Bailout My Arse

*(Deep, heavy, disgusted SIGH)* Okay, so let me preface this entry by stating that I am in no way a financial guru. Yes, I am in charge of our household budget, but as certain family members can attest, that has not been exactly a raging success. I will also say that I am guilty of being a credit card abuser. It got so bad I finally cut up all our cards (except 1 with a very low interest rate and low max allowance) that can be used in "emergencies". So, I tell you this so you will know that I can certainly relate to the feeling of drowning in one's own debt and being desperate for a lifeline.

So now our wonderful financial wizards on Wall Street have overspent and "had a big party" and now we must pay. But are they willing to extend the financial goodwill to the regular folks who took out loans they had every intention of paying back but got screwed by ARMs? Fat chance. Now look, I know there are arguments on both sides saying "people who took out more than they could afford shouldn't be "bailed out". Ahem, isn't that what our country has become based on?? Credit??? And why, then, are we bailing out the "predatory lenders" whose greed put us in this situation to begin with? So who profits (literally) once again....? ? The predators. And We the People are supposed to sit back and take it up the you-know-where (see Blog title).

Let me share with you an excerpt from a study guide I am using to prepare for my upcoming teaching skills test....this is a description of the causes of the French Revolution, and to some degree the American Revolution. The point is, the people revolted when they were basically sick of being screwed.

"...the increased criticism (as a result of the Enlightenment period) directed toward government inefficiency and corruption, and toward the privileged classes...the 'First Estate' and 'Second Estates' (nobility and clergy), representing only two percent of the total population...the 'Third Estate' (working class and everybody else), who bore the entire burden of taxation and the imposition of feudal obligations. As economic conditions worsened...and the French state became poorer and totally dependent on the poorest and most (economically) depressed sections of the economy for support at the very time the tax base had become separated.....This in turn produced a government that was irresponsible and inefficient, with a tax system that was unjust and inequitable and without any means of redress because of the absence of any meaningful representative assembly."

Now, I ask you. Does this sound familiar? That old expression "if one does not know their history, they are doomed to repeat it?" And isn't Sarah Palin asking us to "forget our past" just move forward? Ignore the man behind the curtain. Who cares what causes global warming, let's just fix it? (like, I have no idea why my car broke down, just fix it...the causes are moot).

I am so disgusted with so many things right now. It is hard for me to focus on my studies or anything else. We are entering another Great Depression, but for some, the depression will run much deeper. My mom has already shared stories from folks in the news (a 90 year old woman who, faced with foreclosure and eviction shot herself and is now critically wounded..and homeless in the hospital.....a young couple who borrowed more than they could pay back and faced with possible prison sentences chose instead to commit suicide); regular people, good people, well-intentioned people who just got caught beyond their means trying to make things work and they're not here anymore. Just like in the Great Depression when men jumped from their office windows because the despair was too big to handle.

Like the Titanic, we have only touched the tip of the iceberg. We are sinking in despair, and being led by inept government representation (sorry Congress, you blew this one)and , Oh goody! It's now time to elect a new president, who will be saddled with one of the biggest clusterf**k administration messes we have ever known. Poor Obama. I hope he wins, he NEEDS to win.

The day here is gray, and apparently it reflects how I think most of us feel. REVOLUTION PEOPLE!!!!

P.S. OJ was convicted...big whoop....