McCain and the Bailout

Below is a link to a story covering John McCain's role in the ongoing negotiations for the bailout, I mean rescue, plan. To those of you who are naive, surprise, surprise, politics is involved in this process, from both sides. One thing needs to be made clear, the process has not been held up by Democrats, but by Republicans. This plan was presented by a Republican president. When first told of the seriousness of the financial condition of the country by Secretary Paulson and Chairman Bernanke, members of both parties offered support. There certainly are many questions about the plan, however. I don't blame Republicans for questioning things. The administration wanted this plan plowed through Congress with little or no discussion or amendment. That's baloney! The last I checked, Congress does have the power to discuss and pass or reject laws.

So what's happened? First, Secretary Paulson, while loved by many on Wall Street, has shot much of his credibility with those many millions of Americans who are not involved on Wall Street. The praise of "free markets," the playing down of regulating business and the rejecting of the idea that speculators were one of the main culprits in driving up commodity prices (among which are oil, gasoline, natural gas, and many food stuffs, like corn and wheat, for instance) has left the secretary with a huge credibility gap. Further, Bernanke and Paulson have other credibility problems, namely that when one crisis comes along, they spring into action, then declare things are better, but then another crisis arises, then another, then another. You can only reassure us so many times, before we say, "Do these guys know what the hell they're doing?" Judging by the public sentiment, the resounding answer seems to be "NO!" Now, I'm not that harsh (that should surprise you!). These are real human beings trying to deal with a potentially cataclysmic economic downturn. One of the problems, however, has been their "reacting" to events, rather than being pro-active. "Hey! Somebody close the barn door, the horse got out!" It should give them and others a sense of what the Hoover Administration went through as the economy collapsed around them; that is, one crisis after another. Of course, Paulson and Bernanke finally cried "UNCLE!" And then cried "UNCLE SAM! Help us!" So much for the whole bunch of crap called the free markets.

In my opinion, John McCain opened the door to criticism with his shenanigans. But this is a political year, and he thought he could put one over on us. The idea that he or Obama, neither of them on the Senate Banking Committee, should be so publicly involved was nonsense from the start. There are members of both parties' delegations far better versed in this complex subject than either of these men. McCain said he wouldn't debate if there was no bailout plan. Well, there's no plan, but he debated. He went to the meeting at the White House and essentially sat there, only giving cover to House Republicans by saying he didn't support the plan. House Republicans then refused to attend further negotiations. If you're a die hard Republican, you need to get your head out of the sand and quit blaming Democrats for this part of this situation. You're in denial! The plan is a Republican plan! If you don't like it, fine, but then don't turn around and say that Democrats are holding it up. You're trying to have it both ways!

Now, on the other side, some Democratic spokesmen have acted as if McCain should not be permitted to speak his piece. That's more nonsense. Discussion, whether you agree or not with the other person, should not be squelched. On the other hand, if John McCain truly wants to be heard on the subject, all he (or Obama, for that matter) has to do is call a news conference and say, "I'm against this plan, and I intend to vote against it, and I urge other Republicans in Congress to do the same, and like minded Democrats," or to say, "I support this plan, and I intend to vote for it." Determining which side to take may be a difficult one, but getting a forum to announce his decision is not a tough one.

So, what do I think? I'll be damned if I know what to think about the whole thing! To me, to claim that the government taking over the bad mortgages will help banks to lend to other people/businesses, I'm not so sure of that. Further claims that the plan will solve the foreclosure crisis (by CNBC's Jim Cramer) is another one I can't figure out. How? I've not heard a credible answer to that question. Some economists have said that the government is just reacting to symptoms, rather than the root causes, and there I might agree. The problem is and has been that the money went up the ladder to the highest income people in the land. They used their ever growing bank accounts to bid up the price of everything from oil to toilet paper. As more and more Americans got squeezed, guess what happened. What do you think would happen if the government said, "We're going to give a trillion or two to the taxpayers; that is, to taxpayers making less than say, 200 grand a year." First, we'd hear from the Wall Streeters and the free marketers how this would bankrupt the country (of course, giving it to them won't bankrupt the country). Then we'd hear how unfair the whole thing is (of course, the huge and growing income gap has been so totally fair to tens of millions of Americans). What a bunch of scum bags! If this economy goes into the tank, these bastards will be lucky to get away with their very lives, in my opinion. They may need that expensive toilet paper!

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/09/26/1450959.aspx