Monday, September 22, 2008

The Bailout Hits a Wall?

The Hill has several articles about the bailout. In this one Sen. DeMint (R-S.C.) opposes the bailout, saying;

“This plan does nothing to address the misguided government policies that created this mess and it could make matters much worse by socializing an entire sector of the U.S. economy.”

“This plan fails to oversee or regulate the government failures that led to this crisis,”


He has company from House conservatives who point out that there is no court review possible in the proposed legislation.

Greider at The Nation calls it a national swindle.

Robert Borosage tells us how we wound up in this mess, citing the very same history I did, and opines that regulation would be a good thing. He could be right about that.

Gretchen Morgenson at The New York Times also laments the skinning of the taxpayer.

Meanwhile, CNN offers up the risk of inaction.

And oil prices climbing again. The undulating plateau is going to keep right on undulating for some time.

I am beginning to think we are between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea.

1 comment:

The North Coast said...

We are in worse trouble than we even were at the eve of the Great Depression, and we believe we can deal ourselves out by throwing enough future taxes at it- providing anybody will have the wherewithal to pay them down the road- and by simply BELIEVING.

I keep hearing the morons on CNBC refer to the current debacle as a "confidence" problem, just as I hear them yap about the drop in consumer "confidence"..... as if reality can be managed by simply BELIEVING.

Well, it doesn't friggin' matter how much "confidence" I have when my job is on the ropes, my cards are maxed, and my bank account is empty. The well is DRY, and no amount of "confidence" is going to fill it up.

If any good comes of this, I hope it will come in the death of Belief as a manner of negotiating reality. And reality is what doesn't go away when you stop believing in it. No amount of "confidence" or "belief" or "happy talk" is going to repay all the loans that can never be repaid, or halt the unwinding of a ten-mile stack of derivatives based on same.

WE are in bad, bad trouble, and will probably stay there for a while.