Caution: May Contain Politics
I didn’t plan on posting this but the more I think about it, the more aggravated I get. So maybe if I vent a bit I’ll feel better.
Last night I’m playing my little video game with friends and the conversation in Ventrillo turns to politics, as it does from time to time. Some of the people I play with are fairly hard core conservatives, the 20 percenters if you will, so I did my best to ignore it, assuming the topic of conversation would move to something else soonish. The issue, it seemed, was Obama’s stimulus plan which, I gathered from the conversation, would provide money not only to hard working tax paying citizens, but also those who did not make enough money to pay federal taxes. The implication being that a bunch of undeserving slackers who do nothing to contribute to society would be getting a check. At some point I think I chimed and said, sarcastically, yeah that money could be used to pay for bonuses on Wall Street! No one seemed particularly interested in talking about that.
An effort was made by a couple of us, including me, to steer the conversation away from the political discussion. After all, we’re playing a game partly to get away from the troubles that plague the real world. But the conversation drifted back to this stimulus thing again. The idea of poor people getting money from the government so outrageous that more discussion was required. Rather than listen to it, I dropped out of Vent, opting for the sounds of Azeroth rather than the Limbaugh channel.
The problem wasn’t just that I disagree with my friends opinions on the proposed stimulus package. As a matter of fact I’m not sure that I disagree. No, the problem was, that when it was time to bailout Wall Street, there may have been a little grumbling, but nothing on the level of what I heard last night. It made me a little ill to know that the outrage wasn’t caused by the bailout money being used to pay for bonuses, jets, or corporate retreats. Oh no, the outrage was caused by the idea that poor people could be getting a check for $500. $500 of our money that these people did nothing to deserve! Redistribution of wealth! Auntie M it’s a twister! Dogs and cats living together… mass hysteria!
What?
Look, I’m not convinced that Obama’s stimulus plan is going to work and I’m certainly not convinced that TARP was a good idea, but I’m not nearly as troubled by the idea of giving a few hundred dollars to the very poor as I am giving millions to the very rich. How you can be for the Wall Street bailout, reluctantly or not, and yet begrudge a little help for our less fortunate citizens is beyond me.
Hm…I wasn’t there, but just so you know – In case I do chime in later and criticize the Obama plan:
I’m in favor of NO government bailout of anyone anywhere at anytime for any reason. People and/or businesses should be allowed to stand or fall on their own. I don’t believe that any business can become “too big to fail” without government making it so. In a truly free market, it’s impossible for any business to become so big that it’s bankruptcy would send the economy of any country into a serious depression – Recession? Maybe…and it would be very short-lived while the usable parts were sold off and re-structured into profitable enterprises.
And debt does not equal money no matter how much politicians and Keynsian/Chicago economists claim it does – This means *you* Krugman…
Then again, I’m an anarchist….what do I know?
Can I be against both getting anything?
Well stated… I’m pretty much against all the bailouts, including TARP – but do find it a bit hypocritical that many of those complaining the loudest about auto industry bailouts and the current stimulus plan were silent during the financial company bailouts / TARP.
@Tim – It may well be that the other guys are against both the bailout and stimulus, but I don’t recall the distress over the bailout that I’m seeing with the stimulus plan. And I suspect, especially given some of the comments since the election, that it has less to do with the plan, than the originator of the plan.
There was just as much of an uproar over the first bailout. If you remember, most republicans refused to vote for it in congress for a long time and most republicans were pretty much against it.
@Sherri – In the news, yes, it was quite a spectacle, but I don’t recall any evenings in game spent listening to discussion about it.
And, many republicans did indeed initially oppose it as did some of the more responsible democrats, but the man calling for it most adamantly was President Bush [R]. As I recall, it didn’t gather enough support to pass until it was sweetened with such items as: $109 million in tax breaks for NASCAR racetrack builders, $478 million over 10 years to Hollywood to promote the filming of movies in the U.S., $192 million in tax breaks to Rum producers in the Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands and of course, repeal of a 39-cent excise tax on wooden arrows for children, worth about $200,000 per year.
I think the reason you didnt see as many people talking about it back then is that it was so new and to put it bluntly, the american public at large has NO CLUE about this stuff. What it means, what is best , what will help and what will hurt, however I have to disagree even still about people not being up in arms about it. I remember lots of people talking about not wanting to bail out these big companies and saying things like “Where is our bailout” I think as time as gone on though more and more people are hearing about it and feeling like they understand enough to have an opinion. I hope that makes sense.
I think its ridiculous to bail out most of these companies AND I think its ridiculous to send out checks to people who dont even pay taxes. Does that make me balanced? However.. if I get one Ill be more then happy to spend it. hehe. 🙂
PS. When Abyss what in charge of SOL talk of politics wasn’t allowed in guild or in vent. I still think twice before I dare say anything political in guild.
Well I must have missed out on all those conversations about the bailout in vent. Maybe because we were in Naked Squirrel at that time? But, yeah, talking about politics in game is a bad idea. Everyone knows that guild chat and vent are for discussing religion!