A Trillion Here - A Trillion There

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!