More on the Bail Out

So in the excitement of making my first pair of socks, I didn't mention the economic news at all. I figure sock knitting is pretty important. If things get really bad maybe knowing how to knit socks will be a necessary skill! Ha-ha; as long as we still buy cheap shit from china, I suppose that isn't a danger.

Anyway, it doesn't seem that we need to pass legislation quite as quickly as Paulson and the Bush administration would have us believe. While the stock market plummeted way over 700 points on Monday, it rebounded some yesterday. I realize that something is going to passed in Congress, but I don't think it has to be a Wall Street bail out. I still really don't see the value of buying up bad debt when there are other things that can be done instead. I really think it makes more sense to buy the mortgages of people who are loosing their homes and renegotiate the loans so those people don't loose them. And I don't trust anyone from this administration; I don't care what kind of oversight there is, this money will end up in the pockets of Wall Street fat cats. I was listening to the radio yesterday and there was a Representative on who voted no on the bail out; I can't remember who it was, but Thom Hartmann pointed out that Paulson looked really worried and frantic on Monday. The rep pointed out it was because he and his Wall Street cronies had been reduced from billionaires to multi-millionaires.

On the other hand, I realize that credit is drying up for those small businesses that run on lines of credit for their payroll and what not and that is important. Again, I may not know much about economics but there has to be a way around that that doesn't involve giving Wall Street 700 billion dollars. We aren't the only country going through this; in Great Britain the government just stepped in and took over one of their banks. Maybe something like that makes more sense. Of course the Republicans would never go for that, but maybe if it was just a temporary measure til they were back on their feet. Whatever is done though, I think Congress needs to take the time to do it carefully and not be pushed into something that may look good at first but is still poison underneath. This is way too important not to get it right.