As the financial crisis continues to unfold, the ineptitude of the current Congress is becoming more evident to me. I was extremely disappointed that the House did not pass the bailout bill that was put to vote on September 29, 2008. To me, the bill is more than a bailout. It's about restoring confidence in the U.S. financial systems, which are on the brink of failure. I decided to check how my Congressional representative voted on HR 3997 and use that information to help determine how I will vote this November.
My representative voted "no" and definitely will not get my vote. Although it pains me that that the candidate from the other party may get the seat, I am happy to vote out an incumbent from my party who I think has demonstrated incompetence during financial crisis.
For more details on how the House voted on HR 3997, see this link.
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4 comments:
The American People Overwhelmingly disagree with the passage of this bill (to the tune of 10-1). If our representatives vote with the people's wishes this bill should not have passed. And it didn't. The people had their say and right was done.
Thoughts?
Are American's dumb 10-1 or is there a way that that is better? From what I have read people are willing to live through some difficult times in order to get things right in the long run.
People didn't agree with it because they're upset the rich have gotten richer and understood this wasn't sustainable.
@ Rex,
Thanks for your comment.
If this bailout was only about saving a few companies, I would agree with you and the American people. However, I believe the current bailout is about the function of the country's financial and credit systems
I think if people understand the possible implications of no bailout, there would be less opposition. Without a bailout, many companies may not be able to function since they may require short term credit to meet obligations. Eventually, that would cascade to more business failing and to loss of jobs.
As for Congress, I think taking no action is not an option and demonstrates zero leadership. To me, leadership requires doing what's needed, which sometimes is not what's popular. By the way, even with a bailout, I believe we will have difficult times. There is no magic bullet to end this crisis.
I hope I am wrong about the outcome. But if this scenario should happen, I think the 10 to 1 Americans against the bailout will wonder why Congress didn't do something when they could.
Pretty good argument, it's what I have been hearing in the news. However the choice is not nearly as clear cut as we think. We have been given the option: Vote for this bill or vote against it! Well there is another option. Sit down and craft another bill. But there was not enough time, some will say. Why not? Because congress has to take a time out and go on break? If I worked at a factory and there was something wrong with the production line I would not put some patches on things and go home. I would bust my rear end until things were working. I would analyze the problems, do some testing, seek out those that have dealt with it before and most of all come up with multiple solutions.
Nearly everyone in congress has stated that this is something that needs to be done now and things need to be done to work on and fix things long term. My answer to that is "do it". Sit down and work on it. I have worked at Merrill Lynch on Wall Street and have seen the creative financing packages proposed. I rolled my eyes at many of them knowing full well they were unsustainable. The irrationality of it all let me to move and get involved in other work. The economy is in trouble, no doubt. And the main reason is not all Wall Street, it's our consumer culture. Rumor has it credit is tightening up, for who? For those that have a 620 credit score and need a car loan. Truth is they do not deserve a car loan. Show yourself worthy and get credit. My wife and I are working hard, 5 jobs between the two of us. We moved into a mobile home to save like mad are completely out of debt and are saving for a home of our own, not part of that savings (over time) wil go to this bailout package, unacceptable. Something needs to be done, but we must all acknowledge there were more than 2 options even if that was what was being portrayed to us.
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