After the brutal defeat of the first Bailout Bill, another "enhanced" version has passed. The Original Bill from the administration was two and half pages long, the new one, four-hundred. That's half the problem, if only we could get our economy on the same growth plan as our bureaucracy we may be sitting pretty. Ronald Reagan yous to say, "people don't get the government they pay for." In this case, Those words have never been more true.
One of the key issues the new legislation will enact is an authorization of $700 billion for the government to purchase troubled assets and buy equity in distressed financial firms. Which means the government is taking our money to buy trash, in hopes, that the people who have been dealing in trash don't go under. The thing is, however, trash is trash and those failing mortgages are trash. Since when is it the tax payers job to bail people out? I thought this was capitalism? I thought our market thrived on people individually trying to bolster their economic status, to the point that the market it's self bolsters?....bailing people out is socialism. What they should do is take that $700 billion and go and buy all the houses with failing mortgages, and tell the home owners (that shouldn't be home owners to begin with), "were not going to kick you out, you just no longer own this home you can't afford- now you pay rent to the U.S. government." Then the government should go sell those homes that are being rented to private investors. The problem is that sounds "mean" to those fiscal geniuses that buy expensive houses with little or no money down....go figure.
The legislation lays out a plan to phase in the money for buying troubled assets, with $250 billion available immediately, $100 billion to be released if the president certifies it is needed, and the last $350 billion available with another certification, but subject to a congressional vote. As well as require that the president establish a plan to recoup the cost from the financial industry if, after five years, there are any losses. Among other things the Bill will provide are business tax breaks for production of, investment in, and use of renewable fuels, increase personal credits against the AMT, shielding more than 20 million taxpayers from the tax, and increase, from $100,000 to $250,000, the limit on federal bank deposit insurance.
Beyond that, the Bill was nailed with pork-barrel spending. That's why congress has a record low 13% approval rating. Our nation is in potential crisis mode and what do they do?- add pork to bill that's unanimously disagreed upon already by two-thirds of Americans. This congress is ran by a bunch of scoundrels. The Democrats that pushed this Bill and Republicans that faltered by voting for it should be ashamed of themselves- John McCain included. Among the delegates that voted for the Bill only five states voted in absolute opposition for it, Wyoming, Kansas, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Thirty voted unanimously for it, while 15 States' delegates had split votes.
Let us not forget that the absolute disaster predicted if the first Bill wasn't passed didn't exactly pan out. Yeah, the market dropped 780 points, but it bounced back with 200+ of those points before Wall Street closed. Then, the next day- whata you know?...the Dow is up 200. The truth is if we let some people take the people responsiblity for this mess (Bankers and home owners alike), we might come under some recession like cloud for awhile. However, the market will adjust it's self and within a year or so we will be back on track- that's how capitalism works.
