Obama’s Economic Bailout
Posted March 20th, 2009 @ 03:02pm by Erik J. Barzeski
So I've heard from a fairly large number of people lately that Obama is completely screwing up the "economic recovery" plan. These people tend to be Republicans, but I've heard from a few Democrats, too.
Most of what I've heard from sources of unknown party are those in the golf industry. There's a flap about how Northern Trust - forced to take TARP money despite the fact that they're already profitable - is feeling the weight of the TARP spending restrictions and may have to cut back on expenses like title sponsorship of a PGA Tour event ((And they'd just give the money back, but they'd still have to pay interest for three years, or something like that.)). The off-shoot of that story is that sponsorship of events like that leads to paying gigs for the service industry - caterers, servers, florists, table/chair rental places, etc.
I've also heard Obama's bailing out homeowners, and from what little I've heard it seems like an absolute crock. Why should I pay to bail out someone who over-extended themselves on a house they couldn't afford?
But, per my usual, I haven't paid much attention to politics, so if anyone can provide a concise response that fills in the gaps, please do.
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Posted 23 Mar 2009 at 5:10pm #
The golf industry is pretty peeved about some of the POTUS' off-the-cuff remarks ("Now isn't the time to be taking a boondoggle in Vegas") and some of the anti-golf posturing by other politicians. Golf is a $76 billion industry in the U.S., bigger than the motion picture industry, for instance. But companies are canceling corporate golf events – meetings/convention-related travel, incentive trips – like crazy. That impacts resort employees/investors, golf professionals, equipment/apparel companies and all the ancillary service industries you mentioned. This is on top of the natural drop in spending due to the fact that the economy is so flat – I'm just talking about the pullback from companies that don't want to take the PR hit of hosting any event that appears to be frivolous. Golf has a lot to offer in terms of relationship and team building, outdoor recreation, charitable giving, etc. Why throw the baby out with the bathwater?
So I guess we should all pull the blinds and sit at our desks until someone tells us to come out. I hope that's not what most people think. Personally, I think the new administration is doing a lot right, but making golf part of the witch hunt is silly.
Posted 24 Mar 2009 at 9:44am #
This is not a knock against golfing (I know where I'm posting 😉 , but I can see the point. Companies can't afford to look frivolous when everyone is watching so closely. A company-paid boondoggle to Vegas kinda smells like a bonus to most people, and we all know 'bonus' is a dirty word right now.
Posted 24 Mar 2009 at 10:02am #
That's not quite the golf I'm talking about. Northern Trust sponsored a PGA Tour event.
Posted 25 Mar 2009 at 10:17am #
[...] Obama's Economic Bailout, Obama's Personnel [...]
Posted 28 Mar 2009 at 1:46pm #
To answer your last question, you shouldn't. This, and all the bailouts, will be paid for by the successful middle class that hasn't done anything wrong. There is already talk about "going back" on the promise on a tax-cut for the middle class to pay for all this spending.
The irony in all of this is that the Obama administration is now seeking the help of the people (evil, overpaid Bankers) to buy up a lot of the toxic assets (see: forclosed homes) that nobody else will touch. Also, they want to over-regulate them and limit their pay even if they did NOT take any governmental money. I'm floored at the levels that our government is sinking to to ruin our constitution. It isn't the responsibility of the government. It's the responsibility of the free markets and stockholders to govern this. Sure, executive compensation has gotten a bit out of control, but I have little faith that our government (who got us into this mess with the failed policies of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - i.e. it is everyone's RIGHT to own a home) to fix that issue.
I'm not blaming only the Democrats. The Republicans have blood on their hands too. I've realized over the past 10 years or so that large government and massive social programs are not the way to go. Free markets and private innovation will always be the best and most fair way to grow and reward companies and individuals.
I fear because of the large majority the Democrats have today they will push through every single agenda they can think of. We're already starting to see it. Government-sponsored health care, carbon cap-and-trade (because of the false global-warming hysteria), over-regulation of anything they can...its getting ugly and will only get worse.
Sorry for the rant. I truly fear that this country will be going sideways (at best) for the next decade or so.