Why We Need an 'Office of Financial Defense'

By Bill Glynn

The auto industry gets an oversight board, so why doesn't Congress? Politics found its way into the automaker industry and has appointed a "board" to oversee plans and the work out of Detroit. The stimulus plan is a political media bonanza. However, both efforts are inferior ways to get out of the rut. If our best private sector CEOs and company founders were part of a national board – an 'Office of Financial Defense' - they would never approve such plans. Let's pour billions into saving the giants and propping them up for a little while when we all know full well people aren't going to buy cars in a quantity enough to save them. Giving astronomical tax breaks to individuals and small business requires such a paltry sum of money; it won't be stimulating anything put the press. Do we all think that a governing board of the United States and Congress would ever run this county's finances like this? I can assure you, it would be vastly different and, in my opinion, the only way we can get this country steered back into the right direction. Congress is just not capable of managing the budget, spending and our money. There are only a handful of people there who really have the business experience to run our national P&L let alone balance a checkbook. [more...]