John Baer: Someone explain this economic mess to me

I DON'T understand much

about economics and less about how we got to where we are, who's to blame or how we ever get back to normal, whatever that is, again.

In fact, I'm in the category of David Letterman, who recently asked, in a "Late Show" monologue, "Where did the money go? Did they shoot it into outer space?"

All I know is, I had some money in a 401K and now have a lot less, and I had some money in the stock market and now have a whole lot less.

I don't remember doing anything risky. I pay my mortgage and my bills and yet, along with most of you, I am caught in what President-elect Barack Obama calls "an economic crisis of historic proportions."

I also have this intuitive thought that if I'd been risky or made bad investments or, for whatever reason, didn't pay the mortgage, there'd be no rush by my government to bail my sorry self out.

So I find it odd-to-maddening that government spends billions of tax dollars to bail out Wall Street and big banks such as Citigroup, (probably) Detroit and Lord knows who else, and Congress gears up to pass a massive, maybe $700 billion, maybe even a trillion-dollar package to "stimulate" the economy.

Since select financial institutions and private companies need government aid because they are, in the current operative phrase, "too big to fail," I guess it follows that the rest of us are "too small to succeed."

Makes me think that there's more to it than subprime-mortgage issues, whatever they are, and makes me wonder where exactly all this bailout/stimulus money comes from.

I'm still waiting for someone to explain.

Usually bad stuff's due to accidents, mistakes, criminality or a combination of the three.

Obama, in introducing his economic team in Chicago yesterday, could have taken a moment to explain, unless of course, as I suspect, there is no good explanation.

Instead, he said that jobless rates are at an 18-year high, we could lose "millions of jobs" more next year and the economy "is likely to get worse before it gets better."

As he spoke, I watched the Dow Jones average drop from up 300 points to up 203 points.

(It did bounce back, though, ending the day up 396 points, which I guess is good.)

Because of all this, I can't shake the feeling that somebody's making money or stands to, whether it's those private-jet-setting automakers or bonus-baby bankers and brokers.

Don't we pay legislative oversight committees and government regulators to make sure the economy doesn't fail?

How come some of them aren't frog-marched in handcuffs to some federal pokey?

Since all this "rescuing" and "stimulating" involves tax dollars, I'd feel better if those controlling taxes offered at least symbolic gestures of remorse, caring or empathy.

Congress has that opportunity in January.

It can, for only the second time in a decade, decline its automatic pay raise, which this year was $4,100 per member as each of its 545 members currently hauls down base pay of $169,300 per year.

I mean is there a group of people on the planet LESS deserving of pay raises?

And speaking of the undeserving, your state Legislature has an opportunity, too.

It can reject its automatic raise, which also applies to the executive branch and judges, which this year is 2.8 percent and, effective next week, raises base pay for its 253 members to $78,315, not counting perks and per-diems.

I feel the same, by the way, about Obama's inaugural festivities: trim any public costs.

It's not that such concessions help fix the economy. But at least they send a message that those we elect - and pay and perk well, and supposedly put in charge of things - have some connection and accountability to the rest of us. *

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