Government Accountability? Really?

I love my country. I have always loved my country and have never joined any radical group seeking to tear it down. I would never burn a flag or fail to stand for the National Anthem. I am proud of most of our history as a standard of freedom. Nobody is perfect, as we are fond of saying when we slip in some fashion, but our country and its leaders don't even come close to perfection.

Our constitutional framers noted that we should "form a more perfect union..." They meant that we should strive toward perfection knowing that we might only achieve a "more perfect", not completely perfect union. But I think we are slipping

We are now trying to spend our way out of a recession and that concept might work, except for the enormous waste of precious dollars. Government contracts seem fraught with fraud and lack of accountability, particularly in the war zones. Billions cannot be accounted for, and we are daily amazed at who is on the "payroll."

Bank bailout funding failed to attach a condition that would have made the banks turn the money around to make safe loans. There were no conditions, or weak ones at best, to limit executive pay when these firms still owe the U.S. Treasury billions of dollars. Instead, some of the companies continue their risky business as if that is their undeniable right.

The SEC still doesn't get it, even after the Madoff debacle, that there needs to be some oversight and regulation to protect the lowly investors from disaster. Saying that they were "asleep at the switch" (and still are) is laughable. They weren't asleep; they were wide-awake aiding and abetting this horrible fraud on people by their inaction and tacit approval.

Our government can't seem to handle even the most crucial things. It seems that no one is capable of steering this incredibly large ship, and instead think only locally and not globally. The distribution of the H1N1 vaccine is the latest example. Setting the shortage aside (or blame it on the manufacturers), the distribution system is so flawed as to possibly cause unnecessary deaths. Americans should not have to stand in long lines, waiting hours to get a shot, or worse, to be told they have run out. Europe seems to be able to do this in an orderly fashion, but we are rank amateurs.

The U.S. life expectancy is less than many other nations, and our mortality rate for newborns is climbing. We tout ourselves as a leader in the world, but we see our influence has ebbed in many areas, and now the "almighty dollar" is falling from grace as the world monetary standard.

Congress has the lowest approval rating in years, yet they continue to dither on important matters, making the issues so partisan that nothing can be accomplished. Health care, as important as it is, will not arise as a bold new plan, but instead we will settle for a series of compromises that please almost no one. The are few, is any, real statesmen anymore - those legislators who were willing to do the right thing without regard to their own re-election or campaign donations.

If you have been to western Europe you would note the condition of their transportation system - highways, rails, trains, subways - are all far superior to our dirty, graffiti covered, rail systems. Our infrastructure is deteriorating more rapidly than we can repair it. Roads and bridges are failing, the electrical grid is one attack away from chaos, and our schools are falling apart, both literally and figuratively. Our students skills are far less than they were, and far, far less when compared to many other industrialized nations. Where we were once the leader, we now seem willing to follow with a "good enough" attitude.

"The Rise and Fall of the American Empire" is a book waiting for the last chapters to be written, but it is closer than we think. America needs to act now to right these most egregious problems, stop the terrible waste of precious dollars, and hold others accountable to the highest standards.

It can be done, but it has to start soon or we will slip into mediocrity and become a second-class nation, fallen from its once magnificent glory.

Stimulus Money - Who's Accountable?

President Obama has directly warned governors and mayors that he will be looking over their shoulders as they begin to spend whatever stimulus funds come their way. He has emphasized that all spending will be "transparent" and open for public scrutiny. Woe be to those who spend this taxpayer money unwisely.

Yet this rule only seems to apply to the "good guys" -- the heavily strapped state and local governments. Did it apply to the banks who got the first stimulus money? Did they have to do what they said they would do, which was to loosen credit and allow citizens access to needed loans? Did they have to show that no money was going to be paid for "executive bonuses" which seems oxymoronic (or just moronic) that companies would give bonuses to execs who drove the companies into the ground in their greed for more, more, more.

It certainly makes sense that warnings go out to those who are getting stimulus money or other loans from the U.S. Government. It makes sense that every cent should be looked at "line by line". But what is good for one entity with its hand out, should be good for all.

