How baffling is it that Senator McCain and Governor Palin are now accusing Senator Obama and Senator Biden for wanting to redistribute the wealth! Calling him a socialist because his ideas smack of a redistribution or spreading of wealth?
Do they even know what they are talking about, or do they just stand in front of the mirror and try out different words seeing how the word influences their facial expressions or how it sounds rolling off their tongues?
They are supposed to be Republicans, conservatives. They believe in conserving, they believe in being packrats who deal in filling their attics with failed policies and dogma. It has been their stated belief that wealth "trickles down" to the less fortunates because encouraging the fortunate ones results in reinvestment and job creation for the children of the lesser gods. The fact that this never happens aside from the pages of Miltonian textbooks often escapes their notice.
However, what is it that they keep parroting about Senator Obama scarily believing in the redistribution of wealth? Don't they believe in it as well? Or are they changing their ideology to one where they don't support even a tiny bit of trickle? Not even a drop? What are they saying? Let them eat cake? What in their minds is the meaning of the phrase "redistribution of wealth"? I suppose they believe taking steps to ensure a trickle down, like maybe adjusting the faucet a bit, pointing it downwards a bit, is out of the question and completely unacceptable. If the faucet is turned off, leave it just so. Is that the point of this tirade?
The party and the candidate I support find trickle-down economics (i.e. an automatic redistribution of wealth) ridiculous! But even so, they are being attacked on this basis in a mixed and confused message from the other side that makes about as much sense as the Palinesque opposition to fruit flies!
They are not into social Darwinism as propounded by Spencer when he coined the term "survival of the fittest". The history of evolution has shown that we have reached this stage of evolution through a mix of competition and cooperation, collaboration with our fellow humans. If it was just about doing what we do best and storing the gains away in a hole in the ground we would not be where we are.
But obviously that is a finer point of logic, intellectualism and knowledge that can warm only the cockles of an intellectual, elitist heart!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
A Bresh of Freath Air!!
Oh how we crave an Alaskan "bresh of freath air"...one that has so energized a certain campaign. Senator McCain is so proud of her that he glows. Now McCain and his "fellow prisoners" can revel in this bresh freath, gliding around picking daisies, shooting moose and raising arthritic pincers, forming air quotes around the phrase "health of the mother". Oh these pro-abortion women they are Just. So. Obsessed with the health of the mother! My God! How delusional are these democrats!
Another thing McCain did was put on a puppy face, or maybe a sad old dog face, while he tried to make himself look like a victim of the most negative campaigning ever seen in recent history. Yes, you read that right! McCain feels victimized by negative campaign ads run by the Obama campaign!
"Let me tell you I am very proud of the people who attend my rally", this was said in response to Senator Obama highlighting the incendiary comments made by McCain/Palin rally attendees! He is proud of racist people who call out "Kill Him!"?? Followed by, "I have repudiated allegations of this nature every time, Senator Obama has never repudiated anything."
I don't know if one limp wristed and weak voiced "repudiation" where McCain told a woman who thought that Obama was an Arab. "No, no ma'am, he is a decent family man". I don't know if that amounts to "every time". Senator Obama hasn't had much to repudiate from his supporters or crowds at his rally, they aren't rabid and frothing at the mouth. They haven't been running around accusing McCain of "palling around with terrorists" they haven't indulged racist supporters who bring stuffed monkeys wearing McCain hats to the rally, they haven't heard shouts of "treason", "kill him", "off with his head"...so who is Senator Obama supposed to repudiate?
Apparently Senator McCain is very hurt by John Lewis's statement where the name of George Wallace came up. It was an unfortunate comparison but it was meaningful in highlighting the thread of seething violence that laces McCain/Palin rallies. That crowd could be incited to violence. That is the point that John Lewis was hoping to make and it was a well made point.
I think Senator McCain has secured two votes, one from Joe the Plumber and one from Joe SixPack. Women concerned about their health are certainly not going to put their futures in the hands of the mavericky team, nor are the Lily Ledbetter's of the world who are denied equal pay for equal work.
The rest of us who care about the economy, who prioritize energy independence, health care reform and education and who feel a physical sense of ailment and sickness at the memory of the last eight years need to cast our votes in favor of an intelligent, eloquent, caring and compassionate man, the "cool hand at the tiller" who even McCain feels we need. That "cool hand" is certainly not Senator McCain.
Another thing McCain did was put on a puppy face, or maybe a sad old dog face, while he tried to make himself look like a victim of the most negative campaigning ever seen in recent history. Yes, you read that right! McCain feels victimized by negative campaign ads run by the Obama campaign!
