It's the economy.... (with pictures)

The tax bills for 2009 were the lowest since 1950. That's right. Now I was a big opponent of failure 43's tax cut and spend agenda, but President Obama's policy has been a bit different. First, his tax cuts weren't for the top 1% of American earners, they were for the bottom 95-98%. Secondly, Obama wasn't spending on getting us into an unnecessary war,or a prescription drug bill that actually increased their cost. The spending was to put a floor on a rapidly falling economy. Remember when "the DOW was going to crash" and the "Second Great Depression was coming"? How is that economy doing? Well let's see, the DOW has been hovering around 11,000 for months now. Wholesale inventories and sales, consumer spending as well as the GDP continue to rise. April even saw encouraging employment news. 290,000 jobs (44,000 in Manufacturing!!) were added, though unemployment did rise .2%. 66,000 of the new jobs were temporary Census workers. 47% of those unemployed have been for more than 6 months. If you are on unemployment, I hope you added something to your resume (computer training, etc.) while you were working. I have a feeling the extensions Congress keeps approving are going to end soon. The amount of jobs we are in the hole from the past 2-3 years' loses is staggering, but at least we seem to be adding jobs now instead of steadily losing them.

The economy seems to be stabilizing, with the pendulum actually starting to, ever so slightly, swing up, but what about that expensive "bailout" floor We laid down through the transition from failure 43 to First Year President Barack Obama? Well it turns out that the $700 BILLION dollar cost of TARP was way too high of an estimate. According to Pro Publica, of the $536.3 BILLION given out so far through TARP and to save freddie and fannie, et al, $216.8 BILLION has already been returned, and if the economy continues on its present track, the Treasury estimates that it will cost Us about $117 Billion for TARP and $85 Billion for freddie and fannie. That's a bit better than $700 billion plus freddie and fannie, et al. But wait, there may be more.... Those costs are expected to be offset by the $115 Billion that is expected to be gained from the programs. Recently, The Treasury Department announced plans to sell Our Citigroup stock AT A PROFIT. We bought shares to save the bank at $3.25. Those same shares are now worth $4.60. Maybe we bought shares, not so the government could take over the business, but to make money on after the business is saved and begins to recover.

Now if, in fact, the economy has begun to recover, it is time to hold the people/corporations that almost sunk Us accountable, as well as regulate them for the future. A revived Glass-Steagall Act might be a good start. I don't have the idealist, naive, idea that somehow legislation is going to change the fact that the United States of America is run by the rich. There will not be a maximum wage or profit for ceo's or corporations. I doubt We will break up the "big banks". Whatever financial reform law does pass in Congress and is signed by the President, it better give the Government of the People the power to at least keep a handle on these greed mongers. It looks like at least the Federal reserve will get audited. That's a good sign.

To Progress (One Step at a Time.)
David Calamoneri
Hoboken, NJ USA