Fix income inequality with $10 million loans for everyone!!!!

[Whirlaway]

From Shelia Baird, former FDIC Chairman. She is a sharp cookie with sharp elbows. Who do you think she is poking a stick at?

My bet is it is both Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his launches of the titanic QE and President Obama and his OWS friends selling the Big Rock Candy Mountain to gullible voters. You be the judge.



Fix income inequality with $10 million loans for everyone!

By Sheila Bair, Published: April 13The Washington Post


Are you concerned about growing income inequality in America? Are you resentful of all that wealth concentrated in the 1 percent? I’ve got the perfect solution, a modest proposal that involves just a small adjustment in the Federal Reserve’s easy monetary policy. Best of all, it will mean that none of us have to work for a living anymore.

For several years now, the Fed has been making money available to the financial sector at near-zero interest rates. Big banks and hedge funds, among others, have taken this cheap money and invested it in securities with high yields. This type of profit-making, called the “carry trade,” has been enormously profitable for them.

So why not let everyone participate?

Under my plan, each American household could borrow $10 million from the Fed at zero interest. The more conservative among us can take that money and buy 10-year Treasury bonds. At the current 2 percent annual interest rate, we can pocket a nice $200,000 a year to live on. The more adventuresome can buy 10-year Greek debt at 21 percent, for an annual income of $2.1 million. Or if Greece is a little too risky for you, go with Portugal, at about 12 percent, or $1.2 million dollars a year. (No sense in getting greedy.)

Think of what we can do with all that money. We can pay off our underwater mortgages and replenish our retirement accounts without spending one day schlepping into the office. With a few quick keystrokes, we’ll be golden for the next 10 years.

Of course, we will have to persuade Congress to pass a law authorizing all this Fed lending, but that shouldn’t be hard. Congress is really good at spending money, so long as lawmakers don’t have to come up with a way to pay for it. Just look at the way the Democrats agreed to extend the Bush tax cuts if the Republicans agreed to cut Social Security taxes and extend unemployment benefits. Who says bipartisanship is dead?

And while that deal blew bigger holes in the deficit, my proposal won’t cost taxpayers anything because the Fed is just going to print the money. All we need is about $1,200 trillion, or $10 million for 120 million households. We will all cross our hearts and promise to pay the money back in full after 10 years so the Fed won’t lose any dough. It can hold our Portuguese debt as collateral just to make sure.

Because we will be making money in basically the same way as hedge fund managers, we should have to pay only 15 percent in taxes, just like they do. And since we will be earning money through investments, not work, we won’t have to pay Social Security taxes or Medicare premiums. That means no more money will go into these programs, but so what? No one will need them anymore, with all the cash we’ll be raking in thanks to our cheap loans from the Fed.

Come to think of it, by getting rid of work, we can eliminate a lot of government programs. For instance, who needs unemployment benefits and job retraining when everyone has joined the investor class? And forget the trade deficit. Heck, we want those foreign workers to keep providing us with goods and services.

We can stop worrying about education, too. Who needs to understand the value of pi or the history of civilization when all you have to do to make a living is order up a few trades? Let the kids stay home with us. They can play video games while we pop bonbons and watch the soaps and talk shows. The liberals will love this plan because it reduces income inequality; the conservatives will love it because it promotes family time.
I’m really excited! This is the best American financial innovation since liar loans and pick-a-payment mortgages. I can’t wait to get my super PAC started to help candidates who support this important cause. I think I will call my proposal the “Get Rid of Employment and Education Directive.”

Some may worry about inflation and long-term stability under my proposal. I say they lack faith in our country. So what if it cost 50 billion marks to mail a letter when the German central bank tried printing money to pay idle workers in 1923?

That couldn’t happen here. This is America. Why should hedge funds and big financial institutions get all the goodies?

Look out 1 percent, here we come.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinio...AFT_story.html

[Randy4Candy]

Oddly, you have just presented a lefty slam at the Fed's method of propping up the very businesses that are at the heart of the current economic problem. But, they DID pay back the loans - with interest.

Could this be a case of you getting just a little too slick for your Willy?

[nwarounder]

You should really disclaimer your posts more prominently. There will be a ton of people here thinking that this is reality, and a great solution.

[Guest123018-4]

Can I get a coke and a bag of chips please.

yes sir that will be
$150,000 plus tax.

[Randy4Candy]

Alas, neither the OP or the rest of you TPers can recognise a tongue in any other cheek than a butt-cheek. Goes to reading for comprehension.

[ForumPoster]

Bad idea. About 20 years or so ago former Soviet Union denationalized all formerly government owned enterprises using so called "voucher system". Each factory/office/etc was assigned X number of vouchers and its employees were given equal number of these vouchers.

Within a year each and single of those companies was owned by a small group of individuals. 99.9 percent of those who were GIVEN the vouchers sold them for next to nothing.

Same will happen with anything of value GIVEN to everyone in society. Few will take full advantage of the opportunity, most will waste it.

Lina

[Guest123018-4]

That is the description of basic human nature. There are those that require instant gratification and cannot control their urges.
It is not unusual that those that have a mind for risk reward will mostly come out on top.
There are those that will always be worker bees regardless of what you do for them.
Just take a look at lottery winners and what happens to them after the fact.

Oh and as for recognizing a tongue in cheek article give some of us a break. We all know that Obama would never give EVERYBODY a 10 million dollar loan unless he got a cut for his campaign.

[CJ7]

$10 mil each?

Bush could have done that with the 12$ billion a month we spent in Iraq and Affghanistan, but noooooooooooooo

lol

[joe bloe]

If we don't get spending under control soon you'll need a ten million dollar loan to buy a loaf of bread. The currency can't hold it's value with this sort of debt accumulation. Nations go bankrupt by devaluing the currency.

[Guest123018-4]

Obama could have done it with his stimulus plan instead of giving it to his cronies but noooooo.

[Guest123018-4]

Oh you just redistribute the wealth by first destroying the middle class via the money presses.

The ones that are getting pissed are the ones holding the debt, like China.
There are a whole lot of them slanty eyed bastards that can come over here and take all that shit back from WalMart. They kill off enough of their women through that single child crap to control their population and they will have a bunch of horny bastards with nothing to do but go and fight.
Hey and we are building their weapons for them or at least paying for it.

Keep voting for them big spenders and see what happens.

[CJ7]

Originally Posted by The2Dogs

Obama could have done it with his stimulus plan instead of giving it to his cronies but noooooo.

check your math and see if theres enough $ in a stimulus plan to cover 10 Mil

[ForumPoster]

Originally Posted by CJ7

check your math and see if theres enough $ in a stimulus plan to cover 10 Mil

there will be if we print more money. Wait a minute, if we do that we will completely devalue our currency. Opps, bad idea.

Lina

[CJ7]

point being, if Bush had given everyone 10 mil rather than spend in in Iraq, there wouldnt be a need for stimulus $$ ... like the ones he and obama handed out


right wingers didnt bitch about the Bush stimulus bill ... imagine that.

[CuteOldGuy]

I know. They seem to think that when Bush threw away money mindlessly, it was better than when Obama does the same thing. Idiots.