We're All in This Together - Probation and the Economic Catalysis

If you're like me, the thought of the federal government spending $780 billion dollars does not make you feel better about the economy. That is our money! There are a lot of Americans, like myself, who didn't over-extend themselves during the recent real estate boom. I didn't buy things on credit, didn't buy a second house, and didn't go on vacations that weren't affordable. In fact, I still am driving the same used car I bought over 10 years ago! Why should I have to pay for the excesses of others? Does it make sense?

Let's take this a step further. Since I'm having to pay for other peoples' mistakes, perhaps the government should incarcerate me because someone committed a crime today. That's right. Since we are now sharing economic problems, let us take it one step further. If another American goes to prison for a crime, perhaps I should spend some time in prison too since "We're all in this together." It seems logical. I'm paying for other people's excesses as a taxpayer, so if someone commits a crime, why don't we just share the sentence? It's a concept that works much better in a coming of age play about high school students (High School Musical) than it does in American life. The truth is that many people screwed up; the federal money is going to bail out some of the main parties that screwed up.

Who are the parties? Banks know better than to over-extend themselves. Those that did were trying to make obscene profits. Mortgage companies that allowed people to buy houses that shouldn't have qualified for them are also at fault. The fact that they could sell their mortgages to a third party and abdicate any responsibility for poor decisions is wrong. When lenders make loans, they must be held responsible. People that issue credit cards shouldn't have given credit to anyone with a pulse. Companies that didn't practice discretion in their lending practices should go out of business.

Should people go to prison for their misdeeds? That's a good question. It may be related to how you feel about the tax code. Although debters prison is no longer in fashion, it is still permissible to put people in jail for failure to pay taxes. Actor Wesley Snipes was recently sentenced to three years of prison for failure to pay $15 or $20 million of owed tax money. For people who don't file their taxes or who actively abuse the IRS, one can receive prison time. Some of the people who are targeted by the IRS end on on probation. Probation. That's where one's life is on hold while the government decides what to do. Isn't that what we currently have? Those of us who have been following the rules, saving for retirement, and watching our investments collapse are now on a type of probation. We're not in prison, but who can deny that our present and future hasn't been compromised?

Yep, the government's policies (Federal Reserve) have put our economy in great jeopardy. Low interest rates and monetary policy that encouraged any breathing person to sell dept to anyone else with a pulse (if not a brain) has left us all in prison. The IRS can put people in prison, but we're already there in a way. We're trapped with a mountain of federal dept that is likely to grow over the next few years. Right now, there is no respite from this recession in the $780 billion package that Congress and the President passed. What it's done is left us all on probation. I suppose that's better than putting us all in jail because then the government would more to pay for.