Bailout passes, another political thread.

  Actually this is a little different. The Iraq was was a pure money grab by the Bush/Cheney backers, it was straight forward and focused. The Bailout is more complicated. The credit crisis really affects everyone, even those who know nothing about it. . The lack of credit liquidity causes spiral of increasing job loss and incomes as more and more businesses can’t fund their operating costs. If it works the bailout money will be relatively well spent compared to the similiar amount we wasted on Iraq.
  The culprit in this crisis was deregulation of the baking and financial sector, we need stricter rules of solvency and tighter loan requirements to return to stability but the bailout will hopefully get things moving in the right direction. A similar S&L bailout in the 90’s worked pretty well. The govt.eventually moved all the assets back to the private sector for a total cost of about a billion or two if I recall correctly. There was higher bidding for the assets of wachovia today so maybe the govt. won’t hafta spend as much as we think now.

the whole concept is a myth – always has been

no market is unregulated by its government, there is no example of unfettered capitalism

the 2008 credit melt-down is eerily similar to the 80s S&L bailouts- the trend toward widespread deregulation was ignited by RR in the 80s and fueled by every administration since in one fashion or another, and every time someone challenged it they were accused of being unAmerican, socialist, or worse and it continues on and on until here we are “rescuing” banks who (again) mismanaged their risks … maybe this time we’ll learn?

that the money being spent on the “surge” in Iraq could fund free health care for every man, woman, and child in America? Goes to show what the priorities are for this administration. I really believe that our involvement in Iraq is a major factor to this economic crisis. If the Iraq “war” never existed, neither would this bailout plan…

  The 700 Billion bailout would be about $2500 per person. Spread over a few years it probably wouldn’t help as much as adding the stability to the credit system.
  The fatcats were part of the reason for the housing crisis but the essential ingredient was buyers willing to gamble on ever increasing prices. If they had just said no there could have been no bubble. Our whole society had the same problem, everyone wanting to live beyond their means. Designer clothes instead of Mervyns, Lexis instead of toyota, eat out instead of cook at home. The country’s savings rate went to below zero, that should be the clue.
  The solution is leadership that promotes sound fiscal habits and wholesome lifetime goals. Energy conservation, alternate energy sources, population reduction policies, world peace, global investment in socially beneficial infrastructure, caring for our most needy citizens and our environment . These kinds of activities will create meaningful satisfaction so we won’t need the lotto tickets and “Flip this house”

buyers willing to gamble is part of it, but the crack they were smoking was the zero-down, low interest ARMs financial institutions (they’re not all banks) were handing out like sugar daddy’s over the last couple years … I’d say the fatcats who were doling out the crack are the last ones we should be bailing out

the ones taking it in the shorts are the conservative, do it the “right way” SF homeowners and fixed income folks who not only are losing their retirements if they were attached to the market but also now PAYING for the bailout on top of it … their last and only option may now be to take out reverse mortgages, but those will be assessed upon the now deflated market

it’s not the $700B, that’s only part of it – we’re over $Trillion in bailouts this year alone! We’re not done yet either – there will be more bailouts. CA Gov just asked for a $7B bailout loan. The cancerous growth on the deficit and it’s interest will grow more now than ever. Plus we have to pay for the “administration” of the bailout process. We need someone to pin the Gordon Gekko’s to the wall and make them pay up.

If McCain had really wanted play the Maverick role fighting the “populist” role he’d’ve shot his wad going AGAINST the bailout then hammering it for the next month making the economy his positive issue rather than (yet another) albatross. As it is the election should be over unless Obama fumbles at the goal line. McCain’s pulling out of Michigan leaves him with only a slight chance of an electoral victory (see Newsweek). But my nervousness over ballot-box racism will only be mollified after Nov. 4.

I agree with you, and hope Obama offers the leadership you describe. We need it now more than ever.

I dont agree with bush or his administration but get your facts right. Paulson took the job in 2006 and hes the secretary of treasury. How does that have to do with the Iraq “war”. Paulson isn’t trying to make us scared. He says its not a great plan but its better than not doing anything

government owning mortgages and owning the banks sounds liek its turning into communism to me.

The whole bailout thing is way too complex for me to figure out, but this is a solid diary. More importantly, it doesn’t take 8 minutes to load like Political Thread II.

If you rename it something like, Election, Debates, Bailout, etc.: the GSoM Political Thread Part III, I’ll urge the other members of the nuthouse to REC it up to the top.

Anyway, you get a REC from me…