Let it crash

This one should work http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/28/bailout-legislation-full_n_130063.html

Sorry, its Huffington Post, but its just the document.

I had heard that he did, to his credit. Unfortunately, I can no longer stand the sound of his voice.

But I think the opportunity to explain what the bailout is supposed to do and why it is good is still out there.

But then who would pull the collective European ass out of the next world war, or provide Sam Waterson, Woody Strode and Russell Means roles to play?

Here's a very simple explanation of why the "bail out" is necessary.

Without it, the credit market freezes up.

Without credit, business and consumer consumption grinds to a halt and the economy tanks.

If the US economy tanks 95% of America's populations suffers.

(I'll entertain suggestions on the rate of suffering throughout the rest of the world)

Who is to blame?

The lending institutions that offered risky mortagages to consumers or the consumers who stupidly thought that if someone would lend them the money they could afford the loan?

The Democrats who tied loose mortgages for the lower class to every financial bill presented in congress, or the Republicans who looked the other way and were happy to ride the phony prosperity wave?

It matters, of course, but not to the extent that the bail-out should be killed while the debate on where to point the finger rages.

I don't want to see the CEOs of these failed companies to walk away with millions, but guess what? They already have.

The compensation restrictions which are being imposed will impact not the people who made the mess, but the ones brought in to clear it up. So what; they already very very wealthy, but any notion of retribution or justice is smoke and mirrors.

The idea that we should just let the pure forces of capitalism clean up this mess is all well and good, if the people who propose it understand and appreciate the impact of such a course, and are able to resist starting it up all over again with government bail outs when the night is darkest.

It is also ridiculous to suggest that this mess has proven how capitalism does not work.

Capitalism works, but it works roughly.

Every attempt at central control of a major economy has failed. It's never been a case of getting past a few rough spots and then flourishing again, it's always been a case of steady and inevitable decline and failure.

It would be nice if we could have a panel of enlightened and compassionate financial geniuses directing the economy on a daily basis but where will we find these people? No one, in history, has thus far.

It would also be nice if we had a God overseeing our every actions and making sure we're all quite happy, and that lions might lay down with lambs and sharks would become vegans.

FD -- Robert posted a link to the transcript of the entire address. I agree that it was well presented and I also agree that I had to read it the next day because I couldn't bear the thought of listening to it live.

http://able2know.org/topic/123052-1

Simple, but unbelievable to many if not most. I think it's a head-in-the-sand response by folks who can't wrap their head around it, but telling someone that they may have to come up with the cash to pay off their mortgage once it's called in, along with their credit card debt when it's called in, while being unemployed because their company has gone under due to not being able to meet IT'S debt obligations when they were called in is simply unfathomable to the majority of Americans.

"grinds to a halt" is too generic. The verbiage being thrown around is also too generic, including the remarks in George's address. Folks aren't going to understand the potential impact unless it's spelled out in fine detail and I've yet to see that that's been done by anyone in the national spotlight.

Cool, thanks.

You won't see anything about this bailout in "fine detail," because nobody knows - even the professors of Economics in our best schools. Some are saying that it's possible more than $700 billion will needed, while others say maybe something less. As I've stated often, economics is an art, not science. There's no magic formula to figure out solutions for this financial crisis.

ci, listen to rush today, you might learn something about Fannie and Freddie and the Democrats blocking Republicans repeated attempts to reform the problems. This is a bomb on Democrats if the information gets out there. Not only that, there is huge corruption, cooking the books. Hello hearings, jail, etc.

No okie, Study what really happened to Mae and Mac under the Bush regime.

Listen to Rush if you want a fact free argument that absolves Bush of any responsibility. Fannie and Freddie were both regulated by HUD -- an executive branch department. The only thing Republicans in congress tried to do was to move it under the Treasury (another executive department). They did this when they had a clear majority in both the house and the senate. Yes, Democrats in committee voted against it but that wasn't enough to keep it from passing out of committee, which it did. It was never brought to the floor. End of story.

Isn't the former HUD secretary under investigation now? Face it okie, listening to Rush will get you the current Republican talking points, framed in a way as to maximize outrage, but not much in the way of facts or a good argument. This is evidenced by how quickly Rush's arguments, when parroted on A2K by his loyal followers, are pulled apart at the seams by facts. Listen to Rush if you want to be pissed off all the time for no real reason.

Anybody who stood to gain from it I should think. Especially if they can time their arrival opportunely.

And you have provided an answer to a question that wasn't asked which is rather an odd way of conducting a discussion.

Go ahead and obfuscate it, Free Duck, that is what you Obama robots do.

Awe, leave him alone, FreeDuck; he loves his masochistic state of mind.

Again, ci, I'm not talking about the details of the plan. I'm talking about the details of the consequences of not having one.

You get your marching orders from Rush and you're calling me a robot?

Which lets off the hook those that used a combination of crude and sophisticated techniques of persuasion learned in institutions paid for by the taxpayer. I don't know about the US but we have been blitzed with ads over the last two years tempting anybody to borrow. And it's as easy tempting folks like that as it is to tempt a hungry person. And it's money for old rope providing the space to advertise that.

You are using the word "stupidly" with hindsight. That's as easy as answering a question that wasn't asked. By easy I mean a kid of six could do either and stupid is officially defined as an adult in six year old mode.

Case in point...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/financial_meltdown

Why are we (they) using general terms like "dire warnings of impending economic doom" and "Heaven help us". Spell it out, dammit!

DrewDad, Excellent! Where does congress get the authority to spend that kind of money? Why is Bernanke willing to increase inflation when all he's done is try to control it? There are too many conflicts in this bailout plan, but at least one congressman is asking the right questions.