Wherein I Speak on the Bailouts...
So everyone's pissing in their pants because the House grew some balls (or some brains) and decided not to pass the Slightly-Altered-Paulson-Bailout-Plan. Because rent/mortgages are due and people need to be paid.
No kidding.
(Before I go on, let me say this: I think three times the charm here. The Bush Administration fooled the American People twice already (with The Patriot Act and then going to Iraq) using the "We Have to Act, and Act Now!" Excuse. And twice we've learned that all wasn't what it was supposed to be. Anyone remember when Social Security was in danger about two years ago? How'd that "crisis" end up?)
My opinion is this: don't pass any kind of bailout bill unless it can be assured that the CEO's don't get penalized in some way (they are, partially, the Keepers of Wall Street, afterall) and that the taxpayers can at least make back the money they're being asked to sacrifice for this.
Until a deal similar to this can pass, let Wall Street suffer. Why? Because anything less means that Wall Street will not have learned their lesson. They will just take our money and gamble it away again; it's that simple. (And to be quite honest, anyone who says, "We can't worry about who's to blame" loses credibility with me instantly. How can we resolve a problem if we don't know the whos and hows behind it?)
People want to use the Great Depression as an example, but I'll go back farther: the end of slavery in America. By freeing slaves our country began to amend a terrible wrong but we also, in effect, asked an entire region to suffer for generations. The South is just now recovering financially, (and trust me when I say that there's still resentment amongst those old enough to have experienced the fallout of that transition) but it did recover, and it became stronger because people in that region were finally forced to find a more moral way of thriving.
The difference between now and then is that during those times our economy was based primarily on agriculture; now it's primarily based on debt and speculation. Look at the examples people are using as reasons for supporting the bailout bill: "loans for buying a car," "loans for purchasing a house," and so forth. If we lived in a society where you paid for what you wanted up front (or at least in installments) as opposed to borrow, borrow, borrow, this financial crisis would be anything but.
What we are experiencing may well be a sign that the American Economy may have to evolve again. I mean, it's the 21st Century and the crux of our economy is dependent on a bunch of people in suits screaming in a crowed room. People are shouting that the "End is Near", and it's all because some banks couldn't collect on the risky loans they issued.
And the solution to this failed system is to pump more money into it, and hope that the architects of this fiasco have learned their lesson, and won't do it again? Please.
P.S.: Michael Moore speaks on this in a much better way than I did, and I get the feeling that we're on the same page.
No kidding.
(Before I go on, let me say this: I think three times the charm here. The Bush Administration fooled the American People twice already (with The Patriot Act and then going to Iraq) using the "We Have to Act, and Act Now!" Excuse. And twice we've learned that all wasn't what it was supposed to be. Anyone remember when Social Security was in danger about two years ago? How'd that "crisis" end up?)
My opinion is this: don't pass any kind of bailout bill unless it can be assured that the CEO's don't get penalized in some way (they are, partially, the Keepers of Wall Street, afterall) and that the taxpayers can at least make back the money they're being asked to sacrifice for this.
Until a deal similar to this can pass, let Wall Street suffer. Why? Because anything less means that Wall Street will not have learned their lesson. They will just take our money and gamble it away again; it's that simple. (And to be quite honest, anyone who says, "We can't worry about who's to blame" loses credibility with me instantly. How can we resolve a problem if we don't know the whos and hows behind it?)
People want to use the Great Depression as an example, but I'll go back farther: the end of slavery in America. By freeing slaves our country began to amend a terrible wrong but we also, in effect, asked an entire region to suffer for generations. The South is just now recovering financially, (and trust me when I say that there's still resentment amongst those old enough to have experienced the fallout of that transition) but it did recover, and it became stronger because people in that region were finally forced to find a more moral way of thriving.
The difference between now and then is that during those times our economy was based primarily on agriculture; now it's primarily based on debt and speculation. Look at the examples people are using as reasons for supporting the bailout bill: "loans for buying a car," "loans for purchasing a house," and so forth. If we lived in a society where you paid for what you wanted up front (or at least in installments) as opposed to borrow, borrow, borrow, this financial crisis would be anything but.
What we are experiencing may well be a sign that the American Economy may have to evolve again. I mean, it's the 21st Century and the crux of our economy is dependent on a bunch of people in suits screaming in a crowed room. People are shouting that the "End is Near", and it's all because some banks couldn't collect on the risky loans they issued.
And the solution to this failed system is to pump more money into it, and hope that the architects of this fiasco have learned their lesson, and won't do it again? Please.
P.S.: Michael Moore speaks on this in a much better way than I did, and I get the feeling that we're on the same page.
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