"And to preserve their independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our election between economy and liberty, or profusion and servitude." Thomas Jefferson

I find our current "economic crisis" puzzling if not truly funny. In a matter of less than a week, the House and Senate answered the call to duty and approved a bill to make $700 billion dollars available to our lending institutions. As quoted in the hearing process, "Citigroup especially hard hit by the meltdown in risky, subprime mortgages made to people with tarnished credit or low incomes. Foreclosures on these mortgages spiked, leaving Citi and other financial companies wracking up huge losses on the soured investments. The company (Citigroup) has failed to turn a profit during the past four quarters." Citigroup then turned around and tried to buy another failing financial institution, Wachovia Corporation, which was bought instead by Wells Fargo & Company.

On Friday, Citigroup ask for another $25 Billion dollars from the bailout fund, they had initially received a payment of $25 Billion. When our legislators rushed to Washington D.C. to develop a plan, we were led to believe that the bailout fund would be in the neighborhood of $500 Billion. When it was finally approved by both houses and signed into law, it had escalated to $700 Billion. Since that time, the program was been revised a couple of times without Congressional approval.

As the dust starts to settle, three major automotive manufacturers (Ford, GMC, Chrysler) arrive in Washington D.C. to seek a $25 Billion dollar loan to provide a needed cash flow for their businesses. Part of the reason for this was that with the current "financial crisis" the lending institutions could not or would not make operating capital loans. No doubt, the CEO's of these companies earn mega bucks and flew to Washington D.C,. in each of their private jets to ask for a loan. However, it was just that a loan not a bailout. They employ over five million people in their workforce. Historically, these companies had borrowed money from the government in the past. The loans plus interest were paid back ahead of schedule.

What was their response from our elected officials in the hearing process. They were instructed to go back to their corporate offices and return to Washington D.C. on December 2nd with individual business plans. The same rules did not apply to the lending institutions, within days of the bill being passed these same institutions were receiving a fresh cash flow in the amount of billions, including Citigroup. Perhaps, if these same banks and lenders had a business plan, they would not have been lending money to those with "tarnished credit or low incomes", even requiring a social security number to obtain a loan would have helped.

Come to think of it, if the major automotive manufacturers are required to have a business plan, perhaps this is a good concept that our government could follow. A good business plan and a budget that is mandatory would be a very good start for our elected officials to follow.

Just as a side note, the Representative that was the most critical of the Automotive Executives flying to Washington D.C. in their private jets was Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi (D~ California). If my memory serves me right, she is the same person that raised holy hell when she became Speaker of the House because the U. S. Air Force was giving her a smaller plane than the Presidential, "Air Force One" to fly her around the country on tax payers money.