"Let me tell you I am very proud of the people who attend my rally", this was said in response to Senator Obama highlighting the incendiary comments made by McCain/Palin rally attendees! He is proud of racist people who call out "Kill Him!"?? Followed by, "I have repudiated allegations of this nature every time, Senator Obama has never repudiated anything."
I don't know if one limp wristed and weak voiced "repudiation" where McCain told a woman who thought that Obama was an Arab. "No, no ma'am, he is a decent family man". I don't know if that amounts to "every time". Senator Obama hasn't had much to repudiate from his supporters or crowds at his rally, they aren't rabid and frothing at the mouth. They haven't been running around accusing McCain of "palling around with terrorists" they haven't indulged racist supporters who bring stuffed monkeys wearing McCain hats to the rally, they haven't heard shouts of "treason", "kill him", "off with his head"...so who is Senator Obama supposed to repudiate?
Apparently Senator McCain is very hurt by John Lewis's statement where the name of George Wallace came up. It was an unfortunate comparison but it was meaningful in highlighting the thread of seething violence that laces McCain/Palin rallies. That crowd could be incited to violence. That is the point that John Lewis was hoping to make and it was a well made point.
I think Senator McCain has secured two votes, one from Joe the Plumber and one from Joe SixPack. Women concerned about their health are certainly not going to put their futures in the hands of the mavericky team, nor are the Lily Ledbetter's of the world who are denied equal pay for equal work.
The rest of us who care about the economy, who prioritize energy independence, health care reform and education and who feel a physical sense of ailment and sickness at the memory of the last eight years need to cast our votes in favor of an intelligent, eloquent, caring and compassionate man, the "cool hand at the tiller" who even McCain feels we need. That "cool hand" is certainly not Senator McCain.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
"I Know How to Do That, I Can Do That!"
I watched the debate tonight and every time I heard Senator McCain speak it was reminiscent of an ingratiating bellboy or porter or anyone who desperately wants your approval or wants to be rewarded by your benevolent regard. He reeks of desperation and his annoying and pathetic refrain tonight was, "I know how to do that, I can do that!"
His answer to every question was pretty much the same. He kept saying he could "do it", that a "cool hand at the tiller" was needed. How a candidate can be so out of touch to really believe that he will be perceived as that cool hand on the tiller is beyond me. Especially when he strikes me as someone who is about to meltdown in a fashion similar to Jack Nicholson's character in A Few Good Men, when he can't take anymore and says, "You want the truth, you can't handle the truth!!!"
I remember not paying much attention to this election about a year or so ago. Senator Clinton and Senator Obama were duking it out in the primaries. My mind was already made up. I knew I would vote for either one when the time came. I am quite vehemently opposed to the Republican ideology and a proud citizen of blue USA. But I read Business Week's prediction of a McCain win. I wasn't shocked by that. I didn't balk at that prospect. Senator McCain still seemed like someone I could like and respect. His reputation was different enough from the ones who are about to leave our country in tatters after eight years of abuse and rape.
The McCain we see now doesn't inspire, doesn't impress, in fact, in his choice of running mate, in his despicable and desperate campaign ad attacks on Senator Obama, in the unleashing of his rabid pitbull in lipstick, heels and a top knot, in their collective indulgence in smear tactics of the gutter variety (never getting any of it back in kind) he disgusts, they disgust.
His answer to every question was pretty much the same. He kept saying he could "do it", that a "cool hand at the tiller" was needed. How a candidate can be so out of touch to really believe that he will be perceived as that cool hand on the tiller is beyond me. Especially when he strikes me as someone who is about to meltdown in a fashion similar to Jack Nicholson's character in A Few Good Men, when he can't take anymore and says, "You want the truth, you can't handle the truth!!!"
I remember not paying much attention to this election about a year or so ago. Senator Clinton and Senator Obama were duking it out in the primaries. My mind was already made up. I knew I would vote for either one when the time came. I am quite vehemently opposed to the Republican ideology and a proud citizen of blue USA. But I read Business Week's prediction of a McCain win. I wasn't shocked by that. I didn't balk at that prospect. Senator McCain still seemed like someone I could like and respect. His reputation was different enough from the ones who are about to leave our country in tatters after eight years of abuse and rape.
