Jon Stewart’s Right

The failure of the American economy was a long time coming. The truth is we have a failure in American Bureaucracy. The American Bureaucratic structure has failed at many levels. The first and most important is that the bureaucratic is still based in a feudalist concept where the people at the top lord over businesses as if they have a direct line to the Divine. We need a real change that flips the pyramid. I have heard of several different proposals the best is the one I heard is from Jon Stewart of Daily Show where he suggested instead of bailing out the banks bail out the citizenry. When President Bush did his first $300 rebate, he had hope that it would stimulate consumer spending and he became enraged that most people used it pay down debt. The failure of this proposal was two fold. First, it was not enough to stimulate spending and secondly, it was not enough for Americans pay down serious debt. An ever-increasing amount of Americans are one paycheck away from bankruptcy. In the Depression, banks failed, as banks went under so did all the money that depositors had in those banks. We need to try to make as many citizens as solvent as possible before our banks start to collapse. We are already that pass bank bailouts have had little to no consequence. The banks are going to fail because the bureaucracy at the top refuses to change. Here is my prescription for a bottom up stimulus package.

1. $10,000 per working adult ($10,000 is the upper limit of credit card debt of the average credit card debt. Freeing Americans from credit card will help low income citizens that are currently suffering high rates of interest making their poverty a permanent lifestyle. So those that have been frugal, the money could enable them to buy homes, cars and other big-ticket items, which could stimulate real spending.)
2. An aggressive advertising campaign focusing on the merits of frugality and personal savings. Television and mass media need to own up to their responsibility in the creation of consumer debt. All major broadcasters, cable delivery systems, radio, Internet providers, and newspaper will do this free of charge as a public service, at least 3 announcements per 1hr TV show.
3. A temporary price freeze to keep inflation at bay awhile the citizenry utilizes the stimulus.
4. Any American that buys an American built vehicle gets a 100% rebates on any sale taxes and vehicle registration from the Federal Government.
5. Any bank that has taken Federal funds can only charge a maximum interest rate at 15% on its credit cards no matter what.
6. Start reduction in Defense spending. The new war is not about troops but about money and influence. What would Ronald Reagan say about the Communist Chinese owning our National Debt?
7. Anchor salaries at the top. All for profit companies that have taken federal bailout funds and nonprofits should be working on a 10 to 1 ratio from the top paid CEO to the lowest paid in the company. If the lowest paid at $20,000 is suppose make ends meet then the highest paid at $200,000 should not complain. If the CEO wants a raise then everyone should benefit including those on the bottom.
8. Make Economic Treason and real charge. When people who control so much of the capital in the US economy so mismanage it causing to slide into serious recession and/or depression they need to be held responsible. Putting their heads on a pike maybe extreme but if you consider the amount of wars, human suffering, and never ending poverty that these and other SOB’s like them have caused, maybe the pike thing is not a bad idea.

Maybe it is overdue that the top10% should remember that without us in the other 90% they would be nothing.

Bernard Buzzell, MSHS
Former NH Legislator
433 Hillside Ave.
Berlin, NH 03570
Tel.1-603-723-1600