While listening to the evening news droning on with the same stuff, my right brain kicked in and came up with three ideas that are worth trying. After all, it couldn't get much worse.
The segment on Afghanistan [year 8] showed one of the American troop outposts in the middle of nowhere handing out food to a small village. The people were very happy to receive the packages. Of course they would! Idea #1: Drop Food Not Bombs. How much food could be purchased for the price of one small bomb? A lot, I'd imagine. Well, what about CARE packages with "GIFT OF USA" dropped on villages? The bullets, grenades and bombs don't seem to be winning too many Afghan friends. Food might.
Then there was the story of a man whose CitiBank credit card interest rate was raised to 29.99%. Yes, up from 8% a year ago. CitiBank, the billions-from-Uncle Sam bank screwing the same citizens who saved their sorry asses a year ago. Idea #2: Public Credit Card Burning Ceremonies. Recall the Draft Card burnings of the 1960's? Who knows if that had any effect on policy, but if Americans got together in the centers of town all across the nation, lit a fire, and invited townsfolk to throw their credit card into the inferno, Wall Street bankers might take notice. Even if they don't, one less credit card is good for the consumer.
One other story catching my eye this evening was the one about tight small business credit. It seems that those greedy banks that we bailed out don't want to lend their precious money [our precious money] to small businesses. They have bonuses to pay, you know. Idea #3: Government Loans Directly to Small Businesses. There is TARP money lying around, unused. How about funneling that money to local banks throughout America, earmarked expressly for small business- on the order of FHA home loans in the 1950's. One locally-owned bank in each of the 435 Congressional districts would receive ¼ billion dollars for starters. Paper work and loan distribution by 435 specially trained, local accountants.
Anyone want to add a 'why not' idea to these?