The McCain we see now doesn't inspire, doesn't impress, in fact, in his choice of running mate, in his despicable and desperate campaign ad attacks on Senator Obama, in the unleashing of his rabid pitbull in lipstick, heels and a top knot, in their collective indulgence in smear tactics of the gutter variety (never getting any of it back in kind) he disgusts, they disgust.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Hair of the Dog
I am a teetotaler (rejected this particular form of addiction in favor of others) but the “hangover” phenomenon has always interested me. Not to sound puritanical, although no matter how I put it, it will sound exactly that, hangovers are quite the manifestation of the consequences of unrestrained behavior. I’ve observed many miserable people around me the morning after and wondered why they didn’t think this would happen the next day.
But there isn’t much to wonder there, really. I go back to my long held belief that self-destructive behavior is built into our codes. If it isn’t drinking it’s gambling, shopping, eating, being promiscuous or simply exploring newer ways to shoot ourselves in our feet, or skirt loopholes, beat the system and make beaucoup d’argent on Wall Street.
For instance if mortgages secured through subprime lenders are going bad why not create debt instruments that speculate on the number of expected credit defaults or bet on people not paying their mortgages? What a brilliant plan! All part of the same essential need to self-destruct, since exercising restraint and caution is really for the birds or, rather, the ants.
So on hangovers again, there was a very interesting article in the New Yorker written by Joan Acocella, called, “A Few Too Many”. It stated how the most effective treatment for a hangover is usually the hair of the dog and not for a reason more scientific than the fact that it diverts the liver’s focus from the processing of the alcohol binge related toxins (this is what causes the nausea, the headaches, the vomiting) in the system and redirects attention to processing the alcohol again and to creating more toxins.
I am amazed at how much the “bailout plan” is starting to sound like a hair of the dog treatment for the economy, “Give them more of the same”!
These are very interesting times in this country. If you try to think back to what you learnt in school, what your economics professors taught you, you can claw and grope for remnants of scraps of knowledge that might help you understand what’s going on but no answers would be forthcoming because they didn’t tell you about this in the textbooks you read.
If you’ve never wasted your time studying economics or finance in school but have tried to be someone who spends a little and saves a little and religiously contributes to a savings plan administered by your employer, and you expect your actions will lead to a secure future for you and your family, well, now you stare at the ticker tapes scrolling by, fist in your mouth, frozen in time.
If you never studied anything in school, if you never went to college but maintained a work ethic that led you to storing everything you had under you mattress, you probably sit on that couch that sits in the middle of a living room of the home that you were hoping to own after thirty years or in a room of your rented apartment. You crack open your beer, after a long and hard days work, like the Joe Six Pack you are, turn on the television and chance upon these people running around scared as the markets crumble and people scream about punishing greed and evil. You cheer, you say they deserve it, that it was long time coming and they got what was coming to them. You may even think you are immune to the problem since you never trusted those suckers anyway.
So now the powers that be decide that the Bacchanalian excess is over and that Dionysus needs to be banished to whence he emerged. Time to take charge, intervene, set things right; they decide that markets cannot be free anymore; time to ground the recalcitrant child.
They spend a few minutes thinking about other cures for hangover, they ponder, they deliberate; they remain baffled. Then they think of the time-tested hair of the dog. And we have ourselves the infamous bailout plan!
It is put forth as the only cure, the only plan out there that can help us dig ourselves out of this hole. No one has a better plan, there are no alternatives.
What a perfect time to witness democracy in action! Now we’re talking, I mean, really talking! In an election year, no less!
Suddenly everyone is paying attention to the talking heads on the 24 hour news cycles. So far all one had heard from the candidates was how one side would raise taxes, the other won’t, how one side would drag you down and the other will uplift you, how one side was pro-life and the other pro-death. The usual election buzz words, nothing earth-shattering, nothing new despite lip service to the word “change”; and now we had ourselves a real crisis. What fun, what will they do now?
People wait by their television sets, ears cocked, waiting for one of the candidates to offer up their plan for emerging from this crisis. Nothing, no one has a real plan. There are the usual exhortations against greed and evil and a show of support for “the cure”.
Then we see our bicameral legislature in action! This is what they mean when they say freedom and democracy! Let it ring! Now we understand it so clearly.
The outgoing President, who believes things like legacy and history don’t count because in history we’ll all be dead, warns the nation of the direst of all possible consequences, if the hair of the dog wasn’t administered immediately.
The bill is deliberated by the House of Representatives. The Representatives receive emails and phone calls from their angry constituents warning them with dire consequences if they vote for it. So many of the Representatives are up for reelection this year they cannot afford to lose their votes. No one understands the bill anyway. The economy be damned, the plan is awful, we’ve got to listen to the people who elected us, we are their voice, let’s scrap it!
