How about just a minute or two of perspective?
Amount to
bailout AIG - at least $85 billion
Amount to
bailout Citibank - at least $45 billion
Amount to
bailout Bank of America - at least $45 billion, with guarantees on $118 billion in loans
Amount the Bush administration
overpaid for bailed-out bank assets - $78 billion
Proposed cuts to President Obama's economic stimulus bill (currently being
debated by 20 "centrist" senators):
$1.1 billion to Head Start
$24.8 billion to states for budget shortfalls in education programs
$15 billion to states for additional education funding
$2 billion to Child Care Development Block Grants
$150 million to funding for programs in the Violence Against Women Act
Oh, and, hell, let's just throw this in:
Amount of just two years of George W. Bush's tax cuts:
roughly $500 billion (adjusting for interest). Two-thirds of that came from tax cuts on the top 20% of wage earners.
(Note: this leaves out the cost of operations in Iraq because, well, does it need to be said?)
Education funding is seed money for better paying jobs and a larger tax base. Assistance for families to help with child care has a direct impact on the ability of people to work. And, really, even talking about cutting $150 million in a bill like this is like saying, "If I stop putting nickels in the gumball machine, I'll be able to buy that car."
The unemployment
rate is 7.6%. And "centrists" (which is another word for "attention-seeking assholes begging to appear relevant") are quibbling over whether or not it'd be better to cut programs for health and education?
When you walk into an old house that's been neglected for years and is about to collapse into itself, yeah, you need to make sure the frame is stable, but you better get rid of the asbestos insulation before it infects everyone living there.
http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/
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