Quite a week coming up again and I can only wonder at the news tomorrow. As of tonight Treasury officials and Congress are working hard on bailout talks. Could it be viewed as a rescue plan for the national economy? Whatever you call it, many Americans are pleased that action is being taken to solve the crisis, at least as a viable short-term response. But we really have no idea of the long-term implications. Speaking as “Joe MiddleClass” I think we just want order restored and the financial world to get back to whatever “normal” means. But whereas Friday I thought Congress would be on board quickly, now it doesn’t look like it.
Senator Leahy (D-VT) thinks the administration is trying to put a fast one over on Congress. Politico is reporting that the “Dems say they won’t get fooled again.”
“We will do something this week — but if we learned anything from right after 9/11, it’s that the biggest mistake is to pass anything they ask for just because it’s an emergency,” Leahy says.
“They can’t get away with what they did in 2001,” Leahy said. “This will be ‘trust but verify.’ The biggest mistake they can make is holding a press conference while we’re negotiating to say there’s going to be a worldwide depression if Congress doesn’t do exactly what we want them to.”
And leave it to Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to continue the political bashing at the height of a national financial emergency:
“As we proceed to deal with this crisis, this is clear recognition that the party is over for the Bush administration’s anything goes, failed economic policies that have damaged our economy, undermined the middle class and further pointed out the need for a new direction.”
Does it make me feel better that the Democrats are claiming to ”protect the middle class” or some such message they’re preaching? Certainly we hope taxpayers and the “middle class” are considered in the context of economic decisions by all legislators on both sides of the aisle. But I am disappointed that even when we need our political leaders to act in a bipartisan manner to safeguard the national economy, they resort to political finger pointing.
I’m also all for helping keep people in their homes, and to decrease foreclosures. But some of those delinquent loans are the reason we’re facing this crisis, and just as we don’t want to provide bailouts and incentives for the investment firms that brought this mess on, we don’t want to provide the same incentives to those speculators and home-flippers that took on more debt than they should have, and “bailed out” of their mortgage obligations.
The bottom line right now is to get things moving again. What was last week all about? The Shock to the nation’s financial system that forced the government’s hand. There really wasn’t much choice over the actions taken.
I think those Democrats and Republicans who impede progress on the economic front may pay a high price over time. No one questions that there are disagreements on so many issues. It is important to consider the larger implications of the effect on taxpayers and the national budget moving forward. But our political leaders need to think twice before making this a politicized process.
“Princeton University history professor Julian Zelizer, who has written a history of Congress in the 20th century, says the Democrats will try to extract whatever they can out of Paulson — but must eventually bow to the reality that the perils of not acting quickly are just too devastating, economically and politically.”
So as of today it appears the Democrats want to set their own bailout terms. What may have been quick action to pass bailout legislation may take until the end of this week. Maybe that’s not such a bad thing with the $700 Billion price tag going in. It’s not like the fate of the economy awaits the action of our vaunted leaders… is it?
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