BAILOUT DEFEAT!Well, it's all over but the crying. The House listened to the American people for a change, and voted down the bailout plan. The most interesting aspect of this, politically speaking, is that there was bipartisan support AND bipartisan opposition to the proposal.
For the past week, I have been listening to right-wing blowhards claim that the whole sub-prime mess is the fault of political correctness and government pressure on lenders to grant mortgage loans to minorities. In my opinion, that is FUCKING STOOPID! PCness and encouragement to loan to minorities has been around for a long time, but this disaster is the result of reckless greed on the part of realtors, mortgage lenders and brokers, and on up the line. As real estate prices balooned, lending requirements softened, because regular citizens couldn't pay those inflated prices without "help" from the lenders (which consisted of all kinds of complicated finagling which most of the borrowers didn't understand, although they shouldn't have signed the deal if they didn't understand it and I have NO PATIENCE with people who do such stupid things), then the loans were "bundled" and kicked higher up, with someone getting his cut at every step of the way, until the BUBBLE BURST, AS ALL BUBBLES MUST, and everything came crashing down.
Many liberals opposed the bailout because it looks to them like the government would be asking Joe Sixpack to bail out the fat cats who had gambled and lost. "Oh poor babies! They got boo-boos. Let's kiss it and make it well." (I got those words, loosely paraphrased, from one of my favorite liberal bloggers, politits.) Many non-liberals, including many Republicans, agreed with those thoughts and both camps bombarded their representatives with calls and e-mails instructing them to vote a big fat NO on the bailout.
I have a feeling that many people in business and banking were in favor of the bill, because of the possible (probable?) financial mayhem that may (will?) follow. Today's stock market participants sure weren't happy with the defeat (sell, baby, sell). All we can do now is wait and see what happens next.
As for me...
8 comments:
First - thank you for the link!
Second - what a crazy day! I'm sorry for those who might lose their retirement savings because the Republicans are upset with Nancy Pelosi's speech, but I couldn't care less if those high flyers on Wall Street miss an appointment at the spa. The greedy fuckers.
Me either, Madam....
Madam Z... Please accept my apologies for being late to this post. Had lots to catch up on. But if I may repeat a mantra to piss off the right.
Privatize the gain. Socialize the loss.
Amazingly I don't give a shit either. I know I should, but I really don't. I just have faith that it will all blow over and things will work out for the best.
I must say there are some very clever people with some very polar-opposite views on what needs to be done with this disgraceful mess.
It's truly a fascinating spectacle watching Congress bend itself out of shape trying to serve so many masters...
I still can't wrap my head around this issue. I don't even want to think about it any more...
I really don't think it's a right wing/liberal...er, Republican/Democrat issue. The money was tainted on Wall St and not in the back rooms of the political corners. Who everybody should be pissed at is the speculators. Those are the people who drove everything out of control. I'm not talking about this country either... it was a worldwide thing.
I'm going to reiterate my favorite parts of each of your comments:
"the greedy fuckers"
"Me either"
"Privatize the gain. Socialize the loss"
"it will all blow over and things will work out for the best." (or not...)
"watching Congress bend itself out of shape trying to serve so many masters..."
"I don't even want to think about it any more..."
"Who everybody should be pissed at is the speculators." AMEN!!!
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