The Failed Bailout
I've been in meetings all morning, and I left, returned to my car, and heard the news that the House voted down the bailout.
The mind reels.
I can try to pretend I understand the intricacies of this, but I don't. I'm usually skeptical of government solutions, so my default position would be skepticism of the bailout. At the same time, it was government that caused the problem, so I'm not sure it's a good thing that government is walking away from the mess now.
I listened to Rush Limbaugh as I drove, who's giddy with delight, as he thinks this shows the Democrats' hold on power is more tenuous than previously thought, and that this make Obama vulnerable, blah blah blah. I don't know if he or any other hardcore partisans recognize how petty they sound. If our financial system collapses, who cares about anything else? Do we really have to see this through a nakedly partisan prism?
I don't know what happens next, and neither does anybody else. All I know is that Washington continues to fail the people they're supposed to serve, and that this is probably going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better.
I don't really have a rational reaction to this. All I know is that in my gut, I know this is not good.
posted by Elder Samuel Bennett | 11:19 AM
7 Comments:
The latest high-profile American institution to suffer from the credit crunch is Jennifer Lopez’s arse, which has reportedly shrunk to a tenth of its former size. Total collapse may be days away - a disaster not only for Lopez but for the thousands of people who depend on it for work. Not long ago the pundits were predicting that her derrière would easily ride out the slump. Now the talk is of taxpayers’ money being pumped into her bottom or even a takeover by a more robust institution, such as Pamela Anderson’s breasts. A Lopez spokesperson insisted the reduction was down to prudent restructuring - she is in training for the triathlon. None of this has cut much ice with the markets.
SB
I don't believe the "bailout" is dead...it's been tabled until after the election, however.
Would it be a conflict of interest if the brother of Stallion Cornell -- given his unique position and related insights -- to comment here on our enonomic prognosis?
Like most, no one knows how deep this goes.
In it's most basic terms..
..you're pension is fucked
Get Guy to give you the longest terms on "use by dates" on all canned food.
Unless you were planning on retiring tomorrow, things may not be as bad as they're painted.
We're in for some rough times, bailout or not. "Not" may mean a bit rougher, but probably not much.
But the economy will recover, it always does. If you're in a position to ride it out, you should be fine, as long as your investments are managed by someone who knows what they're doing.
The bailout is actually a back-room move for government trying to take control of our lives. Maybe letting things fall apart naturally is the best thing. I don't know.
So the day after the failed bailout the markets are currently up, making up 1/2 of yesterday's losses. This seems to be more of a referendum against government incompetence than on the financial markets. As a purist, government has to stay out. However, government has been in the financial markets too long already, and government forcing lenders to make loans to borrowers otherwise not worthy of credit has led to a large part of this mess. The start of a solution would be for Barney Frank to step down as the House Banking Committee Chair and Chris Dodd to step down as Chair as well in the Senate. Neither one, however, has the personal character required to actually do the right thing.
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