Bailout Problems
The Economist has an article today about the bailout defeat being a defeat for Bush. It in they say:
“Another factor was at play: this was a day of reckoning for the partisanship that has been a hallmark of the administration from the start. With Mr Bush in office, more congressional votes have run along party lines; campaigns and public debate have been more polarised. Although Democrats were persuaded to vote by roughly two to one in favour of the bail-out plan, bi-partisanship means more than just reaching out to the other side. It also means persuading your own party to compromise, which Mr Bush failed to do. Most of those who voted against the rescue came from the extreme ends of the parties, market fundamentalists on the Republican side; the black and Hispanic caucuses among Democrats (they are among the most left-wing members of Congress). This was an ideological defeat for an ideological president.”
It’s ironic that the most left and most right found something to agree on: defeat the bailout. It’s also ironic that I supported the bailout as “good enough” and agreed with Bush. In all the years of having him first as governor when we lived in TX and now as president, that’s not happened many times.
However, I am sympathetic to the arguments of the Dems who voted against the bailout. We do need more help and support for the individuals affected in this economic crisis. I settled on my “good enough” position since I’ve read economic history, see the effects on the markets (I’m more concerned with credit markets than the stock market), and am very aware of the dangerous slope we’re on right now. Bush’s failure of leadership in this (and elsewhere) has left the country bereft.
I’m not keen on bailing out those who’ve made tons of money earlier, and through excessive leverage, got themselves into this problem. However, those companies do provide a function for the national economy that is essential. Unfortunately the most straightforward way to ensure that function continues to be there is to support those companies.
I hope something can be patched together that we can all live with AND that will do the job. As time goes on, I have less hope of that as the job gets bigger.