It is beyond astounding that bonuses keep being paid out in these failed companies. They argue that they are not using the bailout money. Now how does that even make sense? The money in their coffers, whether it came from profits or handouts, should not be paid out as bonuses to anyone if they had to ask for a bailout loan or stimulus money.

The next thing we are going to hear is that AIG, that boondoggle that "could not be allowed to fail", will thumb its nose at the President and others, and begin to pay out more and more bonuses for excellence in failure. Just watch.

Just Who Are These "Taxpayers"?

We hear much lately about the "taxpayer funded" bailouts for GM and Chrysler, Citibank and Wells Fargo, and myriad other financial institutions. The TARP funds, the Recovery Act -- all are funded by these mysterious taxpayers. That is one heck of a lot of money. Trillions, in fact.

I have thumped my chest and pounded my fist with the best of us "taxpayers" in the past few months so very irritated that my hard-earned money was being sent to liars, cheats, and thieves, plus a few good companies as well. I wasn't sure just how much of this huge bill was mine, but today I heard that maybe I wasn't the hero I thought I was. Giving my hard earned bucks turns out to be a pittance compared to the burden paid by those in the upper incomes.

I found out that the top 1% (that's one percent) of taxpayers pay about 40% of the income taxes. The upper 5% of taxpayers cover about 60% of all federal income taxes, and when you get to the upper 10% of those "taxpayers", they pay about 70% of the total income tax (Fortune, April 2008).

In fact, I found out that the bottom 40% of Americans who file tax returns have a negative income tax. With deductions, earned income credit and the like, some actually get back more than they pay in. Can you believe that?

I am not in the top 1, 5 , or even 10%. I am not in the bottom 40 % either, but my contribution to the treasury is certainly puny compared to those in the upper brackets. So while I still might pound my fist at the money pit we seem to have created in the U.S. government, I understand that there are many others who could pound harder and yell louder. No wonder they get irritated when politicians say the rich "aren't paying their fair share". What the hell does that mean?

The Greater Good - Is It Great and Is It Good?

The stimulus package and the second half of the TARP has generated no end of discussion of their pros and cons. Of interest to me and others who have managed to cut corners and still pay their mortgage payments despite eroding values, is the idea of rewarding risky and opportunistic behaviors.

The question often is, "Where is my share of the bailout when my property values have decreased, even though I am still making my payments as agreed?" If the bailout et al is going to help those who borrowed far more than they could afford, took "interest only" loans, or signed up for a ridiculously low payment on an ARM (adjustable rate mortgage), then where is the relief for responsible people?. It is clear that some people got greedy, or "bet on the come", or just didn't even think to look a few years into the future when the piper would have to be paid. So today, some of those irresponsible people want the government (read U.S. Taxpayers) to rescue them.

The same could be said of the bank bailout, some of which will surely go to banks that lent money recklessly to less-than-credit-worthy customers on less-than-reliable mortgages. Greed is the word. And foolishness, and of course, just plain stupidity.

So should those of us who have lost a large share of our retirement nest eggs, a good chunk of home values, and who knows what else, now have to bear the additional burden of "saving" those who did not plan, did not think, and maybe did not even care?

The problem, some economists and others will tell you, is that if we don't save the foolish home buyers, the greedy banks, and reckless investors, the economy will get worse and therefore harm us all even more. What a Hobson's choice that is!

For the record, I am in favor of helping those who, through no fault of their own, had their jobs evaporate, or their families suffer illnesses or death of the breadwinner. We must help those people as we always have. It just grinds on many of us to subsidize the excessive risk-takers, the grifters, and the opportunists who now want to amble up to the public trough and beg for "more please".

Yet, I know that we need to hope for a rising tide soon, that will lift all ships, and if this shot in the arm of government money will do the job, then I guess we have to hope for the best. I don't want to see foreclosures erode home values even more or for banks to tighten lending so that even I can't get a car loan without proving I don't need it. I worked hard to build my credit and now guard it as a "sacred trust". I just wish others would do the same, or if they choose not to, to only take themselves down, and not the rest of us with them. I guess that is my American Dream.