Miscellaneous bailout stuff

Slate has a fascinating guide that shows the scale of various bailout programs. According to Slate's guide, the government has only spent $1.604 trillion out of $5.568 trillion. Big 3 bailout supporters might argue that the $25 billion is pocket change compared with the total package. Maybe so, but when Congress voted to spent $600 billion on Fannie and Freddie, that means that the campaign contributions from those companies are worth 24 times as much to to members of Congress as the votes of autoworkers.

Much is being made of executives of bailed out companies still flying on corporate jets. But I would like to remind everybody that there is one organization that is $10 trillion in debt and its chief executive still has his own jet. While perks make up a small percentage of both corporate and government expenditures, cutting back on them is a great way to show you're serious about saving money. Maybe Obama can start telecommuting instead of flying back and forth.