blessmyendeavors

I admit right now, before I state my opinion today , I am a bit of a snob in certain aspects. I’m a poor person, hit hard by this economy, and I’m barely scraping by. I’m not whining; please don’t think that. I’m at this point due to decisions I’ve made and things I’m accepting as my responsibility. I chose to move back here, to live near my elderly parents in a depressed area for the remainder of their lives. When they are gone, I’ll move on with my life.

However, in comparison to many, I’m fairly well-off. I own this house; no mortgage, no landlord. We have only a prepaid GreenDot Mastercard which doubles as our pay card and it suits our needs just fine. Our cars are used, and likewise paid for. Our monthly bills amount to less than $300, excluding groceries and gas. By these standards, I’m almost rich. It makes me a bit of a snob though, when I listen to these bailouts reported on the news. I know how to live on low income.

I think the government helping keep these jobs going is a good thing. It needs to be done. What irks me though is how the employees are the biggest ones set to suffer. What I’d like to see is the bailouts given, with strings attached. I think every corporate person, and Board Member, and CEO, in the companies in trouble should take a paycut to a level of not more than $10 an hour more than their highest paid company worker; and no bonuses unless the employees get one first ! And yes, I do feel that is a generous amount.

I think they need to remember to be hungry again. I think they need to be worried about their personal bills again.

Don’t get me wrong; I see nothing wrong with people reaching for their dreams. I do see plenty wrong with gluttony at the top, as workers who provide the labor that supports that upper platform live under the threat of losing their abilities to reach for their dreams. If a company is in trouble due to bad decisions of the company leaders, let the leaders take the first cuts. They aren’t stupid; they have safeguards in place to continue their lifestyle for years, if they have any intelligence at all.

What many people don’t understand is that in reporting the pay rate of many autoworkers, the insurance and other non-tangible benefits are counted as hourly wages. When my step-father worked for one of the major auto companies, his wage was reported as $22 an hour, when in fact, he was only earning $16. He has been retired for over 15 years, and once more has to start worrying if he will be able to keep his home if his autoworker’s retirement dries up. He’s 80 years old and worked for them all his life. He can’t start over.

I personally think Jay Leno has a good idea. Give American people the money, let us sign a contract to buy an American made car with it. We buy the car, the autoworkers keep their jobs to build the cars, and the money finds its way to pay the bills to keep the companies afloat. LOL..Its a win / win situation. The money for the bailouts is ultimately coming out of our pockets anyway.