A creative, common-sensical bailout solution – again

My fellow Geniocity blogger, Peter Friedman, got exasperated Tuesday by the AIG bailout. Yesterday, he floated a solution to that absurdly Byzantine mess and it brought to my mind an e-mail that made the rounds last fall.

It was forwarded to me by a friend and I posted it in my blog of Oct. 10, 2008. Signed by “T.J. Birkenmeier, A Creative Guy and Citizen of the Republic,” it suggested, in essence, using the federal bailout money to help average citizens rather than the gi-normous conglomerates whose own rapacity had caused their collapse. Divide up the billions among ordinary Americans, Birkenmeier suggested, and let them use it for their mortgage payments, college tuitions, small businesses, vehicles, washing machines and all the other necessities they’re having trouble affording - thus supporting the banks, universities, manufacturers, stores, major employers and other organizations that are teetering financially.

The idea sounds sensible and fair, as well as ingeniously simple. I’d rather have my tax dollars go to keeping Americans in their houses, jobs and colleges than to sending some incompetent and grossly overpaid executives on vacations to visit their offshore bank accounts.  Wouldn’t you?

So Birkenmeier wanted to know, and I do, too – why wouldn’t that work?  Anybody? Anybody? Ben Stein?