Bailout Arithmetic

Change

Posted on March 14, 2009 by Blake Leath

I suppose the term 'bailout' will take on new significance this year, just as the phrase 'ground zero' did after 9-11.  Bailout meant something a year ago, and today it means something much more!

Though I remain dedicated to sharing only pithy thoughts in my Blog (and oh, hasn't that word been hijacked too?), I'll flex a bit on this rainy Friday and share the following, which came to me by way of a dear friend earlier this morning:

When Chuck was a young cowboy in Montana, he bought a horse from a farmer for $100.  The farmer agreed to deliver the horse the next day.

The next day the farmer drove up and said, "Sorry son, but I have some bad news... the horse died."

Chuck replied, "Well, then just give me my money back."

The farmer said, "Can't do that.  I went and spent it already."

Chuck said, "Okay, then just bring me the dead horse."

The farmer asked, "What ya gonna do with him?"

Chuck said, "I'm going to raffle him off."

The farmer said, "You can't raffle off a dead horse!"

Chuck said, "Sure I can, watch me.  I just won't tell anybody he's dead."

A month later, the farmer met up with Chuck and asked, "What happened with that dead horse?"

Chuck said, "I raffled him off.  I sold 500 tickets at $2 a piece and made $998."

The farmer said, "Didn't anyone complain?"

Chuck said, "Just the guy who won.  So I gave him his $2 back."

Chuck grew up and now works for the government.  He's the one who figured out how the bailouts are going to work.   

This past week, my wife and daughter and I traveled to Kauai and spent time with some wonderful people there.  As you can imagine, Kauai is struggling.  The hotel where we stayed reported 30% occupancy, compared with 100% occupancy for the prior seven years.  Yowza.

As we strolled a small shopping area one afternoon, we came across this sign outside an art gallery.  My Republican friends will surely love it, as will entrepreneurs, small businesses, capitalists, and for that matter -- most taxpayers.

My clients run the gamut.  Indeed, some are bailout-beneficiaries, others are government-centric groups, and some are small banks hanging on by their fingernails.  A great many are manufacturers and service providers in the private sector.  (One banking executive recently said to me, "In our new economy, the government seems to view an organization as 'too large to fail' or 'too small to save.'  In the end, we're all citizens committed to re-starting our economy.")

And as taxpayers, when we disregard the 'Wall Street vs. Main Street' rhetoric, I see much common ground.  In fact, more common than uncommon ground. 

Because in the end, we want justice, equality, opportunity, health, safety, happy children, and our shot at the pursuit -- or dare I say it -- the arrival of happiness.

Sometimes we wind-up feeling like Job, who lost ten children, his health, and everything he possessed.  But when he prayed for his friends, "the Lord made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before."  He died, old and full of years.

If you're not wishing the best for others or praying for them, maybe now is the time to do so.

All the best to you and yours; enjoy the weekend.