Is that happening here when I read this...
"We're all worried about losing our jobs," Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., declared in an impassioned speech in support of the bill before the vote. "Most of us say, 'I want this thing to pass, but I want you to vote for it — not me.' "
So keeping your congressional job is more important than watching an economy beaten into a depression?
This is a perfect example of the structural dysfunction of our congress.
See, Congress is supposed to manage our national interest but the reps are elected in parochial elections. They look at their jobs as accountable to their parochial constituency and not to the national interest they manage.
It's why our founding fathers wanted a week central government.
Unfortunately, with the introduction of the federal income tax, we've totally bastardized the way our government should work.
As for Nancy & Co, she should be hung from the tallest flag pole in Washington and beaten with a wrecking ball.
How is this the republicans fault? If this bill was so damn awesome why didn't her democratic majority step up, pass it, and then take all the credit for saving the day? They could have shoved it right in the GOP's face.
I mean after all, they're all about "Main St." over "Wall Street" right?
For years, the circus clowns of both parties have had cover for horrible decisions of the past and now it's time to pay the piper. In this regard, courage is like a muscle. If you never use it, it atrophies. If any of these guys would have had the balls to stand up to Fannie Mae 15 years ago, this problem would be a small nuisance, not a potential debacle.
Just wait until we actually have to deal with the cold reality of social security defaults 100 times the size of this one.
5 comments:
We'll take the blame for this if the Democrats take the blame for Social Security.
Love,
The Republicans
At the end of the day, not that I want to appear to defend the Republicans at any cost, but any hand they have in it will be magnified a million fold by the media if it blows up. The Dems are largely to blame for this as-is and yet it is still being hung around Republican necks despite their proposals of more oversight, and Dems like Barney Frank pushing for the whole zero down Subprime mortgage for the masses in the first place, and then we have Obama actually suing banks that do not give out enough loans to minorities. When it all blows up, they are blaming free markets instead of the fact that what caused the problem is the very fact that it is not a free market, but a government controlled (via legal action and poltics) market that blew up.
The pessimist in me says that the Republicans are still just laying down and letting the media and the Dems get away with throwing mud. The optimist in me says that the Republicans are letting the Dems double down and dig themselves deeper before producing their Royal Flush for the election. It's not like there's not enough blame to pile on the Dems, and as I recall for the last couple of elections, the Rope A Dope plan worked quite well with the Dems who were all too eager to stand in front of a friendly press and fling mud that was undeserved only to have it dropped back on them by the dumpster load.
Andy
This problem is so big that there is no way to hide it. Congress is just trying to figure out the fanciest way to put money into the economy that it takes out and call it a solution. Only this is so big that they can't take it just from one part and buy votes from the other part. It's sink or swim for all of us, rich and poor.
There's not much good here, but if there is one positive thing that will come out of the coming debacle will be a long-overdue total loss of faith by the people in their government. The American people need to get back to what made it great, and that is a faith in the American people. Screw the government. We need the Federal system, not for it's power, but for the checks and balances that limit power. Checks and balances that have been replaced by nods and winks.
The government should be merely a vehicle to protect freedom, not the activist institution for fat cat elites that it has become.
So what if it defaults on social security? Just like Fannie, it's one of many institutions that should have never been allowed to exist and are out of control. Our "leaders" have chosen not to manage these issues, therefore by default the issues are now managing them.
Right now, our president and congress people look weak. Honestly, I think that's a good thing. We are like a drug user that has just hit rock bottom. The sooner we lose the notion that our government should (or can) take care of us, the sooner we can start to get back on the right track.
Excellent comments all around.
What bothers me is that we've had a government more than willing to bail out people for all kinds of screw ups; bankruptcy, welfare, etc.
The reason I'm a libertarian is that we cannot allow a government to pick and choose the people they will help and those they won't.
Many operators of these financial firms believed they were "top big to fail". Why would they believe that if they didn't believe a government bail out wasn't a possibility?
This has been a giant mess brewing for decades and now we have it.
Correct. The bigger and stupider the company has been, the more likely the government is to prop you up. If it looks like socialism, and smells like socialism, it's socialism. And does this whole thing remind you of that line in the Godfather?
Big Stupid Banker: Be my friend, Uncle Sam? (Kisses the ring.)
Uncle Sam: Good. Someday, and that day may never come, I am going to ask a favor of you....
Don't tell me the bankers aren't indebted to Washington after this. There will never have been a more cozy relationship between government and the few collosal remaining bankers after this is all over.
A dream scenario is that Washington can't get it's shit together this week. Then the big stupid financeers collapse, congress gets replaced in November, and the private sector recovers in a couple of months without the help of Washington.
I can think of no better way for America to recover its confidence after having it destroyed by politicians and the media over the years.
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