THINK WE CAN .com

Well, Middle America, can you imagine, our working stiffs are being asked to bail out the yacht and mega-yacht owners, our Masters Of The Universe (MOTUs).  They say the cost is 700 billion dollars--or maybe three times that much--but probably around a trillion dollars.

To help understand a trillion, consider this:  One million seconds = 11 days, One billion seconds = 31 years, and One trillion seconds = 317 Centuries!

We have to admit, the MOTUs have some nerve.  For 30 years they've told us how clever they are and all we need do is follow their highly educated thinking and all will be well; just allow them to become filthy rich while the rest of us work like dogs.  And so things have gone, with some of us struggling at three jobs while our MOTUs smiled down from upon high.

To this very day, these folks expound to the heavens that if they can just make a few million more each year, everything will be dandy.  They promise that from their great gobs of greenbacks they would allow a few bucks to “trickle down” like salve for our weary bones.  A concept which, quite frankly, stinks, since their grotesque wealth increased by massive amounts while ours went down over the years.

All that should have been enough, but these folks are bold.  Some of them decided that a couple hundred million a year was not enough.  No sir, they want a billion, and more.  And they never looked back at the rest of us as their insatiable greed took over our country and wreaked havoc on the people who are the foundation of America.

While they manipulated the fantastic wealth of the richest Nation on Earth, did the MOTUs give our 100 million uninsured and underinsured citizens a second glance regarding health care reform?  Heck no, that would cost some money and require some planning.  Did the MOTUs give our educational system the needed attention, effort and reform in order to stem the tide of illiterate children and secure our future?  Heck no, that would cost some money and require some planning.  Did the MOTUs think about the hundreds of thousands of our combat veterans that are homeless or about to become homeless?  Heck no, that would cost some money and require some planning.  Did the MOTUs do anything about the tens of millions of children that have been criminally prescribed onto anti-psychotic and anti-depressant drugs?  Heck no, that would cost some money and require some planning.  Did the MOTUs do anything serious about the crumbling infrastructure of our cities and towns?  Heck no, that would cost some money and require some planning.  Did the MOTUs try to stop the home foreclosures of 10 million Americans?  Heck no, that would cost some money and require some planning.

Instead of focusing on any of the above situations, our MOTUs did what they do really well, direct massive amounts of our cash into their coffers.  Surely our MOTUs understand what those problems will do to America’s future if we don’t soon do something about them.  Middle America, do we really think these folks will change when they get their hands on another trillion dollars? Do we think for one minute they won’t figure out some new, intricate plans to screw, blue and tattoo us?  Are we fools?

I’ve got an idea.  What if we take the trillion bucks our MOTUs are whining for and do some actual social engineering?  I bet we could put a serious dent in every one of those problems I mentioned.  We could get some of our best minds together and actually do some planning and thinking for a change.  Shoot, we could even try for a little visionary thinking.  Couldn’t we come up with some plans that didn’t first pass through the checkbooks of the ultra-rich?  Aren’t we tired of these quickie fixes that seem so slick in the beginning but turn out disastrous in the long term?  Let’s apply our money correctly:  Save some jobs, kids, veterans and infrastructure—let’s buy something real with our money.  Let’s create a future for America, not further enrich a handful of fat cats.

The modified bailout our leaders are working on  will buy us some time.  Now they need to be convinced that short term fixes that fail to address our society's horrible problems will only lead to long-term disaster for the U.S. and, possibly, much of the rest of the world.

I will bet you a dollar to a donut that our best and brightest could come up with plans that would show promise in fixing all those problems.  And guess what?  This time the MOTUs won’t be able to tell us we don’t have the money to solve society’s worst situations.  When they asked for a trillion for their banker-buddies’ bailout, they painted themselves into a corner.

Let’s not give these guys a trillion dollars for their mystery plan.  You know, their plan that they don’t quite know how to operate just yet; the plan they will try to figure out on the fly; the plan where they don’t know the value of their buddy’s junk assets they want all of us to purchase.

Are we going to trust them with what might be the last big chunk of American cash?  That money can buy us some time, and we can’t risk wasting that time.  I think these guys have showed us their spots.  And they are asking us to pay a second time for their screw up.  They want to shuffle this monstrous sum of money right into the pockets of the very people who put us in this fix.  You want to know why I think we are taking a monster risk with these guys?  Did we hear one single apology from any of them?  Did we hear one single thank-you from them for our 30 years of hard labor?

Business as usual will be the order of the day.  They are not ashamed of the mess they created— they are Masters Of The Universe.

Are we nuts?  Con me once, shame on you—con me twice, shame on me.  The MOTUs are putting the bum’s rush on us by trying to rush us into this deal—believe this, they are salivating for this 700 billion.  I think now is a good time to tell them to retire to their mansions.  They will be alright, they can count their millions and polish their yachts--or have a working stiff do it for them.

Let’s instruct our leaders that we must make this money count and use the time that it will buy wisely.  We can have them pay attention to protecting our financial markets but, for a change, let’s focus as well on the good of the Country.  If we spend this dough wisely, we can put millions of unemployed to work, save millions of homes, provide health care to millions of citizens and take far better care of millions of veterans and children.  That is creating a better future.

Or, we can double the net worth of a few thousand fat cats who almost surely will figure out new and exciting ways to relieve us of our few remaining coins.