it's less. At $75 an hour an employee would gross about $144,000 a year. That's not happening. I agree though that even the lower numbers are eye popping. The idea that a high school dropout can be working assmebly line or driving a forklift and making $25-$30 an hour plus generous health insurance, pension, sick time etc. is absurd. It's not a sustainable business model. And they (the Big 3) cannot count on being wards of the federal government, i.e. subsidies/nationalization indefinitely.

I decided to resurrect this thread when I saw this most recent article. Most (if not all) of the public's worst perceptions of the arrogance of those financial wizards who nearly brought down the whole global economy, is in full view here. They do indeed consider themselves gods who are above all the rest of us mere mortal peons whose money lines their pockets.

Here is a very well written and stunning article which came out on 2/18/14.

The link also contains pictures of some of the uber wealthy participants in drag on the night of their exclusive party. If you want to see arrogance, greed, entitlement, some homophobia and partisanship, mega egos with delusions of grandeur, and class snobbery in the extreme...then read on.

The title is: "One-Percent Jokes and Plutocrats in Drag: What I Saw When I Crashed a Wall Street Secret Society"

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/02/i-crashed-a-wall-street-secret-society.html