Due to schedule changes that took place with the New Year I have been unable to find time to write, but now that things are falling into place I can finally announce I am back.
In my last report I talked about my optimism, and shortly after I actually thought it was well placed. During one of our President’s speeches I heard him say we were at war with Alkida, which is quite a change from last year when it was merely an oversees contingency operation. I heard him call the “attempted bombing on Christmas day an attack rather than an incident, and we can’t forget how he said the government can’t spend tax dollars like it were monopoly money. With those changes my optimism was short lived. It took no time at all for this administration to shatter my quest for a responsible government and display more of the same rhetoric I have seen again and again. I am sure we all remember TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) it was the huge bail out of banks and other financial institutions. Billions and billions were funneled into banks to save them from their own irresponsible business practices. It saved some of them from going under and allowed the government to enter the private financial market and start making demands. Some of the banks didn’t like the government telling them how much to pay their executives and how many loans they should dole out so they gave the money back and returned to their private market system as it should have been. Later the government began to test the banks to see if they could withstand another major downturn in the economy and found that many could not, as a result, our government has decided the best course of action is to add a tax to the banks to get the TARP money back. How does anyone come to the conclusion that a bank needs money or else and then manifest a tax to take the money away from them? I am beginning to understand what politicians are talking about when they say they want to return to common sense solutions because what they are doing now makes no sense at all.
With that being said, I think I should make myself clear. I don’t think TARP should have ever existed. If a business much less a bank can’t make it on their own then their last purchase should be a sign saying simply, going out of business. The Federal Government has no place in the private sector. They should not own our car companies or our banks. The constitution speaks clearly of the roll of our government and it is all about liberty and freedom for the people.
I find that there is nothing wrong with having optimism, but it is important to recognize that optimism is like having hope. In the end it will bring you nothing without actually doing something to achieve your goals. This year I encourage everyone, not to abandon hope, but in addition to having hope, get out there and do the things necessary to make your goals a reality. Hope you can feel, but progress you can see.