By Robert Singer

Click here to read why “this article is not currently available” at OpEdNews.

September 26, 2008

Will the bail-out really matter?

I will give you odds Congress will vote in favor of the bail-out. And that’s not just because Warren Buffet told Congress to act swiftly. Buffett said, “Wall Street's troubles were inseparable from the finances of everyday US consumers.” The key to figuring out how to bet on the bail-out is the word “consumer” AKA “shopper”. The highest priority for the Bush or for that matter any administration is shopping. Consider the following:

The Economic Stimulus Package was a plan to help the economy. Last spring, the IRS sent checks of up to $1200.00 to over 130 million households. Did it help? Of course not. Why would buying stuff from China that we don’t need and are apt to throw away as fast as possible help the “economy”?

Surely you remember December, 2006, when this nation teetered on the brink of a national economic recession. At that time the President implored Americans to shop more. He said: As we work with Congress in the coming year to chart a new course in Iraq and strengthen our military to meet the challenges of the 21st century, we must also work together to achieve important goals for the American people here at home. This work begins with keeping our economy growing. … And I encourage you all to go shopping more.”

And of course, no one will forget that after 9/11, when our country was in shock, President Bush could have suggested any number of appropriate things: to grieve, to pray, to hope. NO. He said to shop. TO SHOP?

Finally, you can’t lose money betting on the architect of the bailout, Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the United States Federal Reserve. In 2002, he gave a speech about deflation. In that speech, he mentioned that the government is a fiat money system that owns the physical means of creating money. Control of the means of production for money implies that the government can always avoid deflation by simply dropping more money out of helicopters, so that is why he is known as "Helicopter Ben" with his "helicopter printing press”.

Bet the farm on the bailout.

You can find the article I wrote on 9-14 about shopping: "Give Us the ANWAR and Keep Shopping"-They Found They Can't Have Both

From the article:

“Apparently, the worst gas price hike has produced the worst-case scenario for the select group of people who raised the price of gasoline to almost $5.00/gallon smug in their belief they could get Americans to give up their last Arctic wilderness while continuing to buy useless, wasteful consumer goods.

No. It appears the price of gasoline stayed high too long. A $45/barrel drop in oil isn’t enough to fool anyone into thinking the “economy” is back to normal. You can’t cover up bank failures, home foreclosures, high unemployment and the experts like Warren Buffett predicting major disruptions in financial markets.

Even with the recent drop in gas prices, Americans (even affluent Americans) seem to have realized they can live comfortable lives by returning to a time when they valued stewardship, resourcefulness, and thrift…and that just might be good for everyone who has to live on this planet.

So the same select group of people who were betting on trashing the ANWR and on trashing the planet by getting the public to shop for billions of dollars of useless, non-recyclable consumer goods appear to be losing. As the AP press said, “Americans have changed; being frugal is the thing.” And that makes winners of the rest of us, for now.”

Read the rest, here is the link on this website:

There's a 20-minute documentary storyofstuff.com (you can even find it advertised at the top of the OpEdNews home page) that lays this all out in a manner that even a child could understand and shows the path to saving the planet is no more complicated than controlling our addiction to all that "stuff."

-###-

Authors Bio: Robert Singer is a retired information technology professional and an environmental activist living in southern California. In 1995 he and his cousin Adam D. Singer founded IPC The Hospitalist Company, Inc., where he served as chief technology officer. Today the company manages more than 130 practice groups, providing care in some 300 medical facilities in 18 states. Prior to that he was president of Useful Software, a developer and publisher of business and consumer software for the personal computing Industry.