Monday, September 29, 2008
It Went Down, Down, Down.....
......and the flames went higher.
The latest iteration of the bailout bill failed just a moment ago, and financial markets are in turmoil.
Our political class is deservedly blamed for many things, and many castigate them in this case for failing to act in the face of an urgent situation. But at least as far as this bailout goes, their hands are relatively clean. One word we haven't heard very much of is citizenship. But in an oblique way, it's actually relevant here.
Congress, and by extention the American people, have been asked to do something that they definitively do not want to do. They (or we) may end up doing it if they have to. But, the various machinations of the credit markets have to be internalized at a broader level of society, so we can establish the credibility of personal relationships that we all evaluate to make our way around the world. And simply put, that hasn't happened yet. In another week or so, it might. And at that point, a bill like today's proposed bailout might pass, and more importantly, ought to pass.
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This idea that it 'ought' to pass, and like-sounding words from Bush and others, suggests to me that we don't really live under a representative government. We 'have to' do it? This bailout is the most wildly unpopular piece of legislation I can think of in my lifetime.
I know, I know, yokels like me don't know all the issues. But this is exactly the kind of arrogance we always accuse the Dems of tossing about.
Yes, no bailout would mean a market disaster, but once this $7 bill is spent, who's to say that $ 15 billion isn't going to be requested next month? IMHO, we 'ought not' to pass this bill. Alas, as I write this, it is too late.
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