(Notes: I was offered the manager's position of the computer software section at the OMB (Office of Management and Budget) many years ago. It was $5,000 more a year than my current salary at the time.   Congressional committees would submit proposals for spending tax dollars for analysis by the software programs at OMB.   The software programs would help the committees determine if the tax expenditures were going to get the best return for their investment or expenditure.   I did not take the position because I believed in the work that I was performing for West Publishing Company.

I had been working on the West Legal Database in anticipation of building the Westlaw Legal Retrieval System.   After it was implemented, Westlaw took a $500 million a year in sales company to a $3.4 billion a year corporation.   But I digress.   If I had taken the OMB position, I would have enjoyed the medical insurance and retirement plan for my medically challenged family.

ROI or Return On Investment is often a very difficult concept to understand much less predict in terms of dollars and cents.   The bailout of our financial institutions was justified by those that believed that they understood ROI.   Did they?   Will we ever know if they did?   I would like you to consider the following alternative that has become a joke with a serious side to it.  

Bailout Economics Made Simple for Congress (Best Way to Spend Taxes)   Or, How to Bailout "Joe Blow" (PC term by Congress for "Ignorant Voter")   Dear Mr.. President,   Please find below my suggestion for fixing America 's economy.  Instead of giving billions of dollars to companies that will squander the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan. You can call it the "Patriotic Retirement Plan":   There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force.  Pay them $1 million apiece severance for early retirement with the following stipulations:    1) They MUST retire.  Forty million job openings - Unemployment fixed.    2) They MUST buy a new American CAR.  Forty million cars ordered - Auto Industry fixed.    3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage - Housing Crisis fixed.    It can't get any easier than that!!    P.S. If more money is needed, have all members in Congress pay their taxes...    Mr. President, while you're at it, make Congress retire on Social Security and Medicare. I'll bet both programs would be fixed pronto!   "Joe Blow" as viewed by Congress.

An Analysis By A Reader

It's a silly idea to suggest giving the 40 million Americans a million dollars. (I know that this e-mail is a joke) The problem with that idea is the size of the total! Add six zeros on the $40M and the result is $40 Trillion total!

The U.S. currently collects about $2.2 Trillion in taxes annually out of the $3.3 Trillion that they currently spend. The total U.S. economy is about $14T.

There is no easy answer to America's financial woes. For over sixty years our leaders and many of our citizens have been spending more than we earn. We have been able to do it because our dollar is the world's medium of international exchange. The IOUs that say Federal Reserve Note on them have been continuously devalued as we dilute the dollar money supply in order to spend more than we earn. We pay off debt by using notes that are worth less than the dollars that were originally borrowed.

In the recent G-20 meeting, it was proposed that the U.S. dollar be discontinued as the world's medium of international exchange, and that a new exchange medium be issued and controlled by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). If this happens, it will accelarate the demise of our financial system. As things currently stand, we are currently dependent on China (currently holding 44% of our debt) and other nations to continue to buy our debt. Within a generation at the current deficeit rate, we may no longer be able to pay the interest on the National Debt. When this happens the U.S. dollar will collapse. End of Notes.)