The bill doesn’t clear the house. There are speeches made about coffins being placed on top of coffins, of resolute stances. The DJIA slumps by 778 points.
Then the bill gets to the Senate. Senators, somewhat removed from direct contact with the people, expected to take a longer term view of things, expected to show some foresight, add several billion dollars in tax cuts, sweeten the pot, make it more palatable to the House and send it back after passing it 74-25. The bill now sits in the house of scared representatives who wonder if the markets will crash some more if they vote against it, or if their voters will make them step down from office if they vote for it; a market that already plunged several points in anticipation of a rejection of the bill yet again. They are so keen on doing what’s right, in taking the action that will help them preserve their seats in the House of Representatives so that they can continue to be the voice of the people who elected them, so keen.
Our candidates, senators both of them, voted for the rescue bill. However, one of them was seen advocating a veto by the President if and when it cleared the House. He expects a presidential veto on a bill he voted in favor of! But nothing that candidate says surprises anyone anymore. He reverses his positions on a daily basis. Keep ‘em guessing, maybe that’s what it means to be a maverick.
Interesting times indeed!
So over the last 2-3 weeks, everyone has had a chance to wonder if the bailout is really the best idea out there. The more one ponders it, the more it stinks.
Isn’t this a world of infinite possibilities? Why not make the problem a fiscal one? Why not put in place programs that enable folks to be better able to pay their mortgages? So that the “toxic mess” gets a run through a treatment facility, so to speak. Get the toxins out, refine and distil.
But if Main Street – ers could provide seemingly workable solutions we’d all be on Wall Street!
But it is hard to believe that there really is no other way out of the credit crunch. Aren’t there enough accomplished and capable free market practitioners, like Warren Buffett, out there who can help keep their markets, their playing grounds, free, all on their own, sans government intervention? Shouldn’t the government now be asking for $692 billion because Buffett has already forked over $8 billion for Goldman Sachs and General Electric? Bill Gates, Bloomberg, Oprah…what say? This is the richest country in the world, after all.
It’s like this, you either believe in free markets or you don’t. Free markets do not rule out corrections of this nature. The corrections may be minor at times and disastrous at other times. You run that risk when you convince yourself that nothing except pure capitalism works.
If you have faith (often misplaced) in the markets’ ability to self-regulate and self-stabilize then you should let the correction ride its course and bear the consequences of your actions, silently suffer your hangover in the meantime.
What seems counter-intuitive is a myopic view of things.
We run wild...oh no...we fell...we got hurt...we need to curl up in a fetal position in a governmental womb, let mommy and daddy fix our problems, then when the coast is clear we’ll go back to raising a ruckus again.
Why not try behaving well all the time?
I know, I know, where is the fun in that?
But there isn’t much to wonder there, really. I go back to my long held belief that self-destructive behavior is built into our codes. If it isn’t drinking it’s gambling, shopping, eating, being promiscuous or simply exploring newer ways to shoot ourselves in our feet, or skirt loopholes, beat the system and make beaucoup d’argent on Wall Street.
For instance if mortgages secured through subprime lenders are going bad why not create debt instruments that speculate on the number of expected credit defaults or bet on people not paying their mortgages? What a brilliant plan! All part of the same essential need to self-destruct, since exercising restraint and caution is really for the birds or, rather, the ants.
So on hangovers again, there was a very interesting article in the New Yorker written by Joan Acocella, called, “A Few Too Many”. It stated how the most effective treatment for a hangover is usually the hair of the dog and not for a reason more scientific than the fact that it diverts the liver’s focus from the processing of the alcohol binge related toxins (this is what causes the nausea, the headaches, the vomiting) in the system and redirects attention to processing the alcohol again and to creating more toxins.
I am amazed at how much the “bailout plan” is starting to sound like a hair of the dog treatment for the economy, “Give them more of the same”!
These are very interesting times in this country. If you try to think back to what you learnt in school, what your economics professors taught you, you can claw and grope for remnants of scraps of knowledge that might help you understand what’s going on but no answers would be forthcoming because they didn’t tell you about this in the textbooks you read.
If you’ve never wasted your time studying economics or finance in school but have tried to be someone who spends a little and saves a little and religiously contributes to a savings plan administered by your employer, and you expect your actions will lead to a secure future for you and your family, well, now you stare at the ticker tapes scrolling by, fist in your mouth, frozen in time.
