Ammunition's gone, throw in the cannons
By: Kelley Holmberg
Issue date: 3/3/09 Section: Opinion
Has the word bailout ever been used so much? Banks, car dealers, homeowners - all are in over their heads, and all are a strain on a government that's trying to keep everyone from ending up in poverty, because poor people are unhappy people, and unhappy people rebel.
So here's our government just throwing everything we've got at this massive problem. We're engaged in a battle where we've run out of ammunition and have resorted to throwing the guns and cannons.
Obama's stimulus package is bold, I'll give him that, and I won't even go so far as to say that the plan won't ease our economic struggles. For now, it might. But these stimulus plans have a way of coming back to haunt us.
Roosevelt's New Deal is likely at the root of our problems today. New Deal programs that created our welfare system have bred a sense of entitlement in our citizens. As helpful as they may have seemed at the time, they have continued to allow citizens to receive benefits they have not earned.
Even with Clinton's reforms in the late '90s, there are still many who take advantage of the system, leaving it burdened and not as able to help those who really need it.
Even Social Security has proven to be more of a curse than a blessing. People have paid into it for years, believing in the security it was supposed to offer for their future, now there's no guarantee it will be there.
People who trusted the government to provide and to follow through with their promises are going to suffer. It's not that the government lied to people about social security - there were forces beyond their control.
Social security was meant to aid retired people in the 1930's until they died. The government never predicted that the average life expectancy would increase by 17 years while the plan was still in effect. So Americans applauded the seemingly fool-proof plan.
Today, more than 70 years later it's no surprise that people who are living in houses they can't afford to stay in, but can't afford to sell, are jumping at the chance to believe promises that the proposed solutions will solve our problems.
We can't know what the future holds for our country and our economy, but we can take some control into our own hands.
Save money now. Skip springing for the 12-pack this Friday, walk to class, carpool to Clovis or wear the worn-out sneaks a few more months. Take that money and put it in the bank.
Be aware and be wiser than our parents' generation. The government is good for many things, but ensuring that we have enough money to live on is not one of them.
Take control of your financial future now, so you're never haunted by the ghosts of stimulus plans past.
So here's our government just throwing everything we've got at this massive problem. We're engaged in a battle where we've run out of ammunition and have resorted to throwing the guns and cannons.
Obama's stimulus package is bold, I'll give him that, and I won't even go so far as to say that the plan won't ease our economic struggles. For now, it might. But these stimulus plans have a way of coming back to haunt us.
Roosevelt's New Deal is likely at the root of our problems today. New Deal programs that created our welfare system have bred a sense of entitlement in our citizens. As helpful as they may have seemed at the time, they have continued to allow citizens to receive benefits they have not earned.
Even with Clinton's reforms in the late '90s, there are still many who take advantage of the system, leaving it burdened and not as able to help those who really need it.
Even Social Security has proven to be more of a curse than a blessing. People have paid into it for years, believing in the security it was supposed to offer for their future, now there's no guarantee it will be there.
People who trusted the government to provide and to follow through with their promises are going to suffer. It's not that the government lied to people about social security - there were forces beyond their control.
Social security was meant to aid retired people in the 1930's until they died. The government never predicted that the average life expectancy would increase by 17 years while the plan was still in effect. So Americans applauded the seemingly fool-proof plan.
Today, more than 70 years later it's no surprise that people who are living in houses they can't afford to stay in, but can't afford to sell, are jumping at the chance to believe promises that the proposed solutions will solve our problems.
We can't know what the future holds for our country and our economy, but we can take some control into our own hands.
Save money now. Skip springing for the 12-pack this Friday, walk to class, carpool to Clovis or wear the worn-out sneaks a few more months. Take that money and put it in the bank.
Be aware and be wiser than our parents' generation. The government is good for many things, but ensuring that we have enough money to live on is not one of them.
Take control of your financial future now, so you're never haunted by the ghosts of stimulus plans past.