Bail Out

 

So the more I read about the proposed Bail out plan, as well as the general idea of a bail out the angrier I get.  Here are a couple of non-partisan analysis links:

 

Brookings summary

http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2008/0919_treasury_plan_elmendorf.aspx 

 An excellent, non-partisan analysis of the bail out plan as well as a different tack for resolving the issue.

Tax Policy analysis  

http://taxvox.taxpolicycenter.org/blog/_archives/2008/9/22/3895934.html 

 Another non-partisan look at the bail out and the potential consequences and problems.

Here's the thing that angers me.  Number one, this whole thing is so messy and complex that there is more than enough blame to share for both of the major parties.  And that includes both major party candidates.  In fact the only person who can get away with saying: "I wasn't there, you can't blame me" is Palin.  Unfortunately, because this is happening at the peak of the electoral cycle it has become a major political issue.  Which means that anything that Congress does will get tainted by the election.  Which means pandering, pandering to special interests, pandering to the general electorate etc.

 

Unfortunately our government (which means a lame duck President as well as Congress) is stuck between a rock and a hard place.  Something has to be done, pretty much all of the sides agree on that.  The government cannot just sit by and do nothing, because the chances are seriously overwhelming that something very bad will happen to the economy.  The problem is how much can Congress get away with as far as fixing the real problem (lack of regulation and oversight) in order to avoid this happening again.  Because the chances that Congress and the new President have of scrapping what is done now and doing it differently are probably nil. 

 

Where my anger comes in is that like the various 'War on Terror' bills and actions that were pushed through in the wake of 9/11 and are still getting pushed through (FISA bill anyone?), this has the potential to really screw things up.  And because this is an election cycle, and the rhetoric is flowing fast and deep, there is a tremendous sense of urgency to 'do something'.  And that something could end up making matters much much worse.  I really think that the voices that are screaming out to Congress: "hey, wait a minute, take some time on this, do it right, don't blow your chance to enact some real reform" need to be heard.  But I think those voices are kind of like the voices that were shouting: "hey, Iraq <> Al Qaeda, stick to Afghanistan and the Taliban, and while you are at it, let's not start breaking the Constitutional freedoms in the name of National Security" back in 2002, and the 'sense of urgency' we feel now will drown them out now like they did back then.

 

So make your voices heard if you can, tell Congress to not just bend over and give the Executive a blank check to fix this problem unconditionally.  This is a crucial moment, akin to 1929, only this time instead of a do nothing President and Congress, we have a corporate owned President and Congress that is under the sway of the moneyed interests that threaten to act like a parent who bails their kid out of jail after a DUI, then gives them the keys to the car with a stern verbal warning to 'Never do that again'.