If I want stock in Ford or GM I will go out and buy some. I had some stock in AIG and lost my ass on it a few months back. That was my deal and I took the hit and I’m not asking the taxpayers of this country to bail me out.

If I want stock in Ford or GM I will go out and buy some. I had some stock in AIG and lost my ass on it a few months back. That was my deal and I took the hit and I’m not asking the taxpayers of this country to bail me out.

The government bailout of the banking industry has manifested itself as a real slippery slope. Now we are witnessing a parade of chief executives and mayors and governors sticking their hands out for a free ride. “You bailed out the banking and insurance industry, Uncle Sam, why not me?”   I do not wish ill on anyone. I realize some folks are suffering right now. But the best thing that could happen to some of these enterprises (or cities or states) would be for them to collapse into bankruptcy and start over fresh. To prop up failed enterprises with government money (yours and mine and our children’s and grandchildren’s) is pure folly. Albert Einstein defined this behavior with his definition of insanity: “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

So I say “no thanks” to the offer to have the country bail out Ford or GM or any other publicly or privately held enterprise “for the sake of the economy.” Capitalism has shown itself to be resilient and self-healing over and over and over again. Why do our political leaders not believe in it? Why do our citizens not believe in it? It is a mystery to me.

Look, my hometown was burned to the ground just to put an exclamation point on the end of the War Between the States. Today the only evidence remaining is etched on slabs of limestone scattered around in parks and some museums (and on the side of Stone Mountain). There was suffering but healing has followed and for some continues to this day. But we are alive and well and have much to live and be thankful for.

Events occurring on Main Street USA are nowhere near as horrific as the scene of Atlanta burning, but you would not know it from the media and the overreacting and overbearing federal government. I pray that our country will wake up and let the forces of nature in this economy take their course.

Somewhere, sometime, the people in this country started to believe that they were entitled to nothing but good times. If you are damaged or suffer in some way it is up to the rest of the people in the country to make you whole. Personal responsibility has given way to a mob mentality that is generating less productivity and more discontent.

Problem is we are living in a competitive world economy. We face a future of competing with emerging countries for resources and work. If we do not follow our own model of rewarding risk-takers and hard workers, we may wake up bankrupt ourselves.

Don’t get me wrong … there are some folks in some situations who need a helping hand. But if we do not allow strong individuals to prevail, whose hand will those in need reach out for? I pray our leaders will soon come to the realization that despite some reverses in the economy, we are going to come out of this leaner and more competitive. We will be just fine if they will just stick to the basics and not try to artificially save (any part of or all of) the economy.