Bailout: A strange abyss

“Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country,” a sentence we used to bang in typing class nearly 40 years ago. The message came to mind as President Bush sought bipartisan U.S. congressional support for a $700 billion bailout plan. It inched its way out of the U.S. Senate but ran aground in the U.S. House of Representatives. Reconsideration is scheduled within a week’s time.

The issue triggered a debate between conservatives and liberals. It was reduced to capitalism vs. socialism. To leave the issue for resolution by Wall Street would be capitalism. To do otherwise is to espouse financial socialism. The economy was teetering on the edge of an abyss of unknown depth. Politicians from both sides of the aisle were wrestling with the devils of banking and the demons of high finance.

There were lots of elbowing for partisan advantage, but nobody has a clue about what, exactly, to do about the abyss. At least no one had a clue worth $700 billion. Sen. John McCain aborted the first presidential debate and headed to Washington but offered nothing but his stiff robotics. His rival Barack Obama did the same, offering his jelly fish-like answers versus a very serious financial crisis.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke came out after the House defeated the proposal, saying that the federal government has most of the tools in the kit. But he needs the help of the U.S. Congress to complete the rescue effort. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi blamed her failed leadership on Republicans by delivering a vicious partisan statement. She should have sought for calm that would pave the way for reconsideration.

The eleventh hour meeting included burning the midnight oil. It was a must-have meeting to hammer out a bipartisan bailout. I’m not sure where the package would lead the global village if approved. But it dictated the ups and downs of stock markets worldwide. But those on Main Street woke up the next day with their business-as-usual demeanor.

Appalling how members of the U.S. Congress, beholden to special interest groups, were given the responsibility to dispose of the $700 billion bailout. It’s an escape mechanism to hide behind the veil of bipartisan negligence. They had to give back to unscrupulous greedheads who messed-up Wall Street. It’s payback time for special interests and scoundrels that bankrolled their campaigns. Disgusting!

The irrelevant, if not, redundant labor unions have also weighed in on this matter. While labor unions have succeeded funneling more dough to workers, I am not sure that they understand the net effect of their version of greed: exporting American jobs overseas. If I may illustrate a point: a stateside worker engaged in the production of surgical gloves gets about $18 an hour. In Malaysia, employees are paid $8 dollars a day for the same quality surgical gloves.

Of the many varied reactions to the bailout plan, one citizen opined: “What we have just witnessed is how socialism doesn’t work. Every Comrade must have a house, even if the Comrade cannot afford a house, and even if we cannot afford to buy them a house.

“Barney Frank, Christopher Dodd, Chuck Schumer and Barack Obama are all up to their eyeballs in this socialist experiment called Fannie Mae. Now they are all desperately trying to cover their Fannies of all times right before election. I say, kick their Fannies out as quickly as you Mae.

“Communism always sounds good on paper. Utopia always seems a noble goal. In practice, however, it always fails and leads to economic ruin. Far better the capitalist system that spurs huge growth, providing jobs and opportunity.

“Despite the clear evidence of the Reagan boom years, Democrats continue to thwart this success. Congress forced small businesses to raise minimum wage. Predictably, just when the full measure of that increase hit businesses a few weeks ago, unemployment hit 6.1 percent.

“All Comrades must make the same pay, we must all be equal. But what good are the new high wages if the Comrade has been told ‘We can’t afford you, you’re fired?’ Businesses must compete. When hit with higher expenses, they naturally attempt ‘to do more with less’.”

Indeed, a thoughtful and interesting view on capitalism vs. socialism.

J[I]ohn S. DelRosario is the Secretary of the Department of Public Lands.[/I]