...at least friggin get it right. Today whilst browsing through the plumbing isle at my local big box store, enjoying the savings that only a tanked economy provides, I overheard two fellows of a slightly less than masculine inclination discussing the "bailout"...this was perhaps the 8th or 9th time I overheard a similar conversation:
First angry "man": "You know, if you distributed the 700 Billion to all the people in the US, we'd each have $425,000...how about that for trickle up economics...imagine what you could do with that!?!"
Second angry "man": "I'd pay off my mortgage AND redo my rumpus room!" (yeah, I made up the Rumpus room part)
But here's the problem: the $425,000 number stems from...wait for it...an accountant who started circulating an email during the AIG buyout, working backwards from $85 Billion and using the "every taxpayer in America" divisor. Problem was our math savvy friend was pretty shitty at his profession and missed by a factor of 1000. That's right, he was off by a factor of 1000!!!
Each taxpayer would receive a whopping $425.00 if the AIG bailout money were equally distributed. That's less than the "economic stimulus package" for most people.
The "per taxpayer" breakdown of the new $700 Billion economic stimulus package (depending on whether you use 2007 estimated census numbers or others) is roughly $3250 per taxpayer/household. Now, while I'm not turning up my nose at $3250.00, I'm also not a big fan of the whole bailout either, but for chrissakes people, how about we actually DO OUR OWN MATH before we start spouting off ignorant figures from the hip. After all, wasn't it leaving the math up to other people (hello predatory lenders, unregulated housing appraisals, and hedge funds with no oversight committee) that got us into this in the first place?
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