Bailouts are supposed to help us – (heh!) why not cut out the middlemen (and their slices)?

I look at all of the billions (now trillions) of dollars being spent by our government supposedly to save us economically.  Billions to the banks, billions to other financial "houses", and the now all the hands are coming out to say "gimme, gimme, gimme" (car companies, states, cities) – this has to be one of the biggest give aways in history.

Politicians heeding the call for limited government and limited spending?  It would be funny if it wasn’t so sad.  In the little time that I have dabbled in politics it seems that every organization, every special interest, always believes that they can spend "the peoples money" better than the people can to, of course, to help the people. Not only are the politicans borrowing to spend our money, but we’ll have to pay interest on it as well!

It just seems that the bankrupt keep borrowing even more to give to others that have proven to be bad financial managers.

Well, here’s one idea that should save us money – if it is supposed to help us, why not just let us keep it in the first place?  It cuts out the middlemen, stops the whining and the "gimme guys", and eliminates the interest (H/T: Boortz, emphasis mine)

Press Release

CONVERT PAULSON’S LAST $350 BILLION INTO TAX HOLIDAY, SAYS U.S. CONGRESSMAN

Press Release : FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                           November 28, 2008

Convert Paulson’s Last $350 Billion into Tax Holiday, says U.S. Congressman

"Billions of Dollars for Taxpayers, but Not One More Penny for Executive Bailouts"

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As millions of Americans are hoping to maximize their holiday shopping budgets on today’s Black Friday bargains, one U.S. Congressman is fighting to prevent more outrageous spending sprees by Washington with taxpayer dollars going to executive cronies.

With $350 billion of the $700 billion bailout still available to Paulson pending Congressional approval, a conservative Texas lawmaker is proposing to put that money towards a tax holiday from both personal income tax and FICA tax for Americans during January and February of 2009.

He stated, "By instating a temporary tax holiday, we could electrify the American economy and provide overwhelming relief to taxpayers, all for less than the cost of the current failed Paulson-Pelosi bailout system."

"We need to give this money to the people who earned it. I am sick of Washington millionaires trying to decide which of their cronies should get the next wad of taxpayer money," Rep. Louie Gohmert continued. "Think about how much you would have if you didn’t have any social security or income tax withheld from your pay check, or if you didn’t have to pay those taxes for January and February! Americans could take and invest their own money where they believe it should go – to paying down mortgages, buying a new car, making credit card payments. The economy would get relief where it is needed the most. Why try to decide how to prevent foreclosures? Just give taxpayers their own money to catch up on their payments. Those in lower income brackets who are hit the hardest by the FICA tax would see huge money back, and then THEY could choose who should benefit from their hard earned money.  Even the self-employed and small business owners would receive a fantastic amount of their own much-needed money, and they will be able to invest that back into their businesses and even create the ability to hire more people.”

Gohmert is currently preparing a bill to declare the tax holiday for January and February of 2009 and is also gathering support at the same time. He said, “We can save more home mortgages, increase employment, and boost economic growth for a lower price tag with this plan than with any centralized bureaucratic program, all by giving the power back to the taxpayers. I am demanding that not another penny goes to executive bailouts, but these billions of taxpayer dollars should go to the taxpayers who earned them."

According to American Solutions, a conservative think tank founded by former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, Americans pay $101.6 billion per month in personal income tax and $65.6 billion per month in FICA tax. Under Gohmert’s proposed plan, all of these taxes would not be paid during January and February of 2009, and the money would stay in the hands of American taxpayers – the ones who best know where economic stimulus should be targeted. Gohmert’s two month tax holiday would stimulate the economy while costing less than the remainder of the Paulson-Pelosi bailout plan.

Rep. Louie Gohmert (TX-01) has also recently proposed returning all 2008 income taxes to American taxpayers as a solution to boost the ailing economy, as he believes taxpayers, rather than the government, should be using their hard-earned money to choose the economy’s winners and losers.

If you’d like to support Rep. Gohmert’s plan and tell Congress to put an end to the government’s excessive bailouts, sign the online petition at RedState.com by clicking HERE, or paste https://redstate.kimbia.com/taxholiday into your web browser.

Once again, I see politicians throwing tons of money around trying to make it stick and succeed.  The problem is, nobody knows if it is really going to work.  So why not let the people themselves spend it?

For you naysayers, let me tell you a wee story from my high school days playing varsity tennis.  A new hot-shot freshman showed up and he was very good.  Problem was, while he was good enough to beat the senior that had held the #1 single slot, this kid knew he was good – and let everyone know it all the time.

Then, the powerhouse team from the "rich" town showed up – the kid got beat bad, 6-0 and was he ticked.  And let us know it.  Seizing the opportunity, we "let him know" that he had lost.  Losing his temper, he screamed at this senior (who was not the main agitator at the time), "SO, you think you could have done BETTER?"

Quietly, the senior replied – "Well, at 6-0, I couldn’t have done any worse, could I?"