Introducing Our Bailout Plan
After careful consideration, we think we’ve figured out a bailout plan that would get America’s economy going again. It may not be politically-correct, but based on the way things are going in Washington, D.C. right now, it’s hard to argue it wouldn’t be an improvement.
To recap briefly, America’s government (which was already running a $10.6 trillion debt) has decided it must bail out Wall Street … or rather bail out decades worth of irresponsible, federally-mandated lending practices … to the tune of $700 billion.
And not only are “Republicans” going along with it, the top financial official of the Bush administration actually got down on one knee and begged Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi not to walk away from this unprecedented bipartisan betrayal.
A handful of fiscal conservatives (including U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint and Rep. Gresham Barrett) are standing firm against the insanity, but sadly they are among the few with the testicular fortitude to do so.
In all fairness to the Bush administration, they did at least try and do something to remedy this specific problem five years ago, only to be rejected by the same Democrats now blistering his lack of leadership (more on that here).
But Bush’s failure to reign in excess GOP government spending over the past few years is also a major contributing factor to the dilemma that’s now staring us in the face, as has been noted in the past by no less than Alan Greenspan.
Bottom line, these politicians have had dozens of opportunities to avoid our present disaster and have failed to do so at every turn.
Trusting them to get us out of it now (with $700 billion of your money) is like trusting the inmates to run the institution.
Of course, as far as fiscal responsibility is concerned, that’s been the M.O. up in Washington for as long as anyone can remember …
Comments
By Adam Fogle on September 26th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
So where is your plan? There’s a paragraph saying that you have a plan, then eight paragraphs fawning over Barrett and DeMint for acting like spoiled children.
I was expecting something with Power Rangers and Lindsey Lohan’s boobs.
Instead, you seem to have just adopted the Barrett/DeMint “plan” to do a whole lot of bitching while offering absolutely nothing of reasonable substance.
Come on, you’re better than that, young William.
- A.F.
By nope on September 26th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
The best economic minds in the world are thinking about this, and you’re waiting for something of “reasonable substance” from young William? God help us if that’s all we’ve got.
By fitsnews on September 26th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Fogle-
The plan is visually expressed in the picture … although perhaps a better way of saying it is “let the bodies hit the floor.”
Capitalism can be painful at times, but it works. It’s also been through much worse than this and somehow managed to avoid the “ash heap of history.”
This is a necessary correction that is so ginormous in size and scope that not even a $700 billion bailout is really going to make that much of a difference in the carnage it will inflict on our economy.
Having said that, government intervention of this kind will not only fail to resolve the immediate problem, but will ultimately sow the seeds for bigger disasters down the road (i.e. Social Security, Medicare, etc.).
Sometimes the best decision is to recognize a hopeless situation when you see it and just take the pain … oh, and vote out Pelosi, Lindsey Graham and all the other DC sycophants going along with this scam.
Government doesn’t have the answer here, and to assume it does is why we’re in this mess in the first place.
-FITSNews
P.S. – We would also call for immediate cuts in income and cap gains taxes, an auctioning of all this surplus “wealth,” elimination of the government-mandated lending practices that created this crisis, private accounts for both Social Security and health care and most importantly a revenue (note: not spending) cap on the federal budget each year.
By veritas on September 26th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
fits, when the house is on fire you first put out the fire then determine the cause. Unfortunately, Demint has learned at the altar of Sanford which is complain and do nothing and you’re never wrong. First, we solve this mess. Second we send bailout checks delivered with subpoeanas by FBI agents to lehman, aig and freddie and fannie mac. Finally we look at the causes and deal with them.
This issue is too important for political posturing, but such is the new conservative movement.
By George Bush on September 26th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Savings and Loans Failure
Junk Bonds Failure
.COM Failure
Iraq War I and II Failure
Enron Failure
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Failure
Goldman Sacs Failure
WaMu Failure
10 Trillion Deficit Failure
1 Trillion Housing Bailout Failure
Let wall street fail. Who cares!
It’s hard workers that paid their bank loan interest rates, taxes and school loans that should receive the over valued homes.
By GreggR on September 26th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Bush Administration….EPIC FAIL!
Never thought I’d miss Ron Paul on the campaign trail: http://tinyurl.com/66o79q
By reggie on September 26th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
hmmm, the only thing that sucks more than our economy now would be the S. Car football team….
anyway, this whole situation is bullshit.
this is just another example of how painfully stupid americans are today. it SHOULD be common sense (for the buyer) to know that they could not afford a, lets say $35,000 loan on a $20,000 salary, because last time i checked theres a $15,000 difference.
so what exactly is the root of all evil in this case? surprisingly NOT the to-rich-for-my-own-good sleezeballs that run these corporations, but yes, it is indeed us, the consumer.
the only way for america to get back on track is for us to go through another depression (even though we are in one now), or if we went communist for awhile and when the economy got stable again, we go back to capitalism.
By Gillon on September 26th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
You’re confusing the “testicular fortitude” 0f DeMint, Barrett and their fellow travelers with political pandering, ideological posturing, and dogmatic drivel. Had they been around in 1929, they would have probably have thought that Herbert Hoover was right on top of things.
By Sand Hill on September 26th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Veritas and Adam make a key falicy.
Policy made in panic mode (a la the firefighter analogy) is almost always more problematic than the problem it was intended to solve.
You ABSOLUTELY HAVE to understand the cause of the problem BEFORE you try to solve it.
I haven’t heard DeMint and Barrett say they don’t want to do anything. I have heard them say that the Paulson plan will actually hurt our economy more than it helps.
Fogle is especially dense when he claims that DeMint’s plans to cut corporate and capital gains taxes as well as suspend the misguided mark to market accounting rule is not reasonable or substantive.
I have to conclude that Fogle either doesn’t understand the Paulson plan or favors socializing the credit system of the U.S.
By Endof Rope on September 27th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
I am upset that our elected representatives are seriously considering granting financial help using taxpayer dollars to the bankers and executives who created this mess in the first place. If you are interested in organizing or attending protests in Washington, your hometown, or whereever, please email me your ideas, suggestions, or willingness to help to stopbailout@gmail.com.
Endof
By Dick Carlson on September 28th, 2008 at 8:27 am
Well, there’s no need to spend a lot of time figuring out
why it happened. That’s pretty obvious to anyone with a brain.
The question now is should we try to use the federal government to fix it. Well, as soon as someone can show me something the federal government has “fixed” I suppose I could consider that. But I certainly wouldn’t put the same people in charge of the repair as the ones that caused the problem.
(If you had a guy in charge of your school district, and he kept lying to you and slept with the help, would you — oh, never mind.)
If we absolutely have to, the “insurance” concept makes some small amount of sense. But a bailout will just prolong the problem. And if they’re going to buy that bad debt, I want them to buy my bad debt as well.