If you never studied anything in school, if you never went to college but maintained a work ethic that led you to storing everything you had under you mattress, you probably sit on that couch that sits in the middle of a living room of the home that you were hoping to own after thirty years or in a room of your rented apartment. You crack open your beer, after a long and hard days work, like the Joe Six Pack you are, turn on the television and chance upon these people running around scared as the markets crumble and people scream about punishing greed and evil. You cheer, you say they deserve it, that it was long time coming and they got what was coming to them. You may even think you are immune to the problem since you never trusted those suckers anyway.
So now the powers that be decide that the Bacchanalian excess is over and that Dionysus needs to be banished to whence he emerged. Time to take charge, intervene, set things right; they decide that markets cannot be free anymore; time to ground the recalcitrant child.
They spend a few minutes thinking about other cures for hangover, they ponder, they deliberate; they remain baffled. Then they think of the time-tested hair of the dog. And we have ourselves the infamous bailout plan!
It is put forth as the only cure, the only plan out there that can help us dig ourselves out of this hole. No one has a better plan, there are no alternatives.
What a perfect time to witness democracy in action! Now we’re talking, I mean, really talking! In an election year, no less!
Suddenly everyone is paying attention to the talking heads on the 24 hour news cycles. So far all one had heard from the candidates was how one side would raise taxes, the other won’t, how one side would drag you down and the other will uplift you, how one side was pro-life and the other pro-death. The usual election buzz words, nothing earth-shattering, nothing new despite lip service to the word “change”; and now we had ourselves a real crisis. What fun, what will they do now?
People wait by their television sets, ears cocked, waiting for one of the candidates to offer up their plan for emerging from this crisis. Nothing, no one has a real plan. There are the usual exhortations against greed and evil and a show of support for “the cure”.
Then we see our bicameral legislature in action! This is what they mean when they say freedom and democracy! Let it ring! Now we understand it so clearly.
The outgoing President, who believes things like legacy and history don’t count because in history we’ll all be dead, warns the nation of the direst of all possible consequences, if the hair of the dog wasn’t administered immediately.
The bill is deliberated by the House of Representatives. The Representatives receive emails and phone calls from their angry constituents warning them with dire consequences if they vote for it. So many of the Representatives are up for reelection this year they cannot afford to lose their votes. No one understands the bill anyway. The economy be damned, the plan is awful, we’ve got to listen to the people who elected us, we are their voice, let’s scrap it!
The bill doesn’t clear the house. There are speeches made about coffins being placed on top of coffins, of resolute stances. The DJIA slumps by 778 points.
Then the bill gets to the Senate. Senators, somewhat removed from direct contact with the people, expected to take a longer term view of things, expected to show some foresight, add several billion dollars in tax cuts, sweeten the pot, make it more palatable to the House and send it back after passing it 74-25. The bill now sits in the house of scared representatives who wonder if the markets will crash some more if they vote against it, or if their voters will make them step down from office if they vote for it; a market that already plunged several points in anticipation of a rejection of the bill yet again. They are so keen on doing what’s right, in taking the action that will help them preserve their seats in the House of Representatives so that they can continue to be the voice of the people who elected them, so keen.
Our candidates, senators both of them, voted for the rescue bill. However, one of them was seen advocating a veto by the President if and when it cleared the House. He expects a presidential veto on a bill he voted in favor of! But nothing that candidate says surprises anyone anymore. He reverses his positions on a daily basis. Keep ‘em guessing, maybe that’s what it means to be a maverick.
Interesting times indeed!
So over the last 2-3 weeks, everyone has had a chance to wonder if the bailout is really the best idea out there. The more one ponders it, the more it stinks.
Isn’t this a world of infinite possibilities? Why not make the problem a fiscal one? Why not put in place programs that enable folks to be better able to pay their mortgages? So that the “toxic mess” gets a run through a treatment facility, so to speak. Get the toxins out, refine and distil.
But if Main Street – ers could provide seemingly workable solutions we’d all be on Wall Street!
But it is hard to believe that there really is no other way out of the credit crunch. Aren’t there enough accomplished and capable free market practitioners, like Warren Buffett, out there who can help keep their markets, their playing grounds, free, all on their own, sans government intervention? Shouldn’t the government now be asking for $692 billion because Buffett has already forked over $8 billion for Goldman Sachs and General Electric? Bill Gates, Bloomberg, Oprah…what say? This is the richest country in the world, after all.
