Madder than Hell and Ready to Fight

The other day in the Village Barber Shop a guy said he's afraid of the "Obama Debt" and all the "Bailout crap," in his words. So, I ask him if he knew that the bailout of the banks was actually making money for the government. For example, I asked, "Did you know that the government actually made $8 billion on the $30 billion bailout of Citigroup? Yep. The government gave Citigroup $30 billion and got back $38 billion." I don't really call that a bailout. I call that an "Investment." I ask him if he knew that of the approximately $700 billion TARP bailout funds, the government's actual loss would be around $70 billion because of AIG. "Do you know, for example, that even the car companies, Chevy and Chrysler, are paying back every cent the government loaned them? And, the bailout saved several thousand jobs doing it because of the loans. Did you know that?"

"That's bullshit," he says. So, I asked him, "What is your source of information?" "Rush Limbaugh," he says. "Oh God," I said, "What you need is a good slap up side the head to knock some sense into you. If you're listening to Rush Limbaugh, who doesn't know shit about the economy, instead of people like Paul Krugman, who is a Professor of Economics at Princeton University, then you've got your head up your ass." Well, that made him mad enough to fight. But, so was I. I'm so fed up with stupid people I could eat nails. He stood up and so did I, but he thought better of it and left. I was fuming, but I got a haircut anyway, although it was the most unpleasant haircut I've had in a long while. I didn't hear a peep for the thirty minutes I was in the chair.

But, that seems to be where were headed, following some of the stupidest people, such as John Boehner, Michele Backman, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Newt Gingrich, Meg Whitman, Carly Fiorina, Ron Paul and Rand Paul and all of the other idiots like them right over the cliff. This week I heard more idiots come out of the woodwork than I think I've heard for awhile. And, it seems that any further stimulus for jobs is a thing of the past. Even the extension for unemployment insurance is failing because of warped thinking that it "makes people lazy and to stop looking for jobs." Do you really believe that $250 goddamned dollars a week will make people want to not work? It's such a pitiful amount! It won't even pay for the groceries for most families. Are you crazy?

Paul Krugman's Op-Ed Columnist - Myths of Austerity - NYTimes.com pretty much says it all. All Republicans and Libertarians have now firmly shoved their heads up their asses and cannot now see where they're going and, amazingly, while in that contorted position, they appear to be dreaming. Personally, I'd think it would be hard to breath in that position let alone dream. It's not a pretty sight; arms flailing, goose stepping while milling about in circles, contorted into a human ball with their heads up their asses and all afraid of the boogie man who they claim is Obama. Given the choice of investing in America's infrastructure, which is, by the way, long, long 50 or more years overdue, with a stimulus and hording their wealth like Silas Marner, they are choosing to be like Silas.

Ok, if you insist, go ahead and do it your way. I say that out of spite only, though, because I want to be able to say at the end, when you've driven America to the level of some Banana Republic in Central America, that "I told you so, you idiot." In the meantime, don't talk to me.

To think that I spent 20 years in the Navy for idiots. What was I thinking?

Dave