Thursday

Confusion

I've been hugely critical of Campbell Brown over the past few weeks, and in my opinion justifiably so. However, she is spot on with this commentary about the current "bailout" plans. This part of her article struck me as particularly unsurprising; although, I can see how some of my more naive countrymen and women may be a bit perplexed.

I got an e-mail from someone down in Louisiana on Wednesday who was pretty fired up about a story he read in his local paper about a local bank.

IBERIABANK is apparently requesting $90 million in federal bailout money -- and getting it.

$90 million.

But here's what might surprise you: IBERIABANK is not in trouble.

Bank officials say they are having no financial stress. In fact, just the opposite.

The bank managed to avoid the whole mortgage mess, and, today, is in great financial shape.

So what they are doing is using the $90 million in bailout money to grow their business. They are buying up other smaller banks.


Of course the bank's officials have a perfectly nonsensical explanation as to why this is good for taxpayers: If the big banks buy the little banks, which are in trouble because of shitty mortgage practices, then the little banks get to stay in business, et voila - the taxpayers benefit.?

I don't get it either. It's not as if the small banks troubles will disappear as soon as they are absorbed by their larger counterparts. Tax payers do not benefit when a bank does well - unless the tax payers happen to own stock in that particular bank.

So far, the Treasury Department headed by Hank Paulson has not given any indication in the least as to what the plan is for the $700 billion bailout package. And if I'm to understand this whole thing correctly, I must accept the fact that because the government says this type of corporate socialism (and one would have a hard fucking time convincing me that this isn't socialism at its ugliest) is good, then it is beneficial for everyone on the sole grounds that the government says so.

This is ironic - the same people who cry about President-elect Obama being too far left and socialistic are more than likely the same dolts who actually believe that they will somehow come out of this crisis on the other end better of than they are now. Why? Because the government says so. They support this $700 billion bailout yet shit in their cereal when someone suggests using $37 billion in federal tax income to support a program like SCHIPS, which I might add would probably ensure that their children have proper health care.

If it wasn't so fucked up and tragic, it'd be hilarious.

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