My rants and raves with a bail out plan.

Three big questions are on everyone's mind today regarding the governments bailout of our financial institutions. 1) After a weekend to crunch options is this the best one? 2) Is it necessary? 3) Will it ultimately work? No one seems to have these answers.

Last week when the Federal Reserve and the US Treasury Department decided that we were in a mess and finally came to the realization of how dire a problem it is. This is my first problem. In a digital age where we wait for nothing, fast food, instant messaging and electronic everything, our economic system seems to still be using a quill pen. The definition of a recession to CNBC is 2 or more straight quarters of negative GDP. (Gross Domestic Product a measure of national income and output.)  

To me that is like the TV weather reporter telling you it is clear out and it is pouring down the rain. STICK YOUR HEAD OUTSIDE AND LOOK BEFORE YOU SPEAK! Foreclosures, poor job outlooks, bad credit and failing banks have been here for months. Yet we have to wait until near collapse to be motivated enough to find try and fix it? We had to know in this age of instant everything, yet money puts blinders on many people. The plan does not seem to address people losing their homes. It does address saving big corporations who all have Wallstreet addresses.

Second problem I have with this type of intervention from our government. My father worked for 33 years for Bethlehem Steel from late 50s to the late 80s. He had a good job with a good US company. Foreign imports of steel and failure to be competitive caused the company to fail. My father lost his benefits and all that he had worked for. His retirement was worth zilch, zero, nada. No golden parachute for someone who dedicated his life to the company he worked for. In 33 years he had worked his way from shoveling coal to foreman of a mining operation when he retired. No government bailout either for this long time American steel company.

Last, lots of companies fail with good ideas and bad decisions. Some fail with bad ideas and good decisions. Yet they fail just the same. It is the price to be paid for mis-management. It is also the way our country was built. The strong survive, the weak, well they get bailed out in 2008...

I believe that Fed Chairman Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Paulson were on target  to be afraid we were headed for a disasterous situation with our banks and money market funds. Maybe a year too late...