An Editorial by Marc Perkel (John C. Dvorak may not agree)
I watched President Bush speak to the nation tonight. The good news is that he came across for the first time as both presidential and articulate. The bad news is a sober, articulate, presidential George Bush is even scarier than his normal childish demeanor. He also failed to admit any personal responsibility for his role in creating the problem. I also have a problem with the idea that we should quickly pass a solution without a thorough understanding of the problem. I do not believe that a few days is enough time to come up with a workable solution that we have confidence in being the correct solution. Whatever we do, we should at least take a few weeks to make sure we have crafted the best solution possible. After all, if we rush to make a decision and it’s a bad decision, we could actually make the problem worse. And how are they going to explain that?
Furthermore, Bush has called wolf several times before. We rushed to war in Iraq without careful consideration and that was clearly a mistake. Congress also passed the so called “Patriot Act” where they rushed to judgment and gave away our freedoms as American citizens and fundamentally changed our national identity and what defines who we are as a people. So the history of rushed decisions has been 100% bad. Furthermore, the discussion about giving welfare to Wall Street lacks any commitment to understanding what caused the problem and why throwing a trillion dollars at it will fix it. It might just make the beast hungrier.
And we have to consider how such a bailout will fundamentally change what used to be a free market economy. What message does this send to those who would take advantage of us knowing that the taxpayer is there acting as a rich uncle. Who other Wall Street Welfare Queens will line up to suck at the public teat? The auto industry? The oil companies? The Mafia?
This isn’t just about yet another trillion bucks. It’s about who we are as a people and as a country. If we give up who we are then what do we have left? Does the flag have meaning or is it just something we print on wrapping paper when we sell off America to Saudi Arabia and Dubai? Is “Freedom” just a brand name? Is America always going to be a “Money First” nation? Are we “Open for Business” and supposed to go shopping now? Is that who we are?
The world is watching us and they want to know if we have the fundamental fiscal morality to define ourselves to the world. Will we pass a quick fix throwing a trillion bucks at the problem and kick the can down the road or are we going to take responsibility and deal with it? I say, “Deal with it!” Congress should not pass anything quickly and if Congress comes home before the election, then they are not doing the job the taxpayers hired them to do.
The voters say no to bailout overwhelmingly.
The Lobbyists say yes to bailout.
Who is running the country?
We are about to have an election to see who will lead us and the lobbyists call us to Washington and say, “Suspend the Election We the Lobbyists Have a Emergency?”
Our unpopular president says that we need to bailout these rich lobbyists who run the banks who have placed their retirement checks offshore and away from United States Taxes.
If we the people wrote on every ones mortgage, “PAID IN FULL” and had them (the banks) mail the paid mortgages back to us; then those folks would have more money to spend and not worry about any mortgage. In the meantime those folks that have placed their money offshore can live off that money while looking for other employment.
***
It certainly was not the American people that called Congress back to Washington.
Who were these people that told us that we are now in crisis?
Like I said, Mark my mortgage paid in full and let the homeowner get you out of this mess.
Regardless of whether or not the bail out package is passed the fact remains that America and Americans live above their means and are deeply in debt. Without our houses to use as ATM machines we face a long, painful recessionary correction to deflate our economy back down to a sustainable size.
The bailout is just wrong on so many levels, not the least of which is that it must be completed today (Sept 25).
Just say no!
But (and I have called my elected reps more than once) in my heart of hearts, I know the lobbyists will win.
We get what we deserve (a good friend of mine says) and clearly we’ve been naughty.
Congress is getting ready for recess. You think they are going to stick around and get this right! Yeah right!!! Every person in America should be calling their representative and screaming! Tell them you wont support them if they support this rediculous bailout!
we suffered through the s&l crisis, enron/anderson, we will weather this one as well.
they just gotta get the language right.
shame that no one will go to jail on charges of reckless endangerment.
This is one time it sucks to be a republic.
But I’m with you guys on this.
I also don’t think it’s going to go through, however.
John and Marc have kicked this off well enough. The killer quote is from an unnamed person at Treasury who responded to a question about how they arrived at $700 billion – by saying, “It’s not based on any particular data point, we just wanted to choose a really large number.”
Thanks for that one, Justin…
I just want them to remove section 8 and the rest would be fine. I don’t want the treasury secretary or any other part of the government “fixing things” without any oversight and no way to stop them other than congress.
