On the second go ’round, it looks like the Congress has passed the bailout. I have not researched the bill since it failed the first time, so my response is almost entirely emotional at this point. But, I just feel like we’re being scammed. It may well be that this had to be done lest the economy come crashing down our ears. But, Iraq has damaged me in a fundamental way. I can’t shake the feeling that we’ve seen this before. Very Serious People warn us that Dire Consequences are imminent if we don’t act NOW NOW NOW; and, really, it won’t be that expensive after all and the U.S. will really get its money’s worth — and so, our Congress passes legislation that is horribly expensive, cripples our ability to take the country in a different direction, and enriches a small group of people.
I hope I’m wrong this time. Hopefully we’re approximating the shortest path through a rough patch with this move, and we rebound sharply. Hopefully we aren’t somehow letting some very sophisticated con artists mine the last bit of value out of the country before they head down to the Caymans or Dubai or wherever the next round of the game is going to take place.
In any event, feelings are a poor substitute for considered judgment, so maybe I’ll feel better if I look more closely at the deal.
Markets are down. I was losing money fine all by myself without the bailout.
I agree, Doug. Total scam. I hope the House members who voted for it are unelected in great numbers come November.
Doug, my guess is you are gonna like it even less after you read it.
I think that the NY biz and the DC pols were genuinely surprised at the vehement anti-wall street uproar. It just shows how out of touch they are. They voted the bill down intially because they were paniced by the overloaded swichboards and clogged eamil accounts. The Chamber of Commerce cranked up the machine though and one congressman actually cited a used car salesman as his source for the effects of the credit crunch. It’s for “the people” who are going to be hurt with no credit cards (that is bad?), no auto loans, no mortgages. The joke on them is that no one can afford any of that shit anymore anyway. They pulled out the stops with an all out media blitz. This probably did not convince as many people as their propganda usually does because finally people are getting wise. But it allowed the pols and thier media lackys to rationalize it to themselves. I just hope we are not too numb to remember this after a few weeks of TV reality and we vote accordingly. As Howard Beale would say, “We’re in a lot of trouble”.