29 September 2008

Day One - Fall Cleanse

I've really procrastinated too long. My plan was to complete the lemon cleanse once a season... that would be four a year. Since I missed my summer cleanse, the fall cleanse really has to be completed. There is so much I need to get rid of, both physically and mentally. I know from experience that the lemon cleanse can do this.

My day started off watching the stock market and the live coverage of the bailout hearing in the House. It's interesting that the media is reporting the failure of the bill as a disaster. Passage of this bill is a disaster. Ask anybody who knows anything about addiction... you don't feed addictions - you have to attack the root of the problem. In this situation, we have CEO's and board members of banks that found a way to make a lot of money - by charging high interest rates to risky borrowers. It makes business sense... if you are going out on a limb for a borrower, you should be able to charge a higher interest rate. This can lead to much higher profits for these banks. Obviously, the big concern for the banks would be the borrower defaulting on their loans. This is the prime definition of risk.

So what happens when risk is taken away for the banks? This bailout ensures that these banks will be able to collect on the debt no matter what... whether from the borrower or from the government.

Why can't I get a sweetheart deal like that? I'd start 4 businesses tomorrow if I knew that I could borrow money and be protected even if the worst happens. We can't do this as a country. We have to reward risk, but also have to protect the market... if an idea or a business proposal is not worthy of success on the market, it should be allowed to die. These are the basic principles the United States were built on.

So, my solution to the financial crisis is to let the bastards die. We're better off without them.

So, day one of the lemon cleanse and we are only on the verge of financial ruin as a country. And my head hurts. Let's hope tomorrow works out better.

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