As I write this, the bailout bill went down to defeat.
Good.
From where I sit, the bill was flawed from the get-go. To start with, the boneheads that screwed the markets up to begin with (Committee chairs Chris Dodd, Chuck Schumer, et all) claiming that they know what to do to fix this mess. That’s rather like giving a fox the keys to the hen house, and a fresh supply of chickens, immediately after he’s eaten the previous stock. Not a good idea.
With taxpayers of all political persuasions screaming blue murder about this bill, I’m not surprised that it failed. While it’s amusing to see Congressmen running for cover like so many cockroaches in a kitchen during a 3AM snack binge, the results are, we have an institution that is dedicated to two propositions (getting reelected and maintining the status quo) forced to face the music with voters.
I don’t know about you, but the idea of reelecting ANY of these clowns strikes me as a bad idea. Since voting is our only way of making term limits a reality, I say “Throw the Rascals Out.” I’d rather have a bunch of inexperienced clowns running things at this point, than I would the “experieienced” and “ineffectual” morons up there now. And that goes for BOTH sides of the aisle. This is not a Republican or Democrat thing. It’s a “Do your damn job!” thing.
What we need is to see these guys stop the “business as usual” mentality and turn, instead to looking past the pandering and examining what will really fix the market. To wit:
I do not hold with the idea that any company or institution is “too big to fail.” That way lies socialism.
I believe that it’s better to use the market forces of rational self interest, supply and demand, and capitalism to fix things.
You wanna stimulate the economy? Stop punishing people for making money (repeal the entire capital gains tax system!) and stop taxing corporations. Those two moves alone would stimulate the market well beyond what any bailout would do.
Here’s a thought: instead of giving taxpayers “rebates” for mortgage problems, how about just stop taking so much of our money in the first place?
Here’s another: in our family, when we can’t afford something – like a new car, a new computer, or a night out to eat – we do without. The government might want to look at that idea. What would be wrong with an across-the-board cut in everything? (I would exempt the military, except that there’s plenty of fat in the even THAT budget. (I would, however mandate that the cuts won’t affect military benefits, the VA, and munitions and equipment for our troops.)
The idea that the government should be in the mortgage business is absurd. There is NO Constitutional basis for what they want to do. For years, the government and the financial markets have been flitring with disaster. It’s time for them to take their medicine. We survived the Great Depression (which went on a lot longer than it needed to, because of the Fed’s attempts to ‘fix’ things.) We can survive this. What we need to do is to GET GOVERNMENT OUT OF THE WAY OF FREE ENTERPRISE.
I’m particularly insensed at the Senate, who last week decreed that they would be tabling their work on a plan to start drilling for oil within the U.S. again, being “too busy, working on the financial mess.” Um…I don’t know about you, but if I have an employee who’s too busy to do their job, I fire them, and find someone who’s NOT too busy to do what they are being paid to do. Given that those clowns earn about $175,000 a year (plus perks!), I think getting them to actually do their jobs is not too much to ask.
We know that Congress is motivated by a finely-tuned instinct towards self-preservation. Their secondary instinct is to amass power. Nowhere in their DNA is a real desire to do the right thing and represent their constituents. It just doesn’t exist. Most of Congress depends on the short attention span of the public. Sadly for them, this time they rolled the dice and it came up snake-eyes. I’m sure that most of them fervently hoped they could avoid this issue until after the election. No luck. They gotta face the music, and there are a bunch of angry taxpayers out there who will not accept that business-as-usual B.S. The more the parties pontificate and point the finger, the less respect I have for any of them. The very few who are trying to stand up and say “NO!” should be admired, and spared the fate of their self-absorbed bretheren. The rest – they should be forced into retirement, say around the first week in November.
I strongly recommend you look at who voted for this turkey, who voted against, and if any weasels voted “present.” If they voted for it – throw ’em out. If they voted “present,” ditto. If they voted against, consider that a temporary reprieve. It’s time to let some new guys prove that they can be every bit as incompetent as the bunch we have in office now.
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