Of course Pelosi has let Bush inc walk all over congress for the past few years, why wouldn’t she allow it today.
Just checked at congress.org to send my opinion to appropriate politicians for my locale. If you care to, here’s the link to oppose the bailout:
http://tinyurl.com/4eh7w7
If you support the bailout, find the fracking link yourself. 🙂
BTW, opposition to the bill was running at 91% while I was at the site.
The scariest part of the bail-out is that the $700 billion that Paulson wants is really just a revolving line-of-credit. He thinks he can spend some of the money covering bad debts, then possibly recover some of the debts, which will let him spend some more money.
So the bail-out could actually cost $800 or $900 billion or maybe $1 trillion. Have you ever heard of a government program that hasn’t gone wildly over-budget? And Paulson wants to spend the money without any real oversight. His idea of oversight is that Congress can ask him questions, but he can still do whatever he wants.
At this point I wonder if McCain is trying to blow the election, so President Obama can inherit this mess, face a huge recession, and in 2012, the Republicans can blame it all on Obama and run a better candidate against Hillary.
My theory is that Obama was never supposed to win the nomination – he was just supposed to provide Hillary with a good sparring partner during the primaries. But someone forgot to tell Obama it was a fixed fight.
The bailout has approval in principle now but still worth mentioning: Newt Gingrinch has some excellent comments on all this.
He is against a bail out and for a WORK OUT. This would keep the people who screwed up on the hook yet provide the credit liquidity that is needed. He said a few more good things on Hannity and Combs last night.
As a general label, it does sound right to me.
Wasn’t the first time this administration went to the people and ask their support as they tried to scare the hell out of everyone with doom and gloom about three or four trillion dollars ago. .. .This is their last great chance to rape and pillage the nation from their lofty positions.
Scary thing is even the Rove/Limbaugh wannabes in this group are afraid of it.
#12–ECA==I agree in fighting the class war, even though in the main the average American has already lost the past 20 years of this engagement,
but, to focus only on the rich man excesses of this market is to avoid the larger issue of the base it is supported by and is affected by this bailout. The bailout supposedly is not aimed at protecting the very rich. It is motivated by avoiding the job losses and credit crunch that will come without the bailout, and indeed may come even with the bailout. The very rich can ride all this out. Money insulates onself from the market as in when a 100MM nestegg takes a hit down to 50MM–you still have a sweet ride.
So, keep the rich boys in your mind, but keep your eye on the real issue==the declining American middle/working class.
Bush and Paulson are going to get everything they ask for. Is there really any question about this?
We are lucky they are even asking permission from Congress. They already bailed out Bear Stearns, Fannie, Freddie, and AIG without going to congress. Do you really think congress has a choice? They could have and will if necessary do this without congressional approval.
We no longer live in Republic or a Democracy.
It’s more likely the cost will be around $300 billion, still way too much.
Paulson himself doesn’t know what he wants to do exactly.
… is it [flag] just something we print on wrapping paper when we sell off America to Saudi Arabia and Dubai [some wear it as underwear too]. Is “Freedom” just a brand name? Is America always going to be a “Money First” nation? Are we “Open for Business” and supposed to go shopping now? Is that who we are?
Yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes.
The world is watching and they know that too.
I just registered opposition, thanks for the URL! I agree, just giving them the cash and saying ‘have fun’ is hardly my idea of a good way to handle the situation.
I’m ready for him (W) to go. He doesn’t need any more opportunities to show ‘leadership’.
14,
Standard in the USA.
Is to hire 1 person that KNOWS What they are doing, and THEN hire a bunch UNDER HIM.
You pay the top person, NICELY, and those under him, POORLY.
THEN comes ENRON, and the CEO. And he says “I didnt know that was happening”.
The OLd style Business plan say IF’ they cant afford it, they GO BROKE, and NEWER/BETTER companies take their place.
Did the RICH persons on top take a HIT in pay? so he could make more money? NOPE.
DID the stock or STOCK holders, take a DENT..nope. not until the end.
Im sorry. I believe in an OLD idea. If you as a Private person CANT LOAN IT OUT, you DONT.
You might loan a person $20, but, unless he pays it BACK, he wont get anymore.
If you loan out your tools, and get them BACK at the end of the day, you SEARCH the person down and FIND your tools.
