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Bailout: Let's have an Election About It First
This deal is big enough that we ought to have a real national conversation about it. Not a conversation involving some quick negotiations among a "bipartisan" group of legislators and Bushite undersecretaries -- in occasional and frenzied discussion with two distracted presidential campaigns. A real conversation about where to take the country, a la 1860 or 1932.
Ramming through something quickly now will almost certainly result in multibillion dollar mistakes due to haste and to the fact that the people with the most information are implicated in the screw up one way or another, or stand to gain enormously from the bailout. Doing the deal now necessarily gives a central legislation framing and implementing role to the current administration -- which nearly everyone now recognizes to be inept, as well as venal and possessed of an economic and political philosophy that got us in this pickle in the first place. They can't be trusted to clean up their mess, however fair that would be. So how about let's adopt some stopgap measure for a couple months, then have the remainder of this election cycle be about what kind of country we want this to be or become, and how the financial risks and burdens the bailout would entail should be distributed to American citizens and their progeny?
Discuss.
Comments (3)
I agree. The rush to action is troublesome. Rife with pitfalls and blind leading the dumb.
Heartily endorse your concept of let's wait until election, then whoever wins (please, let it be Obama!) will have to deal with the consequences of whatever plan they endorse.
September 22, 2008 7:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you. This approach is good politics for Obama only because McCain is so utterly hapless on these issues, so anchored to terrible Grammian philosophy. Were McCain competent and credible on economics and regulation, he might do better off to favor a post-Bush resolution, too.
September 22, 2008 7:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
If one more Bushian says "we have to act NOW;trust me" I think I will be sick. A few more days and a little thought, please?
September 22, 2008 9:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
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