What we needed. What we need
What the bailout needed three days ago was for someone to go on TV and explain what the plan was and what the risks were for not passing it.
It needed to be done in simple, understandable terms so the American public would have an ida of what was being proposed, why it was necessary and how it could help.
We didn't get that, so people got scared of it, thinking that it was just helping Wall Street. And since every member of Congress is up for re-election this year, when they heard the criticism, they got worried about their own futures (after all, $165K a year jobs ain't bad).
I was hoping Obama might take the opportunity to do so during the debates, but that's asking a lot of him. It's a President's job, but a) he can't really make a case for much and b) no one really beleives him anymore anyway.
So it got lost in the details and the bullet points and pundit-dom, none of who also bothered to spell anything out about the plan. It would would have been good if a leader -- any leader -- would ahve taken the chance to let us know what was at stake.
It needed to be done in simple, understandable terms so the American public would have an ida of what was being proposed, why it was necessary and how it could help.
We didn't get that, so people got scared of it, thinking that it was just helping Wall Street. And since every member of Congress is up for re-election this year, when they heard the criticism, they got worried about their own futures (after all, $165K a year jobs ain't bad).
I was hoping Obama might take the opportunity to do so during the debates, but that's asking a lot of him. It's a President's job, but a) he can't really make a case for much and b) no one really beleives him anymore anyway.
So it got lost in the details and the bullet points and pundit-dom, none of who also bothered to spell anything out about the plan. It would would have been good if a leader -- any leader -- would ahve taken the chance to let us know what was at stake.
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Matt,
This is exactly the topic this afternoon among some of us in town.
Absolutely on target and yes, I have been wondering the same thing.
If Obama really wants to get a leg up, he'll release this ASAP.
As always, on point and greatly rec'd. Yourock!
September 29, 2008 8:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think the biggest part of the problem is that no one trusts Bush, and probably a whole lot of the rest of the government, as well.
What Bush and Paulson were asking for sounded a whole lot like the words used in the run up to the Iraq War. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice...well you know how that one goes.
In the last week, we've heard and read a whole lot about how intertwined Wall St. is with Main St. on this one...Most people just don't have time to pay attention and all they hear is Bush wants it and it helps rich people, so they don't listen or read any further. We even pretty much understand it and have talked to people about it in pretty simple terms and their eyes just glaze over and they say whatever, just let it fall apart. Our job is fine, and we're paying our mortgage...we'll be fine.
Up until the last few days, we considered ourselves fairly well off. Now we can see how the potential exists that all the saving and living beneath our means we've done for all these years, settling for health care and a safe pension, in lieu of a higher wage, deferring gratification and retiring with way more than we thought was going to be necessary to keep us living at our current standard of living for the rest of our retirement years, will not have been enough, and I'm beyond pissed.
The idea that a bunch of greedy people on Wall Street, aided and abetted by a bunch of our fellow regular folks screaming bloody murder that they'd rather see it all burn down than have the people who caused it benefit is almost more than I can take. Somehow, attempting to set up a firebreak now, then addressing the underlying problems later, sounds more than reasonable to me.
At this point, we may as well have been like those who lived above their means and bought all kinds of toys and made stupid financial decisions. We'll all be in the same soup lines.
Oh, well...maybe someone will come up with a really good idea that averts the disaster that appears to be around the corner.
September 29, 2008 10:32 PM | Reply | Permalink