Why is the U.S. Congress deciding to shove a bill down our throats that no one wants? As everyone knows, Congress is trying to pass a $700 billion plan to bail out Wall Street. Though the politicians say it’s about Main Street, the voters aren’t buying it. A recent poll from Gallup said that only 22% of America believes that we should pass a plan similar to Henry Paulson’s plan. Stephen Power and Gary Fields of the Wall Street Journal explain why in “How Voter Fury Stopped Bailout.”
In the article, Power and Fields introduce the idea of most of the nation being infuriated over this bill. Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House during the Clinton years, Sen. Bernie Sanders, a liberal leaning independent from Vermont, and Rep. Darrell Issa, (R) CA, all voiced strong displeasure over the bill that failed this past Monday. They are not alone. Whether it is radio talk shows or internet blogs, people have been told to call up their representatives and senators and tell them to vote against this bill. Opposition to the package is so great that it may cost some of the supporters in Congress their jobs this election. An obvious example of this is taken from another article in the Wall Street Journal, that shows how the most vulnerable House members voted.
This article explains how voters don’t want the bill to pass at all. In the article, a contributor to blackamericaweb.com stated that "This is the biggest robbery of the US in the history of the nation" while Newt Gingrich feels that Paulson should resign from his position. Congress is about to pass the bailout package in the next few days.
Something I have quickly understood is that conservatives don’t want to pass this bill because they think it is one more step towards socialism. Liberals don’t want to pass the bill because they believe they are getting a raw deal and don’t want to bail out the rich folk. I find it ironic now that the media and Democrat controlled Congress have railed against the rich, but now seem to be all for this bailout. They are stunned that only a quarter of their own constituents support it, but still they are bent on passing it anyway for our own good.
In my opinion, this bill is not a good bill at all. It does not include reform and gives the Secretary of the Treasury more power. Like Gingrich said in the article, a former Goldman Sachs chairman is now trying to get money to bail out his buddies on Wall Street. That man is Henry Paulson. Conflict of interest? I think so. But, Congress will pass this legislation and they should pass something. But, not this. Not a blank check.
What do you think? Should this bailout be passed and why? If not, what should be changed?
Opening picture taken from StopTheHousingBailout.com
2 comments:
I believe that the bailout is a necessary evil. It has both components that will hurt as well as benefit the American people. On one hand imposing such a bill will hurt all of the hard working tax payers where it counts the most, the wallet making the general public collectively pay for the wrongdoings of the wealthy. On the other hand the bailout should give an ailing economy a much needed boost to fight the effects of a recession. This bill is necessary an I believe will not be a quick fix to any of the economic problems that the country will face in the near future, but it will serve as a basis for reform and regulation greatly needed in the financial sector.
I believe that idea of the bailing out is a nice thing to do, since we are try to help the economy, but I really don’t think that it’s the right move. I feel that the government is only postponing the financial crisis. By plugging up holes on a boat with bubble gum will only help for awhile. The boat will eventually still sink. All we can do now is just hope it holds long enough, until we find a real solution. I believe that there might have been other ways to solve this problem. First off I don’t understand why we are giving the same people whose unethical moves and greed got us into this mess. I think we should have them fired and replace them with more professional people. Second why not have the bail out money go toward a program to buy up all the foreclosed houses and rent them at lower rate to the people being foreclosed upon and then sell it at a profit in a few years. It may be more complicated then that but its still a shot. So far we really haven’t seen a bounce or rise in the economy, but I guess it’s a long term fix. Since the bail out was already passed all we can do is hope it works and enjoy the cheaper gas prices. I don’t feel that the bail out was the right move to correct the market, but it will serve as a lesson. When things get too high and out of whack they fall. The only positive thing out of this is that in the long run America we grow stronger then ever.
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