56 Those Damned Money Changers

For a couple days, buried inside the news stories on the radio, I have been hearing troubling news on the financial front. I am constantly hearing about bailout this and stimulus that, and as a taxpayer, I am a BIT concerned. I think most of you have blown it off. It has been written out of your minds and the only time it is thought about is when you hear another news story about how much some company got or what the cash for clunkers failed to do.

For example, I heard on the Fox radio news broadcast a couple days ago that the majority of the money that companies got for bailouts went to their top 5 percent. FIVE PERCENT!!!!! That is utterly unconscionable. We, as taxpayers, should be forming mobs and marching on Washington, we should have every phone line jammed and the U.S. mail shouldnt have to worry about solvency anymore because we should have the mail jammed with letters to our elected officials. The internet should crash with the amount of enraged e'mails we're sending. What in
God's name happened to us? I have said in the past that apathy will kill us. We constantly allow the people that WE elected to make poor choices and, worse, not follow up on those choices. We screamed "vengeance!" and gave Bush a blank check for 2 unending wars. We came to President Obama with our hats in our hands, patched clothes and worn out shoes, and asked him to fix this financial mess. While the stimulus bill was a good idea, it has been grossly mis-managed. Some company that should have failed(survival of the fittest people--nature's been doing it for millinea) was propped up with a paltry billion or two or five and then it's employees maybe got a few more paychecks and then get laid off. But WHOA!! wait a minute!! There exec's DAMNED sure will get their bonuses, retirement packages and perks. HOW IN THE HELL DID WE ALLOW THIS?????? If we are going to allow those that WE put in office to dole out untold BILLIONS that WE and our succeeding generations will pay for, why have we not made sure that they have a system of checks and balances to make sure the money went to shore up delinquencies and employee benefits, paychecks and the like and NOT go into the pockets of the already over-paid elite?

My chest is getting tight as I write this. I have friends that have been down-sized and even little, old Kingwood has been feeling the pinch. We have lost several hundred jobs. Some have gone on to work out of the county and some have retired. I know many that are still sucking up unemployment because they dont know what they want to do with themselves. How long before the majority of the viable workers that are left, leave here for other, more hospitable climes that offer better employment opportunities and infrastructure? How long will they commute?

Do you buy into the "the economy's improving" crap we've been hearing? I wouldnt if I were you, but then, I'm not you. I am mean, old and cynical. I think I see the writing on the wall, also. I mentioned a while back that it will start with the gas and, therefore, groceries. If you've been paying attention, the price per barrel of oil is about a hair away from 80 dollars as I post this. The SPECULATORS(the ones you need to lynch before we look to BIG BUSINESS) are driving up the market(I believe falsely) because-----anybody?-----they feel we are having a bit more cash in our pockets. They are driving the price of gas and other futures up, making you stock market investors some money and, in short order, driving the price of goods and , thereby, services up. I want to be on record saying that the price of oil and hence, gas will go wayyyyy up again and dont be surprised if you see 4 dollars or more over the winter. Then milk will be up, then bread, then your doughnuts and coffee and then meat and on and on and on.

Those jackasses in the large companies that we propped up should be kissing our feet. We have financed a slew of golf and recreational outings for them, we have put MILLIONS in their retirements and benefits packages and, i feel, created a horde of potential Bernie Madoff's. They are laughing at you and me right now. Wouldnt you? Suckers. Financed my trophy wife's next thousand years of enhancement surgeries and my worthless, emo kid's next laser -scar treatment when he cuts himself wondering why I'm in the Bahamas(on taxpayer nickel) and not at his band's premiere gig. TOP FIVE PERCENT PEOPLE!!!! I still cant calm down about it. I am more pissed off about this than when they discontinued Savage Sword of Conan. (dont get me started, I have a HUGE collection) . Where are the government regulators and bean-counters, standing at the gates of hell, I mean the company headquarters, beating on the door with adding machine in one hand and a copy of the tax codes and the stimulus bill in the other?

This is it. I am giving it til next summer and then I will organize some kind of movement, even if it's only a write-in campaign or e'mail. Maybe if I put enough of the electee's websites out there and get enough of you to send them something, maybe they will take notice. The only thing they fear is not being elected again and not being offered enough bribe money, I mean "research and campaign contribution money" from the lobbyists. The few honest people that are in office, probably will not be able to make enough of a difference. We need to threaten them all. Checks and balances, oh wisened sage! If you or I didnt pay our taxes for a few years, do you think they would turn the other cheek and ignore us? Let us take a nice vacation with the money we saved? HELL NO! We'd get a vacation all right--stainless steel toilet and a new boyfriend named "Tyrone the hatchet man".

For the sake of all that is holy people, WAKE UP !, before it's to late. start small if you must. Question someone and then pass it on. Harass them to the point that someone takes notice. Thomas Jefferson said " The tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of Patriots" One of my favorite quotes. It applies to so many situations. We must use our power and means to fight for those who cannot themselves. Hitler, Tojo, Ho Chi Minh, Saddam, Kim Jong Il, these were all outside influences and they have and must be, dealt with. There were some men a couple hundred years ago that got fed up with the internal workings of their country's government. They tired of the unfair system and corrupt overlords that stood over them. They did not have mail, phones, internet or even mass transit to help propel their messages and concerns forward. Things were done much more slowly. They grew so weary that they rose up and said"ENOUGH!!!". We must rise up, bloodless, and change this rotten, corrupt system that exists. My barrel of apples has mostly rotted, I wish to dump them out and pick new. Remember that when you rail and curse the officials that preside over you. You have already begun: you wanted CHANGE AND HOPE, remember? It is a start people. Temper yourselves for the age: we dont need to spill blood, we need to find people that WILL do what we want, not what THEY want.

I have managed to keep myself out of this mess until now, mainly through my own apathy and a purposefully chosen ignorance. Come spring, I may have to ask your help in getting the addresses and e'mails needed to begin a campaign, if they havent done something even mildly noble. Like ask MORE of those asses for OUR hard-earned money back and to settle for a reasonable salary until their company is solvent. Is that too much to ask? I dont think so.

I wonder if this is how Paul Revere felt? The Pundits are coming! The Pundits are coming!! Hide your iphones under the floorboards until we require thee to transmit scathing e-mails!! Give not sustainance nor succor to the Armani-clad upon pain of draining your 401K. Dont fire until you see the whites of their veneers!! Yeah, I know, a bunch of different heroes' quotes. Horribly mis-quoted and misguided, I'm sure. My heart has rarely failed me and right now it screams for justice and righteousness. I'd settle for a small army of C.P.A's and a rebate check to the government stimulus program. Live Free orDie!! or at least, let the businesses fail that are meant to fail. Others will pick up the slack and people will get re-employed at those, new powerhouses. Hopefully we can learn not to be so accepting of these slap-in-the-face injustices being done to us. No jokes this time folks. All bets are off, something must give before this country falls HARD. I hope I'm wrong, I hope we can all make it through and more importantly, I hope our future generations can make it with what we're doing. Do some digging, let me know some specifics about these unreal uses of OUR money. Try not to eat the whole bottle of antacid.