Abdullah Budeir

11/28/11
Time to Bail on Bailouts

Why is it that a taxpayer unwillingly pays money to an
irresponsible company to keep them afloat, when thousands
of small businesses collapse and no one cares. Why is it
that the concept of fairness is abandoned for a greater
good, which is determined by a few elite, and not by the
people. Why do certain lawmakers, who are continually
lobbied with cash by the very companies that are being
bailed out, get to determine how the wealth of Americans is
distributed to companies of their choice. These are all
questions that jab holes into the idea of the government
bailing out certain companies. It is these holes and
falsehoods that lead me to the following position. The
government should never bailout any corporation, big or
small because of the plethora of unfairness's, injustices,
corruptions, and similar untold horrors that could
potentially wreak havoc on what we as Americans, call a
free market, and on the principles of our constitution.
Politicians tell us that this is all done for the sake of
jobs. The issue is, instead of adding jobs; the companies
take the money, and line their executive's pockets with
cash. This completely nullifies the job-creating argument.
While bailouts may seem like a fitting short-term solution,
in the long haul they deteriorate at the idea of capitalism
and threaten our financial and personal lives. I
confidently believe that a government for and by the
people, should never bailout private businesses in order to
protect fairness, justice, and a free market that we pride
ourselves on.
Jne of the main reasons that the government shouldn't
bailout companies is because it simply is not fair. I'm not
referring to inequality between lower and upper class. As a
matter of fact I believe that people who've started
successful businesses, have the right to their wealth just
like any of us. Anyone should be able to climb the economic
ladder. After all, that is what distinguishes our country.
The concern is that it is not fair that the government
selects certain companies to stay alive by receiving
bailout money, while others are ignored. After all, that
destroys the basic element of capitalism, and freedom. Who
are these people to choose a corporation to survive, and
rationalize it with the idea of job creation. In reality
all companies create jobs and it is not the choice of
politicians to choose which companies they save. The
purpose of the government as outlined by the constitution,
is to serve and protect the people. Bailouts of selected
companies do not serve or protect the people. In fact they
do the opposite. Why should, for example a local repair
shop that's been around for decades, and served the
community, go bankrupt, when another company who just
happens to have more lobbyists, receives a massive bailout
thrown at it by the government. The same government that
gives their citizens, who are in much worse economic
condition than the executives, no choice in which company
the government chooses to dump their hard earned money on.
This is a classic example of the government favoring
companies over the people that they serve, and thus over
fairness. Either way you look at it this is not acceptable
in a free market, and because of that, it's not a fair
practice to bailout a company. As outlined in the
constitution, this is a country of values such as freedom,
liberty, and justice, and it would be absurd to sacrifice
our values and morals, specifically fairness, for the
shortsighted gain of a corporation, regardless of its
impact on the economy. Fairness may not be sacrificed to
save a company, any company; it's just that simple.
Another factor that makes bailouts wrong is the
possibility of corruption. As mentioned, with the use of
bailouts comes inevitable unfairness to taxpayers and other
corporations. Lobbyists and company executives could easily
bribe the government to send them a load of taxpayer money
and make sure their competitors are left out in the cold.
Bailouts leave the door wide open for any corporation to
build on the unfairness's caused from bailouts by
encouraging them to bribe the government to give them a sum
of cash known as a bailout. Even a possibility of this
happening is completely unacceptable due to the fact that
it would release utter chaos into our entire system of
finance and government, by essentially turning it into a
corrupt bunch of bribed politicians claiming to work for
the people, but really working for the corporations.
Basically, bailouts allow for a heap of issues, in terms of
corruption, due to their unfair nature. Bailouts invite
corruption and deceit, which are against the interests of
capitalism and the American people.
Jn an ordinary day in some American city, a family
business is forced to close down, leaving dozens of hard
working citizen's jobless and a dream of prosperity
shattered. This is an example of what happens when a
business fails. It may not seem like a great outcome, but
it is in essence a demonstration of a free capitalist
economy. Consumers decide what to buy and businesses meet
demands. It is not the job of the government to meddle with
the affairs of private businesses. That would be communism,
where the government determines the economic outcome of
businesses and they are controlled politicians. How is it
fair for a couple of lawmakers to pick and choose the
businesses that they will save and the ones that will fall
by the wayside. Thousands of American businesses ranging
from massive to minuscule go down each year and its simply
unfair to select a few to survive. Why is it that, for
example, when my dad's business fails he doesn't get bailed
out, but other mega industries do, when he's the one paying
to keep these massive firms up and running. I want one
decent human being to explain that. It is time for us to
decide whether we, as a country, are for the people, or for
the corporation. Why doesn't the government bail me out
when I'm broke. Why do massive companies receive money to
stay alive from my pocket, when they just stuff it into
their executive's pockets with massive bonuses. Am I
supposed to pay for the bonus of an executive at some jumbo
bank while my house is being foreclosed. These are a few
examples of scenarios that bailouts create each and every
day. These are also examples of government running the
economy instead of letting freedom, and the markets decide
who wins and who loses. It is not, and will never be the
job of any working American to pay another company to save
them form bankruptcy simply because the government picks
companies to endure. If you're company goes down I'm not
going to pay for your bailout because of you're
unsuccessful business. What we have witnessed in the last
few years with recent bailouts, is a blatant violation of
capitalism, of the constitution and of freedom, and it must
be stopped.
Politicians, many of whom are puppets for
corporations, will claim bailouts save American jobs. The
facts are many companies who received government bailouts
continued to layoff workers as executives received enormous
bonuses. Bailouts do not create or save jobs, they simply
violate the constitution and freedom. Communists claimed
that communism would reduce poverty by spreading the
wealth; while they may have spread wealth they also spread
injustice and corruption. The point is, no matter the
reason, it is not justifiable to sacrifice fundamental
principles for short-term gains, and that's what bailouts
do.
Bailouts are unjust, unfair, lead to corruption, and
violate the ideals of the constitution, and a free market.
These are things that as Americans, we cannot sacrifice for
the financial gain of businesses. The existent, and proven
reasons that bailouts should not occur are unfairness,
possible corruption, and destruction of ideals and
capitalism. It is insanely hypocritical for our government
to claim they support freedom, liberty, and justice, then
turn around, and decide which businesses will fail and
which won't. The bottom line is that Americans don't need,
or want government choosing that our money goes to
businesses of their liking, while millions are jobless, and
have had their own businesses fail in front of their very
own eyes. Its time for us to be fair. To be just; and to
uphold freedom at its core. Its time for us to bail on
bailouts.