—WCN Warning: Economic/Terrorist event possible—
Here’s my bet.
Yes.
I think the outpouring of angry comment from the constituents of the 435 House members, all of whom are up for reelection in November, will convince a big enough number of them that if they want to keep their jobs (for whatever that will be worth in the post-crash United States), they will vote against the bailout.
The American people are angry. They have a right to be. They’ve been manipulated, lied to, drugged with cheap credit, cheap mass media “entertainment” rich with endless hours of inane reality TV, ridiculously expensive popular culture retail fluff and the American Panto of loundmouthed talking head news/debate shows. They’re waking up from the American Dream, which is starting to look like a night’s restless sleep brought on by a huge malt liquor bender, their head hurts and they’re pissed.
Con Artists like Barney Frank, Christopher Dodd and the like are still trying to shove this pork-infested rescue of their rich patrons, getting progressively more strident in their swearing the bailout is necessary to keep the U.S. from plunging into a depression.
I, for one, am already depressed! I’m depressed that those who profess to lead our nation don’t feel they’ve stolen enough, that they have to take what’s left before fleeing town themselves. Then again, I think it’s possible that the thieves who have put us (with our distracted and at times unconscious help) in this precarious position may well have thought their gravy train would continue indefinitely. Is it possible their panic is more caused by their sudden realization that the income derived from their stealing may be at an end, too? Could it be they’ve overreached, and are about to kill their own golden goose?
That would sure panic me!
In any event, as painful as it will be, our economy and political system needs an overhaul, a cleaning that will sweep away those we’ve foolishly allowed to lead us. Americans need to really read the Constitution and once again embrace this document. it’s still relevent and will save us.
If we let it.
***Update***
Clearly, I was wrong about the bill failing. I keep this post up because I don’t want to hide the fact that I was wrong in my optimism that the Executive and Legislative branches of our Government would listen to the will of their constituents. They did not. There reportedly hasn’t been a greater outpouring of opposition to legislation they were pushing in the history of our Republic.
They failed us. And should pay for this dereliction of duty with massive electoral change in the November elections. No member of the House, Republican, Democrat or Independent (all of whom are up for reelection, of course) who voted for this atrocious bill should be summarily release from service by being voted out of office. The same for any Senator up for re-election, though I would guess you will find a lower percentage of those, since only a third of the Senate is begging for their continued employment in November. Though I haven’t looked at the numbers, the water for this abomination was probably born by those who had another 2 or 4 years left in their term.
Cowards, crooks, thieves and liars. I am ashamed. It is time for change.
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—WCN Warning: Economic/Terrorist event possible—
Congress refused to pass a $700B bailout bill on Monday. The reasons for the failure of this bill, if you listen to the media are basically, two:
1. Many people don’t believe there really is a dire economic emergency that requires Congress to take action to hold off a “Greater Depression.”
2. Republicans, childishly miffed over being insulted by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who while speaking just before the vote layed all the blame at the feet of the Bush Administration.
Typically, these two reasons are basically made of that substance, bovine-produced, that is often said to be “hitting the fan.”
The huge outpouring of “VOTE NO TO THE BAILOUT BILL” from an angry populace was in fact, a vote of NO CONFIDENCE to our elected leaders, who often fail to remember that they do, in fact, work for US. We were saying “we’re not going to allow the same fools who created this problem attempt to SOLVE this problem, because we’re not confident they know how to do so.”
The vote on Monday was a startling and very welcomed affirmation that we call the shots, and if Congress wants to keep the cushy jobs they live their lives trying to hang on to, they’ll do what we tell them to do, or they’ll be out on their asses.
NO to a bailout. NO to the people who created this crisis (Bush, Bernanke, Paulson, Congress) spending hundreds of billions of our dollars to try and fix this problem.
In NPR’s defense, in a story that followed the one cited above on Morning Edition, a much friendlier friendly version of this opinion surfaced. Though the concept of “no confidence” wasn’t meantioned, I believe that future events will make this very, very clear.
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Recession
—WCN Warning: Economic/Terrorist event possible—
As we wait for the markets to open (in about 40 minutes from this writing), many readers of WCN are asking “what will happen if the economy ‘melts down?’”
That’s a good question. The answer to which brought a chilling silence to the assembled Congressional leaders when Bernanke and Paulson briefed them several days ago, pleading for the adoption of the $700B bailout plan.
In short, the result could very well be the end of the United States of America as a viable economic entity. To be blunt and even shorter: Chaos.
The United States is an economic system that depends on a lot of moving parts working together in complicated subsystems. Money must flow, in the form of credit, trucks must roll, supplying a long supply line of commerce that stretches from the manufacturer of millions of products all the way to the checkout stand, and people must go to work so they can earn paychecks that go into bank accounts so all of this can be paid for.
If there’s no money to buy loads of plastic, made-in-China stuff at Wal-Mart, there are no jobs for the Wal-Mart checkers, with no money going into THEIR checking accounts, etc. If money can’t flow to pay for fuel, big trucks pulling semi-trailers can roll into your local Safeway to deliver the food that you use YOUR bank credits to buy and take home. Without those trucks rolling, there’s nothing on the shelves of that Safeway.
Chaos.
If you were watching CNN or Fox News over the weekend, you may be wondering why all of these professional, usually cool-under-fire politicians were on camera clearly shaken, unsure and in my estimation, on a couple of occasions, almost ready to cry. They were staring into the abyss, know that even if they passed a bailout package, there was no guarantee that it would save them from the plunge along with the rest of us.
And it was interesting seeing them so shaken. It is absolutely critical that you realize these people who pretend to serve us in Washington, DC have created a system that almost totally insulates them from the challenges we “unwashed masses” face in our lives. From health care to a retirement system that is completely detached from our Social Security system. Their system is well-funded and not, as ours is, bankrupt. To see these people, who by the way created this crisis, sweating it along with the rest of this, is interesting.
—Update—
Here we go…Down +100 9:34am…
Down 300+ 10:45am…
Posted in
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Economy,
Recession