Posted on 02/15/2009 9:37:19 AM PST by Kaslin
My wife and I fixed dinner for two friends last night -- both are prominent businessmen. The conversation turned to the bailouts and whether or not it was possible for ordinary Americans to cash in on the trillions of dollars being dished out by congress in the last couple of months.
Those American Thinker readers who are familiar with the twin bailout bills (the TARP bill passed by the Democrat congress under President Bush and the “stimulus” bill passed by the Democrat congress under President Obama) know that there is almost nothing in either bill for the “average” American.
Money from the first bailout bill went to banks and mortgage companies. It didn’t go to everyday Americans. The second bailout bill is targeted to special interests like education, health care, state and local governments. Again, there is not much in the bill for you and me. What’s a red-blooded American got to do to get his or her red-blooded share of the bailout money?
As we approached the end of our second bottle of wine, the ideas on how to grab our own little piece of the bailout pie started to flow. Not all of the ideas were legal -- and a few may have been amoral. But one idea struck me as worth pursuing (at least as a theoretical enterprise):
All ordinary Americans should get a new credit card -- a credit card issued by one of the banks receiving bailout funds. The credit card is to be used solely for one purpose: to pay off our income taxes. So the 100 million or so hard working Americans, who still have jobs and still pay taxes, will put all of our tax payments on a credit card -- and then we will refuse to pay off those credit cards.
Since the government has bailed out the banks issuing our credit cards, at least some of that bailout money will be going to the average American.
Ordinary Americans get to kill two birds with one stone: we all get a piece of the bailout action (the federal government pays off our credit card debt) and we don’t have to pay any federal taxes. (The government will pay them for us!)
Of course our plan is nonsense (although it was a lot of fun to talk about) and it would only lead to a massive spiral of debt.
In reality, our little credit card plan is very close to the bailout bill that the Democrats have endorsed and passed into law. The economy will be “stimulated” by federal spending of a trillion dollars on a hodge-podge of projects.
If “stimulating” an economy was that easy, why not just have the government pay everyone’s taxes? We would have more money to spend, the government could pay itself as much as it deserved, and everyone would live happily ever after.
Why not? Because, as everyone who lives in the real world understands, economies just don’t work this way. Someone, somewhere, must produce and sell actual goods and services. Someone, somewhere, must bake the bread, package the computer, screw the hinge on the car door, nail the sheetrock on the wall. And that someone, somewhere, is NEVER the government.
Now where did I put that credit card application?
Invest in certain infastrucure companies or ETFs
Invest in Trail Lawyers Companies
Stop paying your mortgage.
Buy gold & crude oil ETFs.
thanks for posting!
Why not?
And in so doing you screw up your credit rating.
Before last summer I was getting at least 2 credit card offers a week. Lately there have been zero. Thats fine. I have no credit cards and want none.
A concern I have is how credit ratings are used to manipulate people. A lot of good people, through no circumstances of their own making, will lose homes and autos due to unemployment and loss of income. Bad credit is like a ball and chain, keeping good people who regain employment from having anything meaningful, including a voice for decades. Don’t try to run for public office with a bad credit rating. You will be crucified as irresponsible.
Even though the government you try to join has a far greater magnitude of irresponsibility.
If there is a job sector that will undoubtedly grow, will be the collections agencys. There will be a lot of openings for top notch a-hole pro’s scavenging from honest people’s misfortunes.
But i do like the idea in principal of paying taxes on credit cards and defaulting. Serves em right.
If you default on your credit card, you can declare bankruptcy. The bankruptcy laws have changed so that it is not so easy to discharge your debts in bankruptcy. I doubt that you would be able to discharge a tax debt in bankruptcy even if the tax debt was charged on a credit card.
I have been thinking about more creative ways to starve the beast through tax avoidance and tax payment delays. Given the current trends, many will simply react to the negative incentives by conservative investing especially through tax free bonds, working less, and spending less. These activities on a large scale are certain to starve the beast. Others will move assets and engage in the underground economy to avoid confiscatory taxation. I think we need a new national sport of tax avoidance. In Europe and Italy especially, tax avoidance has been a national sport for many years. It seems that we need to bring the same spirit here to protest and fight the violation of our private property rights that the rats will unleash on us.
Maybe "Steal This Book" by Abbie Hoffman should go into reprint.
Somehow this is reminiscent of the 60's....where the potheads sat around getting stoned and figuring ways to "bring down tha man". We had one of those in office already.... when Clinton took the stage. Now we have the coke-head.
While you could certainly use some of these tactics to get "tha man"... you ultimately mess yourself up and help tank the economy at an accelerated rate.....
We just need to polish the pitch-forks and soak the torches..... :)
Sounds like a 100% tax cut to me. That would stimulate the economy more than this so-called stimulus bill.
“A lot of good people, through no circumstances of their own making, will lose homes and autos due to unemployment and loss of income.”
BS! If they didn’t have the money in the bank to pay for any card purchases they had no business charging anything.
They deserve to lose everything they have!
What an astounding coincidence!
I wrote a vanity on the Stimulus bill this morning...
Cheers!
Correction -- 100,000,000 Americans "screw up" their credit ratings. If that actually happened and nobody extended any further credit to them, the economy would crash and everybody would lose. It might be very interesting to see what would happen if that many people had that much discipline, organization and audacity.
Did you notice that the writer said the plan is pure nonsense and would only lead to a massive spiral of debt?
I get credit card offers all the time. They go immediately into the shredder. Only the return envelope goes into the trash
I was listening last week to Glenn Beck or Rush (I can’t remember which) and one of them brought up the vouchers for the TV converter boxes. He said they were bought up by the hundreds and thousands by people who sell them at a profit
He said it like all that’s out in our future somewhere. Reality is, we’re already there.
I am not part of that. But I am open to it if it means ripping off Obama.
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