Updated: Monday, 1:15pm
I have not read the agreed-upon bailout bill, and would not understand it if I did. I have read three summaries written by people who do understand the bill. One of them thought it should be approved while two of them thought it should be burned, the ashes plowed into the ground and the earth salted. I'm with the latter two, and I have repeated my earlier messages to my Representative and both Senators to that effect.
Forget the "phase in" of the amount; Paulson will get all $700 Billion. Forget the "oversight;" it is a farce, since it is after the fact and can be easily circumvented. Forget the ban on "golden parachutes" and such; the ban applies only to any new executive hires and the existing executives can be paid any amount the companies desire. Forget protecting homeowners; that was removed from the bill. What started as a three-page bill wound up as a 110-page bill, 107 pages of which are pure window dressing. It is still the original three-page bill.
There is no meltdown or disaster coming, there is a recession coming and this bill will delay that recession until the next administration. When it occurs it will do so with the national debt needlessly $1 Trillion higher. This bill has two purposes. The first is to engage in one last orgy of enrichment of the Bush coterie. The second is to change the Bush Recession to the next administration's recession. Bush doesn't care whose name is on the coming recession, so long as it isn't his.
Update: Monday, 1:15pm
I'm not saying that nothing needs to be done. I'm sure that something does. I'm suggesting that this does not smell like the right plan; that many economists have suggested that it is not the right plan and their words should be considered. They have not been listened to.
Note that the only financially knowledgeable persons engaged in the marathon sessions leading to the bill were Bush Administration officials Paulson, Bernanke and Cox. No other plan was ever considered, no other financial opinions sought, no other method of rescue put on the table. The Paulson plan was admitted to be unacceptable, but no option other than modifying it around the edges was ever considered.
I noticed that Paulson ( a former Wall Street banker) and Bernanke (an academic, allegedly with an interest/specialty in the Depression) were the ones promoting the bailout. With Bush in tow. Bush is demanding that this go forth blah blah. Sorry but that man has lost all credibility in my and many peoples minds. He's almost worse than a lame duck.
ReplyDeleteThe recession /downturn /meltdown whatever you wanna call it happend on his watch, no matter how long it has been buildin, so he will get some blame for it.
Yeah, maybe something needs to be done. John Q. Public says no to the fat cats, and I guess for once (some of) the politicians listened.
Whatever this bill does, it does not do all of what needs to happen, and I'm NOT convinced that ther eis any language that will change or prevent any of the things that brought us to this point. And maybe that is enough to not vote for it.
And the idea that some Repubs didn't vote for it out of pique over what Pelosi said is.. childish on their part and childish on her for saying it. I don't like her anyway. I don;t like most of the politicians simply because they are more in love with themselves, their office and political agenda than in doing the right thing for the country and John Q. Public, whom they are supposed to be serving in the first place.