Bailout Thoughts

Watching CNN I fear that many people misunderstand the “bail out.” I do not claim to fully understand it, and much less am I comfortable pontificating on how it will impact our economy, but at least I think I have a basic grasp of it. It is hard because the media cannot seem to discuss it without metaphors and sensationalism. “Lawmakers stop the bleeding, rescue America!” Who is bleeding? How was a country rescued?

Last week the media painted the picture that the Republican-drafted bailout plan was little more than the taxpayers (honest, hard-working Americans) funding an enormous payout to big business fat cats that took ill-advised risks on mortgages, and were now facing the very real possibility of missing a yacht payment. Main Street was outraged. How dare the government bail them out?

Then the bill failed and the stock markets plummeted. I’m not saying the first bill was good, or that the market is somehow omnicient, but that is how people reacted. And “Main Street” (aka journalists) watched their mutual funds sag.

Friday the media was singing a different tune. Praise be to the Democrats on Capitol Hill that revised the bill and got it passed. I was watching it real-time and it was funny watching Nancy Newsgirl struggle to explain the plummeting stock markets following the house actions. Obviously disillusioned she asked the Wall Street correspondent, “Why are the markets falling in response to this good news? Isn’t this what everyone wanted?” She theorized that people must not understand how the measure would help the working class, middle class folk on Main Street USA. It was clear that she didn’t understand it either.

So, how will it help people? Is there anything in there that says that the government will send me money? No. What if I’m having trouble making my mortgage payment – will I get some relief? Bail me out? No. If I don’t pay back the debt I used to buy my house, which is backed by my house, I will have to forfeit my house. Will it lower gas prices? Probably not directly, maybe not at all.

Bubba Citizen: I don’t get it. I’m not getting any free money from the gub’mint, I still have to make payments on my double-wide, AND the price of lawn jockeys keeps goin’ up. This plan is stoopid. Why don’t the boys in DC jus’ send that $700 billion to us hard-working, honest taxpayers? It would prob’ly be a few grand to ne and Darla Lee; more is they don’t send it to “The Rich.” Why don’t they just do that?

I don’t know where the gub’mint is getting all that money, they probly just print more of it. In fact, I don’t understand why they don’t just print more and send us all $200,000. Then we’d all be able to payoff our houses and that would solve this so called housing crisis. In fact, if they sent me that much money, I could buy a real big house, with a smallish mortgage. Wouldn’t that stimulate the economy? Politicians sure are dumb. We could all be rich! Why won’t they just help us small folk? They must be taking bribes from Big Business to keep us all down.