The Bail Out and the Public

The polls say -- the public is against the bailout. Senators and congresspersons are getting all kinds of responses, very little positive. Part of the problem is that neither the President nor Congress is held in high regard. The President tried to go out and sell a plan he'd rather not have to sell. It came through in his presentation. Things are bad so we have to do something I'd rather not do. It's kind of like Jimmy Carter's malaise speech of years ago. So, we had a little revolt.

So, America is angry. They'll rail against Washington. Most of them on election day will send their own representative back to Washington -- because it's always the other guy's representative who is the bad guy. The question is -- at this point -- what should the government do? Do they risk voter wrath or do they simply do nothing? The reality is, everyone says, something must be done -- that is, the experts. Of course in this anti-intellectualist time, no one trusts experts. Of course, the experts can be wrong, but if my car breaks down, who should I call -- a certified mechanic or my neighbor who recently bought a new car?

At the end of the day, I believe that Congress will act, the President will sign, there will be some hue and cry, and the markets will stabilize on Monday. Right now, everyone is waiting. And, of course, when all is said and done, people will seek to take credit for the "deal."

Comments

Anonymous said…
I will just give my raw opinion on where I am with all of this. Right now I just don't trust the media. On one hand, most of the smart people in the world seem to think the bailout is a good idea. The problem is.. they also seemed to have a HUGE vested interest in seeing it pass. Bill Gross runs the largest bond fund in the world and he is all for it.. but of course his fund will do well. Warren Buffett is pumping it as well, but he is now giving advice to Obama, so is there a political motivation? One bank CEO (BB&T), John Allison actually says, LET THEM FAIL. A very interesting counter point made by a large bank CEO.

Frankly, the political coverage is so bad, I don't trust a word I read. Has Sarah Palin had one nice article about her past? Has Obama had even a bad article about his past? Neither are that bad or that good. I now see why the Clintons are so fighting mad. So this lack of objectivity is spilling over into the financial world and how I interpret what I read. I have my own thought on why we got in this mess.. and not sure I like the way to get out of it. Notice Wamu just failed and it won't cost the taxpayers... maybe John Allison is right!

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