Treasure Secretary Henry Paulsen Looks Very Worried ... and well he should.

My position has shifted from being angry about the $700 billion financial rescue program to downright scared.  Every day Treasurey Secretary Henry Paulsen (former CEO of Goldman Sachs) comes out with some new screwball plan to use the remaining dollars, but like Chicken Little, his whining reasoning is becoming less and less believable.  Today, for example, he’s suggesting to relieve pressures on consumer debt, including credit cards, car loans, and student loans, which he believes are “creating a heavy burden on the American people and reducing the number of jobs in our economy.”

Somehow I don’t believe that my student loans, credit card bills, or car payments are creating any undue burden on the American people, and I’m not sure how reducing or changing the terms of my agreements will significantly impact or benefit anyone.  For people that it will impact, I’m not sure that I agree this will be of any help to the long-term improvement of our economy.  Quite the opposite, actually, because the money will be spent and spooked consumers will be unlikely to jump right back into school, a new car, or even additional credit card payments.

I feel differently on the efforts to save people from losing their homes, because a place to live is fundamental to our survival as an economy.  And, unlike credit card debt or student loans, homes return value to the community through soft value like community driven events and by offering real, tangible tax revenue.  That tax revenue represents a long-term vision that is likely to allow the government to continue functioning as this crisis continues and sustain when the crisis ends.

It’s surreal to me that Paulsen, a product of the system that created this mess, or anyone else believes that Paulsen is the right man to get us out of this situation.  His use of the $700 billion to date is a prime example of why I feel he’s the wrong person entirely.  His first energies have been given to provide for his peers – the banks, financial houses, and insurances companies.  The money put to AIG alone seems wasteful, irrational, and without promise of any return or short-term benefit.  At the same time, he continues to preach that $700 billion is what we need to stabilize this situation.  Is that a guess or a commitment, because right now it isn’t clear what comes next, and if you don’t know what’s next how can you know what’s needed or enough?  The straight answer – you can’t – and neither can Henry Paulsen.

Ranter