Daily Archives: November 12, 2008

Paulson Press Conference: Yawn

The biggest question most people have right now is where does the government plan to stop on this bailout circus? Of course, most folks probably want the government to stop bailing out companies right after their company is bailed out.

I’d like a personal bailout. I have a mortgage and some other debt. It would be great if old Hank Paulson would just swoop in and clear out my debt. I promise to pay you back, Hank. You won’t see me at a spa and resort living it up, either. I will hide out for a few months until the anger subsides from those who did not get a bailout. Psst, I won’t brag to my neighbors about being bailed out, either. Maybe I should start a PayPal account for donations?

Frankly, I don’t understand most of what is happening, and I think a lot of people are like that. We understand that some bad things (like mismanagement) happened to some companies and the Government has stepped in to bail them out. Most of us believe the mess was created by the government not watching these companies closely, and it is not solely a mess created by the Republicans or the Democrats. Both are to blame. Of course, we’ve read or watched on TV as some of these companies held retreats and some CEOs received nice packages after being fired or retired.

Now, Congress is planning on heading back into session to spread some more of our money around like throwing a life preserver to the folks on the Titanic. I was against the $700 billion bailout. I will be against other efforts. Max Baucus is getting ready to unveil the mother of all healthcare proposals, which means even more money will be spent and the red ink will continue to pile up.

Most of us believe in responsibility. I think most of us come from the angle of let the chips fall where they may. No more bailouts, period. Most of our parents and grandparents would be shocked at the path this country has taken. My parents had one credit card their whole lives and that was only used to make reservations when they traveled, infrequently. Then they paid the hotel bill in cash.

Finally, you have to laugh at this whole mess. I caught myself yawning several times as Hank Paulson spoke about the financial mess: Bueller?… Bueller?… Bueller? When he stopped to swig some water from a bottle, my first thought was that this would make a good sketch on Saturday Night Live. Instead of drinking water, Hank could be swigging from a bottle of Jack Daniels as we watch an insert on the screen of the Dow Jones Industrials falling like rock while Hank is getting drunk. Then we’d see Hank looking at the numbers falling and trying to say things to make them go back up.

I see humor in most things, but it is getting tougher during this disaster.

Failure

In an update to a recent post called, “Deficiencies” the Military Times is now reporting that Malmstrom AFB failed its Nuclear Surety Inspection (NSI).

In the article called “Malmstrom missile wing fails nuke inspection” it was reported that “inspectors found problems with the wing’s weapons storage area and its personnel reliability program, which monitors who can work with nuclear weapons.”

Ouch.

The inspectors will return in 90 days to re-inspect. As someone who spent some time in the Air Force, I can tell you these 90 days will be tough. Plus, the 90 days is through the holidays and may mean a few less holiday cocktail parties for the senior leadership at the base. Tough times indeed.

The Air Force has been having some serious problems over the last few years. This is another negative mark. Luckily for the current leadership at the base, the Military Times reports that nobody will be fired, although from my experience it’s probably a career ender for some.