Americans Looking for Bailout Answers
Dan Blair
Issue date: 12/21/08 Section: Impact Staff Blogs
Jan. 31 - Every American is currently aware of the economic crisis that plagues the United States and it is apparent that there is no single person that can find their way around it.
People have become frugal due to the rollercoaster that Wall Street has turned into and the only hope for the American people is politicians; not the best case scenario for the average citizen. President Barack Obama and his staff have presented a stimulus package that has now grown to about $900 billion and it includes many various attachments.
Congress and the president are trying to rush this bill as fast as possible because they feel it needs to be done in a timely manner in order to provide the American public with a stable economy.
I believe that it is being rushed more due to the drop in public support which is currently at 37 percent according to the Los Angeles Times. I believe that public support may be dropping for a number of reasons.
First, the average American has no idea what this bill entails and they have no idea how it will help the economy. Second, some who do understand the plan feel that large government spending will not only raise the deficit, but also not resolve the problem.
It is uncertain what the bill will do. It includes tax cuts for families and business, help to states, infrastructure spending, health-care spending and alternative-energy investments. The vague feeling of this bill may be what is causing some of unrest in the public. Fox news20reported that $400 million of the package will go towards STD prevention and almost $100 million will go towards furniture for the Department of Homeland Security. There are criticisms that Fox News is pro-Republican and that they may want this bill to fail. Even if that may be true, the Democrats have a 58-41 advantage in the Senate and there is still not enough votes to pass this bill.
It seems as if there are a great deal of Americans in Congress and in the public who are somewhat apprehensive about throwing money at the problem. In my opinion, whenever there is too much doubt, you should not rush into anything.
I feel like the best way to fix the problem is to not throw money at various programs in hopes of stimulating the economy, but to encourage spending by cutting taxes and putting a price cap on gasoline prices. If businesses had tax cuts and were told that this is being done as a way to retain employees, people would feel that they have some job security and may not be forced into being frugal. If they were also taxed less on their income, they may feel like spending money, especially if gas didn't cost an appendage every time they went to the pumps.
People have become frugal due to the rollercoaster that Wall Street has turned into and the only hope for the American people is politicians; not the best case scenario for the average citizen. President Barack Obama and his staff have presented a stimulus package that has now grown to about $900 billion and it includes many various attachments.
Congress and the president are trying to rush this bill as fast as possible because they feel it needs to be done in a timely manner in order to provide the American public with a stable economy.
I believe that it is being rushed more due to the drop in public support which is currently at 37 percent according to the Los Angeles Times. I believe that public support may be dropping for a number of reasons.
First, the average American has no idea what this bill entails and they have no idea how it will help the economy. Second, some who do understand the plan feel that large government spending will not only raise the deficit, but also not resolve the problem.
It is uncertain what the bill will do. It includes tax cuts for families and business, help to states, infrastructure spending, health-care spending and alternative-energy investments. The vague feeling of this bill may be what is causing some of unrest in the public. Fox news20reported that $400 million of the package will go towards STD prevention and almost $100 million will go towards furniture for the Department of Homeland Security. There are criticisms that Fox News is pro-Republican and that they may want this bill to fail. Even if that may be true, the Democrats have a 58-41 advantage in the Senate and there is still not enough votes to pass this bill.
It seems as if there are a great deal of Americans in Congress and in the public who are somewhat apprehensive about throwing money at the problem. In my opinion, whenever there is too much doubt, you should not rush into anything.
I feel like the best way to fix the problem is to not throw money at various programs in hopes of stimulating the economy, but to encourage spending by cutting taxes and putting a price cap on gasoline prices. If businesses had tax cuts and were told that this is being done as a way to retain employees, people would feel that they have some job security and may not be forced into being frugal. If they were also taxed less on their income, they may feel like spending money, especially if gas didn't cost an appendage every time they went to the pumps.
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