Posted by
Pauline Wolak on Monday, March 02, 2009 9:36:11 AM
As I filled up my gas tank this morning, I had an ephiany. We really are punishing success and rewarding failure in this country. The last eight years were spent reminding us how "evil" Big Oil was for daring to make a profit. The war was for Big Oil. The Bush administration was in Big Oil's pocket. Big Oil was getting tax deductions and credits?? No!! I'm not sure who exactly qualified as "Big Oil," but he was certainly universally hated.
Fast-forward one election, several months, and a new administration. Billions and billions of dollars have been heaped upon companies like AIG and Citibank. The banking and auto industries have been paid ridiculous amounts of our money. We're told it's because they're "too big to fail." The US government pretty much owns Citibank now.
Why are we rewarding companies with failed business plans? And why would we vilify companies make record profits?
It's not just companies either. The stimulus plan gives more money to unemployment and welfare, food stamps and WIC. We're going to be paying for the mortgages of people that were too stupid to read or understand a contract. We continue to reward bad choices. Dave Ramsey said it best this morning. You cannot take away failure without taking away success.