Iv watched these big corps give money to companies, and they went DUMP..and then the same persons come up and get MORE MONEY for another business, that goes DUMP, and DUMP again.
They are dealing INSIDE, with people they know.
They are also TRADING loans. they sell them OFF to others, even to other countries. They dont get the interest anymore. its sent OVER SEAS.
Eventually there wasnt enough INCOMING money. And the loans were sold over and over and over, as TRADE. It went ROUND and round, and ROUND..and there was no extra money gained in EACH transaction, and they become WORTHLESS.
NOW they are all DUE. and there is no Value in them.
anyone that has been watching the USA gov. would have CUT BACK on building, AFTER the USA started importing wood products from Canada and adding a 25% tariff.. Or when the USA started inflating NATIONAL goods to match the EXPORTS to china at 10 times the Original Cost/prices..
also i would of added NEW tech that has been around for 30 years, like a PICTURE of the person CC cards belong to, or are responsible.(they started that in Hawaii).
These institutions are LOST, to the tech that is out here. Just as the Music and movie industry is falling behind.
# 10 chuck said,
partial quote:
At this point I wonder if McCain is trying to blow the election, so President Obama can inherit this mess, face a huge recession, and in 2012, the Republicans can blame it all on Obama and run a better candidate against Hillary.
/quote
Ha, my husband said that the other night!
If you oppose this bailout, let your congresscritter know!
-Carrie
#19–ECA==very insightful.
and M Perkel–the first photoshop in your post either finally loaded or I finally took the time to see what it was.
Perfect. It does instantly reveal a thousand words. Copied and saved for what a photo can do. Thanks.
Congrats America. You’re about to become fully paid members of the “700 Billion Club”. Only its reverend is Henry Paulson, not Pat Robertson. But please BELIEVE!, anyway. And ye shall be saved…. until same time next year.
I say this…remember the election is close…if the lobbyists win…and the bail out goes through, putting a huge burden on both the tax payer, and weakening the dollar worldwide (can’t have a strong dollar when no one wants it attached to an 800 lb gorilla in the room!)…the voters can do this:
I call it the IN-OUT/OUT-IN “grass of the foreclosed lawn” campaign.
It is simple: whoever is IN…vote them OUT…and the ones OUT, let them IN.
That way we will have a totally fresh(man) congress, who can rely on the outcasts or help, but must be sure to be very wary of a coalsecing average voter.
I say…if you dont like, go down your tickets, one by one…and vote against any incumbent…
Good idea?…I think so given the shackles they want us to lock our feet into.
If you like this idea…paste and pass on!
24,
Awww you are seeing things..
1. HOW many of you have representatives and congressmen that WERE BORN in your state??
2. how many of them were RICH at birth?
3. How many would LOVe to run a book keeper thru the GOV?
4. how many would take a Salary cut of 40%..
The people are 91% against it but the people buying votes are for it.
I’m not able to call it. Most Congress vermine would sell there six year old for the right cash.
Okay, I admit it. I have a very low opinion of these people. I wish I didn’t but their track record speaks for itself. I would like to be wrong about this.
If this thing is going to cost every citizen roughly $2k, then shouldn’t there be an opt in option?! Instead of having to try and get thru to your representative, who may be ignoring most of these calls anyway. Why not have a system like set up like they did for the DTV converter box coupons? You call in, it IDs your household by your phone number, and you press a key for the number of family member who elect to Ok the $2k amount. Then assume all those that didn’t call in, had refused. The number of call ins will probably be far less than for the DTV coupons. They’ll be lucky to raise a billion. And you can bet few if any of the millionaires and billionaires will be calling in.
Right on! This looks like another grab while you can by those in power and to hell with the citizens and the world. I am appalled by the fact that the american people seems uninterested that you are not supposed to question or prosecute any wrong doing after the money is disbursed! This will be equivalent to handing them a blank check to do as they will and you cannot question nor prosecute even if they throw the money away! Unbelievable.
27,
there is an OPT-in solution..
PAY UP, or grab a gun and MARCH to washington.
CLEAN UP TIME…
#30 “Top national politicians, such as presidential hopeful Barack Obama, are now stepping into the arena in hopes of wiping the industry completely off the map.”
All the more reason to vote for him. What? In my opinion, any business that charges people %412 in interest per year needs to be wiped off the map. How does lending people money that they have to pay more than 4 time over save them from bankruptcy, or makes them anything other than financial cattle for you?