Hoo-boy. Everyone is rightfully pissed about those bullshit bonuses being handed out like they came out of thin air or something. LOL
It's normal to let righteous indignation spill out, but when a tearful CEO says he ONLY got paid $1mm (The horror!), and bank records show that it was really more like $11 million, then the public outrage really turns to actual tar and feather talk.
Another unemployed buddy of mine in Boston joked that he was considering saving money on his heating bill by burning a banker, LOL. Jus' keeeeding folks, but he has been looking for a gig for six months now, and the frustration in his voice was palpable. His wife works, but beantown is a two-income kinda place, ya know?
These guys at the top of the banks getting bailout money are really driving us unemployed peeps up a gods-damn wall. They keep using the same out of the box thinking and fiscal shennanigans that brought our nation to it's knees, only for their compensation.
Cutsie names like pension restoration plans, and supplemental executive retirement plans, are used to drop big coin into the pockets of these bastards. And it comes from us over 40 little guys, who are top performers, but can be dumped because of "right to work" bullshit and highly taxed dinky severance.
There was a great financial times article this weekend talking about, "over-correcting." Firing too many competent employees to save money, and then finding out too late that no one is around with the expertise to solve the issues.
I call it the "Circuit City" business model. I get that a business can replace guys like me with someone else that can be had for 60 cents on the dollar, but good luck getting the quantitative results. Circuit City has gone POOF! So maybe it was smart to keep the crooks around to unwind the CDS'. But personally, it should have been done as part of a plea deal, not bonuses.
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OK, we know the problems, here is my humble economic plan. It's reaaaalllly big picture, but I have had the time to think about it a lot at 2 am, LOL
ECONOMY IMMEDIATE:
1. Trust busting: Beef up and expand the FDIC to include oversight, auditing, and seats on the boards. Work with DOJ on enforcement and make nailing top mgmnt illegalities a priority, and fold the SEC and FDIC together. The IRS' should be required to nail offshore tax havens participants. Make the offshore tax haven industry a federal crime.
MARKETS and CREDIT:
- Private equity firms are ready to buy the best pieces of AIG-type firms. The US Gov't should bust them up, require ALL SVP and above to be terminated and put an independent accounting firm in the role of outsourced CFO in charge with quarterly PUBLISHED audits. Issue securities in all of these companies to American citizens, and LEGAL aliens in the form of 5 year vested ARA 2009 (blog post title) bonds with a coupon of X%.
- No more revolving door from FINRA to securities companies. Pay compliance folks well at FINRA and then it's a 5 year waiting period to go to work at a brokerage firm.
- Usury laws enacted and enforced on credit card companies. Top rate is 10 points above prime. Enact enforceable guidlines for credit terms. (FDIC oversight)
ECONOMY LONG TERM:
- A nation rail plan like the interstate highways. City centers, to airports and commerce centers, and to next major metropolis city center. Make it all electric, no diesel.
- Rebuild entire national electrical grid.
- Get wind, tide, and geothermal tied in to the new grid, and the US Gov't owns it for 200 years. No more Montana Power Co repeats either.
- Establish a bond rating division of the FDIC. Bye to S&P, and Moody's conflict of interest.
- 50% of all commercial trucks must get an average MPG of 35 by 2013. Hey, we won WW2 in four years, why not this? Outright help AMERICAN truck manufacturers pay for the retooling of factories for this. Furthermore . . .
- 50% of light trucks and SUV's must get an average MPG of 35 by 2013. Outright help AMERICAN truck manufacturers pay for the retooling of factories.
- 50% of passenger cars and SUV's must get an average MPG of 40 by 2013, 50% must be all electric by 2014, and 100% must be all-electric by 2020.
- A manhattan project-style recyclable and long-charge holding battery program led by NASA started NOW.
- All "right to work" laws eliminated. Two weeks notice both ways. Employee fails to notify or show up? No last check. Employer fails to notify? Gotta pay double. Will bring some stability to labor.
- EFCA enacted. 'Nuff said
MEDIA REFORM:
No more performance pay to non-performing execs? Idiots in Gov't getting a free pass (hello Thornberry?) Can't legislate this one. We need media to expose these POS at the top, so . . .
- Cable regulation. Why am I paying for FOX noise? Cafeteria plan for cable subscribers, pick the channels you want. $ per channel. Europeans paying $35 for full cable, WTF?
- Fairness Doctrine update. 1 to 1 on all media. Talk, news, TV, when it comes to political talk, ya gotta present both sides every time.
- Subsidize a national wifi net. Not as fast as paid-for internet, but the poor and schoolkids have access to something.
- One media outlet per company per town, period. Own radio? No TV. Own newspaper? No radio OR TV.
HEALTHCARE REFORM:
The US taxpayer will buy out all Health Care companies, Their market cap is waaaayyy down, could not be a better time. Sure, POS like Bill Frist will make $, but charge a capital gains tax of 75% on it. Hey, they got rich off sick people and ripping off the taxpayer . Cost of around $70 billion
- Everyone on medicare, establish a simple billing method for docs, and strict automated auditing for fraud. Rollout it out in stages, starting with low population centers like the Panhandle to work out the kinks.
- Keep your doc, keep your dentist, keep your opthamalogist. No waiting for immediate needs, gotta wait for other stuff.
- Charge $30 per person, per month, in every family. Wanna have 20 kids? Gotta pay for 20 kids. Take it out of each check like FICA.
- No more pharmaceutical advertisements, they spent more on these boolshit ads than research. Let it all be spent on research.
- Medicare will now aggressively negotiate drug prices. Drug companies gotta make money, but the free ride where the American citizenends.
Just some thoughts while staying up late at night worrying about my job situation.
Now, it's YOUR turn for feedback.
-Prodigal Son
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