Stimulus bill and corporations

Don Jacobs

Contributor

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So I guess the thinking is we need to rescue large corporations from disaster or else their downfall could end up hurting everyone in America. We need to give them billions, not millions, billions of dollars. And we can’t attach any strings to the donation either. They can spend it on corporate retreats or executive bonuses. This is exactly what happened. Their own greed and incompetence created a disaster for their company, but they end up being rewarded and the rest of us foot the bill through our tax dollars. So they need a government bailout. If they don’t get what they want, they threaten to go under and drag the economy down even further. They threaten massive layoffs and cry doom and gloom. We are told letting one of these big banks, auto companies or insurance companies fail would create a domino effect. So we give them what they want. And what happens? They come back for more. The insurance giant AIG was given billions of taxpayer dollars to keep them afloat. Did they become profitable? Did they start paying the money back? Hardly. No, instead they come back and ask for another 30 billion dollars. And get it. Remember this is the same insurance industry that has been telling the American public for years that we need to pass laws to limit your right to sue if you get sick from tainted milk, mercury in your toothpaste or you end up losing your retirement nest egg due to corporate Enron type fraud. They’ve been telling us for decades that we need to pass tort reform or else they can’t be profitable. The sad thing is many in America believed them. I suppose it will only be a matter of time before they try to claim the reason for their financial troubles is because of too many lawsuits. So we’ll give them more billions of taxpayer dollars. And when people are hurt because of shabby unsafe products or lose their money in corporate Ponzi schemes, they’ll scream we need to limit these frivolous lawsuits or else they can’t be profitable. They’ll run expensive slick nationwide TV ads that vilify lawyers and show how lawsuits are hurting small businesses. As if they would ever fit the definition of a small business. An ad campaign to convince the public the American justice system is broken and needs a complete makeover, with new rules designed to benefit – guess who? And the irony of it all? The ad campaign will be paid for with your tax dollars.