Posted by
peripheral on Thursday, October 09, 2008 6:42:40 AM
From My Perspective - - -
Several years ago, a
crusty US Senator Everett
Dirksen from Illinois
was known to have said: “A million here and a million there – soon we’ll be
talking about real money.” One wonders what he might say if he was alive
today. A Billion here and a Billion
there – soon it will be a Trillion or more.
In the midst of the government “bailout” (albeit they would like to use
the word “rescue”), one of the benefactors of the Government’s Distribution of
monies was the AIG Company (American International Group, Inc.). They became
the recipients of $85 Billion Dollars). It is intriguing to see what they have
done with some of that money in the midst of the financial and economic
tsunami. The Press is reporting the following: “After government rescue,
insurance firm AIG partied at swank resort”
The article states: “Days after federal officials agreed to an $85
billion bailout of American International Group, the insurance firm spent more
than $440,000 for a corporate retreat at a swanky California resort. An invoice
from the week-long getaway, a copy of which you'll find below, was obtained by
the congressional panel that has been holding hearings this week about Wall
Street collapses and executive excess. The late-September AIG gathering at the
St. Regis Resort in Monarch
Beach cost $443,343,
according to the invoice. The six-figure sum covered hotel rooms, banquets,
golf fees, and spa services at the resort south of Los Angeles.” What does out Government then
do? They have extended this company an additional 38 Billion Dollars for the
so-called “rescue”!
In today’s Wall Street Journal Opinion Page, the following
“solution” is suggested for some of our nation’s woes (Commentary about the
Presidential Debate on Tuesday): “The rarest coin in the realm now is
confidence. Let us posit that John McCain and Barack Obama in their debate or
at any given hour are doing next to nothing to raise confidence. They have
company in their failure -- 533 other Members of Congress and one president. President
Bush's approval rating hangs at 25%, nearly an unprecedented low. Congress's
approval is at historic lows. A Rasmussen poll last weekend said nearly 60% of
the public would chuck the entire Congress. The standard remedy for this in
political systems everywhere is throw the bums out. In 2006's off-year
congressional election, the American people threw out one set of Republican
bums, and if current polls mean anything, replaced them with the Democrats'
finest bums. Maybe it's time for Plan B. Mark down 2008 as the year that many
large public and private institutions hit the wall. Suddenly, in different
ways, they were manifestly failing. Why? Tuesday's presidential debate offered
a glimpse. Amid the din of crashing banks in the U.S.
and Europe and stumbling government efforts to
plug the dikes, Barack Obama and John McCain airily promised to wave into life
one grandiose solution after another for health insurance, Social Security,
energy supplies and incomes. Do serious voters believe any of this?”
My Grandmother lived in our home until her death. She had many
pithy statements she would share from time to time. One of them was: “Waste not
– Want not!” What would happen within our government if that pithy statement
was applied? What if earmarks and grants and foreign aide, etc. were greatly
curtailed, reduced, or eliminated? Another parody that makes sense is: “If your
outgo exceeds your income, your upkeep will be your downfall.” The Scriptures
give practical teaching regarding finances. Among them is a passage from I
Timothy 6:7-10 (The Message), “Since we entered the world penniless and will leave it penniless,
if we have bread on the table and shoes on our feet, that's enough. But if it's
only money these leaders are after, they'll self-destruct in no time. Lust for
money brings trouble and nothing but trouble. Going down that path, some lose
their footing in the faith completely and live to regret it bitterly ever after…”
Consider these things with me - - - Good and practical
stewardship should be observed by us all. Our nation needs to return to sound
principles and careful expenditures. We have become a nation and people of
debt. We are at the point that debt-management is beyond our reach and
financial disaster lurks at the threshold of our nation. Be diligent to follow
sound financial management standards, and live within your means. Learn to save
rather than to spend. God will supply for all our needs when we honor him as
good stewards!