Economic email

[Roos]

I dunno much about the whole economic thing, but this was an interesting email:

The Birk Economic Recovery Plan
An outstanding plan!
__________________________________________________ _______


I'm against the $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG.
Instead, I'm in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America
in a We Deserve It Dividend.

To make the math simple, let's assume there are 200,000,000
bonafide U.S. Citizens 18+.

Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman
and child. So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up..

So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billon that equals $425,000.00.

My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a
We Deserve It Dividend.

Of course, it would NOT be tax free.
So let's assume a tax rate of 30%.
Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes.
That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam.
But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket.
A husband and wife has $595,000.00.

What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your family?
Pay off your mortgage - housing crisis solved.
Repay college loans - what a great boost to new grads.
Put away money for college - it'll be there.
Save in a bank - create money to loan to entrepreneurs.
Buy a new car - create jobs.
Invest in the market - capital drives growth.
Pay for your parent's medical insurance - health care improves
Enable Deadbeat Dads to come clean - or else

Remember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+ including the folks
who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company
that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces.

If we're going to re-distribute wealth let's really do it...instead of
trickling out a puny $1000.00 ('vote buy') economic incentive that
is being proposed by one of our candidates for President.
If we're going to do an $85 billion bailout,
let's bail out every adult U S Citizen 18+!

As for AIG - liquidate it. Sell off its parts.
Let American General go back to being American General.
Sell off the real estate.
Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up.

Here's my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn't.
Sure it's a crazy idea that can 'never work.'
But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party!

How do you spell Economic Boom?
I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 Billion

We Deserve It Dividend more than I do the geniuses at AIG or in Washington DC .

And remember, The Birk plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because
$25.5 Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam.

Ahhh...I feel so much better getting that off my chest.

Kindest personal regards,

Birk

T. J. Birkenmeier, A Creative Guy & Citizen

PS: Feel free to pass this along to your pals as it's either good for a
laugh or a tear or a very sobering thought on how to best use $85 Billion!!

[BradH]

that'd buy lots of hookers and blow


Also, you can't give poor people large sums of cash. It would have to be on some sort of payment system.

[BradH]

And the AIG 'bailout" has already happened and the government took an 80% (?) stake in the company. (Correct?) High interest loan. Etc etc. That's from what I read or heard on random shows. Its supposedly a good deal. Now, the $700B plan is not.

[zymote]

Dunno - though I haven't had a chance to read over the details, I think this $700B bailout could be a really brilliant move and make a ton of cash for the government.

The actual number of loans that go bad is really small. It's just that it's impossible to value these mortgage backed securities when you don't have any idea which ones are going to go bad - the problem is more in risk assessment and investor confidence than actual bad paper. Nobody wants to buy a security that could turn out to be shitty, so the system grinds to a halt.

I saw the chief economist for the National Association of Realtors speak not too long ago, and IIRC, subprime loans account for around 12% of the loans we've got out right now. Somewhere around 15% or so of that 12% will end up defaulting. I suck at math, but 15% of 12% is a really small number.

Now say the government buys up all this risky debt. They've got two things in their favor that the financial industry does not - they've got all the time in the world, and they can change the rules. If the government owns your paper, they can change the terms however they like, including getting folks out of those shitty option ARMs and into a reasonable 30 year fixed, thereby keeping a lot of these loans from defaulting, and still profitable.

If the gov can take this paper at pennies on the dollar and get them stabilized, it could have the potential for enormous profit - probably in the trillions. Remember, Paulson was an investment banker with Goldman Sachs before he became Treasury Secretary. From that standpoint, this could be an absolute coup for him, fixing the economy and making Uncle Scrooge cash all in one fell swoop.

[BradH]

Originally Posted by zymote

Dunno - though I haven't had a chance to read over the details, I think this $700B bailout could be a really brilliant move and make a ton of cash for the government.

If the gov can take this paper at pennies on the dollar and get them stabilized, it could have the potential for enormous profit - probably in the trillions. Remember, Paulson was an investment banker with Goldman Sachs before he became Treasury Secretary. From that standpoint, this could be an absolute coup for him, fixing the economy and making Uncle Scrooge cash all in one fell swoop.

Maybe you should read some about it, or listen to Ron Paul speak about it. Cliche` I know, but I think he explains the situation nicely. It is NOT a brilliant move and so far the language and restrictions in the bill make it un-passable. Paulson's dumbass wants the $700B to be non-reviewable by any agency or rule of law or some crazy ass jargon... essentially meaning he wants the $700B to do with as he sees fit with no oversight. SOUNDS BRILLIANT TO ME! Him and Bernake are both goons. Paulson even did a recent interview, I think in March, where he said US financial and banking institutions were sturdy and sound. lol. Paulson/Bernake even testified they don't even expect to get all or even SOME of the money ($700B) returned to the government after the bailout. This is just free corporate welfare money!

Ron Paul on Fox Business News

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GEORGE W. BUSH REPUBLICANS TYPICAL FEARMONGERING DAILY SHOW

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[tricky]

Originally Posted by zymote

If the gov can take this paper at pennies on the dollar and get them stabilized, it could have the potential for enormous profit - probably in the trillions. Remember, Paulson was an investment banker with Goldman Sachs before he became Treasury Secretary. From that standpoint, this could be an absolute coup for him, fixing the economy and making Uncle Scrooge cash all in one fell swoop.

Except that he had no thoughts of that when he sent the initial 2.5 page request. Congress had to fight for an equity stake, he didn't want it initially.

[Croix]

that math doesnt add up.

425,000 x 200,000,000 = 85,000,000,000,000

thats 85 trillion