It’s like this, you either believe in free markets or you don’t. Free markets do not rule out corrections of this nature. The corrections may be minor at times and disastrous at other times. You run that risk when you convince yourself that nothing except pure capitalism works.
If you have faith (often misplaced) in the markets’ ability to self-regulate and self-stabilize then you should let the correction ride its course and bear the consequences of your actions, silently suffer your hangover in the meantime.
What seems counter-intuitive is a myopic view of things.
We run wild...oh no...we fell...we got hurt...we need to curl up in a fetal position in a governmental womb, let mommy and daddy fix our problems, then when the coast is clear we’ll go back to raising a ruckus again.
Why not try behaving well all the time?
I know, I know, where is the fun in that?
Thursday, October 2, 2008
And in Palin land...
"The toxic mess is spreading from Main Street to Wall Street".
Er...hello...anybody home Sarah?
Darn right it is! You betcha!
I am surprised that no one has picked up on that little sound bite from the Vice Presidential debate. Wonder what kind of toxic mess we Main Streeters are spreading on over to Wall Street.
She wrinkled her nose a lot, she winked as though there was grit in her eyes and she refused to answer any questions that were asked. In fact the answer to healthcare, taxes, economy were always somehow ...energy!
Sigh...the red states are probably celebrating because nothing can sway them from their entrenched beliefs.
Er...hello...anybody home Sarah?
Darn right it is! You betcha!
I am surprised that no one has picked up on that little sound bite from the Vice Presidential debate. Wonder what kind of toxic mess we Main Streeters are spreading on over to Wall Street.
She wrinkled her nose a lot, she winked as though there was grit in her eyes and she refused to answer any questions that were asked. In fact the answer to healthcare, taxes, economy were always somehow ...energy!
Sigh...the red states are probably celebrating because nothing can sway them from their entrenched beliefs.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Credit crunch
America runs on credit, always has, always will. Credit cards are placed in very young hands and borrowing is what makes everything happen at all levels.
Credit is now drying up and this economy cannot survive if banks refuse to lend to individuals and companies and to each other. That's as basic as it gets.
How we got here? Well, think of the money borrowed and spent in Iraq, trillions of dollars spent where they didn't need to be spent. That is what started it all. And of course Wall Street greed. All a result of startling incompetence leading to the beggaring of a nation and consequently the world, since we are all so virally connected.
There is enough blame to go around and the public wants to punish Wall Street. They think this is all about punishing Wall Street. So what happens when tomorrow ATMs refuse to spit their money out or when some companies run out of money to make payroll? We are who we elect!
Republicans are refusing to pass the bailout plan because they were swamped by emails and phone calls from their angry constituents. What a wonderful time they all picked to start listening to angry constituents and not lobbyists! No one is displaying even an ounce of foresight! It is all about those greedy guys getting what they deserved, all about opposing policies perceived as "liberal" or "placing a coffin on top of Ronald Reagan's coffin" according to House Republican Darrell Issa who is "resolute" in his opposition to the plan! What about the country? It is the "New Deal" that brought the US out of the Great Depression in the 30s. It called for the government stepping in in a very big way.
There are words of caution everywhere about the credit crunch choking the country, effectively killing it and yet politicians are volleying, jockeying, politicking without an ounce of intelligence or foresight!
Credit is now drying up and this economy cannot survive if banks refuse to lend to individuals and companies and to each other. That's as basic as it gets.
How we got here? Well, think of the money borrowed and spent in Iraq, trillions of dollars spent where they didn't need to be spent. That is what started it all. And of course Wall Street greed. All a result of startling incompetence leading to the beggaring of a nation and consequently the world, since we are all so virally connected.
There is enough blame to go around and the public wants to punish Wall Street. They think this is all about punishing Wall Street. So what happens when tomorrow ATMs refuse to spit their money out or when some companies run out of money to make payroll? We are who we elect!
Republicans are refusing to pass the bailout plan because they were swamped by emails and phone calls from their angry constituents. What a wonderful time they all picked to start listening to angry constituents and not lobbyists! No one is displaying even an ounce of foresight! It is all about those greedy guys getting what they deserved, all about opposing policies perceived as "liberal" or "placing a coffin on top of Ronald Reagan's coffin" according to House Republican Darrell Issa who is "resolute" in his opposition to the plan! What about the country? It is the "New Deal" that brought the US out of the Great Depression in the 30s. It called for the government stepping in in a very big way.
There are words of caution everywhere about the credit crunch choking the country, effectively killing it and yet politicians are volleying, jockeying, politicking without an ounce of intelligence or foresight!
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