In brief: the failure of the bailout

[demiurgent]

It's surprisingly simple.

Neither major political party was willing to sacrifice the election to save the nation.

There is nothing more basic than that. Neither party would sacrifice personal power in order to save the economy of the United States of America.

My representative voted Nay. For the first time, I'm considering voting against her in November. I'm certainly calling her office tomorrow to express my deep disappointment in her.

For those who don't want to see the bailout of Wall street firms because gorsh, they's all rich and it's not fair? I hope you really, really enjoy the next ten years.

Comments

[izzylobo.livejournal.com]

It's unpopularity is with a lot of economists (including nearly the entire Chicago School, most of which signed a letter that boils down to "Paulson needs to eat shit and die, because he's trying to fleece us all."), and a wide-ranging array of other folks who are basically saying "whoa nelly, is this actually going to work, and whose going to make sure the people paying for it (taxpayers) aren't screwed with their pants on in the process, because there isn't a lot of specifics here, and an awful lot of power being placed in the hands of the SecTreas".

I'd love to see something that restores trust in the liquidity of the system. I'd like to see Wall Street working properly again (although I'm sure many, many brokers would be aghast at what I'd consider "properly" - but I'm an old curmudgeon, and my assumption is that if a bright eighteen year old with ECON103 under their belt can't figure out how the money is being made, what directions it's flowing in, and why, then it's likely too complex to be legal on Wall Street).

But not at the cost of the Republic. Which this bill, in its current form, is still all too likely to do. We don't know who the next SecTreas will be - and I don't trust seven hundred billion dollars in the hands of someone who, for all we know, Governor Palin might end up appointing, because McCain could well get elected, then blow a gasket on the way up to the acceptance speech.