And Furthermore
09/22/08 09:02
As Flimsy Sanity pointed out in the comments to my
last post, this bailout smells. Especially the
urgency with which dubya and his minions are pushing
it. These are, after all, the same brilliant minds
that convinced Amurka Saddam Hussein and his
imaginary WMDs were on the very brink of invading us
and taking away our jeebus. It makes me wonder if
this might be more of the same phony urgency, based
more on the preznit’s rapidly dwindling time in
office than any genuine financial need.
So, is this one last looting of our Treasury on the way out the door, or are we truly on the brink of a financial crisis? How can you trust an administration that has so thoroughly screwed the pooch on every issue they’ve addressed to handle it correctly anyway? (Remember when sending every taxpayer $600 was going to solve all our economic woes?) As one wag in the comments over at Sadly No put it:
One of the things that makes me think our country might really be in deep shit here is that all the talking heads on my teevee are endlessly repeating the same tired, old lines. Stuff like “Never sell the American workers short” and “Never underestimate the power of the American economy.” Soothing platitudes meant to reassure themselves as much as the public. These guys are scared and it shows.
But I’m also hearing a lot of talk about the need to “restore investor confidence”. Who would have guessed that millionaires have such delicate psyches that we taxpayers need to pony up a trillion dollars to soothe them? It’s all very confusing, as if all the so-called experts don’t actually know any more than I do. I’m not of the investor class, but none of this is doing much for my confidence.
Despite the fact that economics generally makes my head hurt, I’ve been making an effort to educate myself a little. A friend sent me a link to Chris Martenson’s Crash Course under the subject line: Worth Your Time. I couldn’t agree more. The whole thing takes about three hours, but it’s divided up into bite-size sections, and I highly recommend it. When you finish it, you will have a fairly solid understanding of how our economy works. You will not, however, be happy with your new-found knowledge.
So, is this one last looting of our Treasury on the way out the door, or are we truly on the brink of a financial crisis? How can you trust an administration that has so thoroughly screwed the pooch on every issue they’ve addressed to handle it correctly anyway? (Remember when sending every taxpayer $600 was going to solve all our economic woes?) As one wag in the comments over at Sadly No put it:
Shorter Entire Bush Administration: I’ve just totaled your car. Quick, give me the keys to your house.
One of the things that makes me think our country might really be in deep shit here is that all the talking heads on my teevee are endlessly repeating the same tired, old lines. Stuff like “Never sell the American workers short” and “Never underestimate the power of the American economy.” Soothing platitudes meant to reassure themselves as much as the public. These guys are scared and it shows.
But I’m also hearing a lot of talk about the need to “restore investor confidence”. Who would have guessed that millionaires have such delicate psyches that we taxpayers need to pony up a trillion dollars to soothe them? It’s all very confusing, as if all the so-called experts don’t actually know any more than I do. I’m not of the investor class, but none of this is doing much for my confidence.
Despite the fact that economics generally makes my head hurt, I’ve been making an effort to educate myself a little. A friend sent me a link to Chris Martenson’s Crash Course under the subject line: Worth Your Time. I couldn’t agree more. The whole thing takes about three hours, but it’s divided up into bite-size sections, and I highly recommend it. When you finish it, you will have a fairly solid understanding of how our economy works. You will not, however, be happy with your new-found knowledge.
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