Capitalism or Socialism?

When we bail out banks, Wall Street, and states, are we embracing socialism as a way to solve our economic crisis? The words "socialism" and "socialists" have been bandied about by the press, but is this the way we are really headed? Do we want to depend on government to always come to the rescue when we get ourselves in financial trouble or do we want to pull ourselves up by our own entrepreneurship or "bootstraps" if you will?

Apparently we want both.

A business will succeed or fail on its own, but often needs a boost in the early years to keep afloat. There is nothing wrong with that. But what about a business that has gotten ahead by cheating or lying about its assets. Are we supposed to try to keep these afloat as well? What if the business made lots of profit for the owners, only to drain the business itself and its workers dry? Sound familiar? Where do we draw the line in saving a business, especially when the business impacts a lot of people. President Obama has tried to address this by requiring salaries of top executives to be capped if they request federal bailout money. This is a good start, but falls short. Many of these executives are criminals. They should be in jail instead of being rewarded for bad business practices and shady deals. I wonder how these people sleep at night knowing how many people are suffering due to their misdeeds.

How do we decide which businesses truly deserve help and which ones should be weeded out...I don't know the answer, but I believe that capitalism will do the weeding out eventually. Only the strong and well run company will last in the long haul. In the meantime, socialist-type bailouts will be acceptable until we get back on our feet.

Buy low?

I decided to buy stocks. Always heard to "buy low" so I decided now was a good time.

I have invested in retirement mutual funds before, but this time I decided that I would buy individual company stocks. I would love to be that old lady who is worth millions because she was wise enough to buy Coca-Cola or Frito-Lay back before they became house-hold names.

I bought shares in Sirius-XM radio (SIRI) at $0.25 a share. HA! now it is worth half as much, but I still have hope. The Motley Fool just proclaimed it the worst stock of the 2008 year! What do they know.

I also bought Apple, IBM, Google. Wish me the best. I know I will need it, especially if I expect to become that rich old lady before I retire.

I hope to buy stock in what I know, or in what product I use or company I admire. It is fun to guess how the market will go and watch the ups and downs. Eastman Kodak (EK) just surprised me with a huge drop in value, but I am going to hang in there. Just you watch me. Look out Wall Street!

Is the honeymoon over?

As I sit here all wrapped up to keep warm, I can't help but think of several ironic notions: First of all there is a recession in many parts of the United States and yet we are obsessed with the idea of "Superbowl weekend." Second of all I do have electricity and am safe and somewhat warm, while many of my neighbors are gripped by a terrible ice storm that has caused havoc with power lines and that source of heat and comfort.

The first flush of warmth generated by the Obama inauguration has passed as Congress votes down party lines to approve or not the stimulus package pushed by the new President. Have we so quickly forgotten the glow from Washington as people from all walks of life celebrated the swearing in of Obama with all the hope and expectation of change? I feel that the CEO's that have continued to drain the U.S. of the bailout money and all of those promises has put quite a damper on the outlook of our economy.

If Wall Street banks are shameless, what about the rest of us? When are we going to demand accountability instead of just talk about it?

It's Christmas Time, Again

Christmas time is here again. Gifts will be given, lights will be strung, and people everywhere will have good-will in their hearts. This year people will be cutting back because of the economy. Less spending is not good for the overall financial health of our nation, but maybe reining in the extravagance will be good for our mental and personal health. Christmas giving has gotten to be way too much anyway. Maybe the crisis on Wall Street, with the banking industry, and with the Big Three automakers has made us look at ourselves and made us realize we are indeed a nation of excess. Even people who are not in fear of loosing their jobs are cutting back and are spending less. This could be a good thing...

The gift of helping others may get a big boost, especially when we see how lucky we really are, and how we need to stick together to get through this financial mess.

Good wishes to all, and peace on earth...

I want it now

After my big rant yesterday about Wall Street and the financial bailout, I began to think more about how this financial situation could have been allowed to happen. I was blaming the "Big Guys" up in Washington, DC. But I really began to worry about how this mess was going to effect me personally. The operative word being "me." I have grown up in a "me, me, me" culture. I have contributed to this climate of greed and recklessness. I have been guilty of saying "I want it, and I want it now."

I have a job that pays decent money; however, I expect my bank or credit union to give me easy credit when I "need" it. We all have laughed at the number of credit cards and bank offers we receive. Maybe all this easy money comes at a price we have been willing to ignore. We all knew something was just not quite right about it.

Well...now it is time to pay the piper.

Wall Street Financial Crisis

Our leaders in Washington,DC have a crisis. The financial crisis didn't occur overnight and it can't be resolved overnight; but, we are being told that if we don't agree to throw lots of money to bail out Wall Street (no questions asked!!!) that our entire economy will collapse. Bull.

This sounds like the old sales pitch that goes: "The deal is only good for today! The price goes up at midnight!! We have to have your answer now!!!"

I can't believe President Bush went on TV and told the American people that MORE people would lose their homes, their pensions, their jobs unless we agree to this bailout...since when did he get concerned about this??? Yesterday??? Apparently while the American people were being tricked and duped, the leaders of our country sat back believing that unregulated greed could rule the day. Who has been looking out for the average citizen??? Not the CEO's or CFO's, not the banks or mortgage houses.

The free reign given to banks and credit companies on Wall Street during the 1990's needs to be brought under control. If they can't do honest and responsible business, they don't deserve to be in business.

Why do these irresponsible entities think the taxpayer should rescue them after they have run the well dry by reaping gigantic profits for themselves. Being irresponsible should not be rewarded.

I fully understand that my 401(k) has already decreased in value and will probably look even worse as the next few weeks and months go by; but, I do not care to see my hard earned money thrown out to fix a problem that should never been allowed to happen. Yes, it needs to be fixed. Yes, government oversight is needed. I don't have to like it. I don't want to see the same people who got us in this crisis in the first place to be rewarded. I am stressed out by the lack of leadership by our government. I want to see thoughtful, carefully planned out solutions. The knee-jerk reactions of DC have surprised me. Maybe I am naive. I believe all will eventually be straightened out, and hopefully we will become stronger. In the mean time, I hope real solutions will be found and implemented, and that measures will be taken to prevent this bailout mentality.

Accountability needs to return to business. Large profits can't be artificially produced and then Woops! disappear overnight. This shifting the blame and pretending not to know how on earth these things could have happened has got to stop. Theories of finance and how money markets work may need some tweaking. Are the experts that far off the track?