And That Was The Week That Was

It was a wild and wooly ride, the week that was. It included a financial crisis that it's probably best so few of us understand. There were congressional all-nighters in an attempt to solve in a few days a problem that has been festering for months, possibly years. This was followed by the obligatory blame-game among governmental leaders that, as taxpayers, we pay our good money to hear during and after each crisis. There followed a resolution, of sorts. Finally, came the culmination of a week of political manuevering, The Vice-Presidential Debate.

Let's look at the financial crisis, as much as we would prefer not to. Like John McCain, I don't really understand economics much. I don't even balance the family checkbook, apparently also like McCain. The one thing I've always said about our nation's economy, though, is that most of us would cut back on buying big ticket items for our families if our salaries were cut. So, it seems crazy that we have attempted to cut taxes while waging a major and expensive war. Yet, that is what the Bush Administration chose to do. They cut taxes needed to pay for a war that they estimated would cost us about $80 billion. If the war had actually cost that much, cutting taxes may not have hurt the country. Since the real cost is probably somewhere between half a trillion and a trillion dollars, we'll never be able to calculate what effect a "measly" $80 billion dollar war would have had.
Oh well, easy come, easy go. So taxes were cut by that brilliant MBA that's been running the country for the past 8 years, and expenses for war escalated. In fact, we're looking for more places to wage war and spend money....brilliant stewardship there, George. Heckuva job, Georgie.

So, after hocking our children's futures to pay for mayhem, Washington managed to combine this folly with looking the other way while Congress and this administration allowed every lobbyist in Washington to earn a bonus by finding new ways to rip off the people. Whether on golf vacations, trips to the casinos, evening and weekends spent in luxury, we allowed lobbyists to bribe the people's representatives into giving away any and all protections we had against their greedy clients. This practice is called deregulation. Lobbyists talked legistlators and presidents into relaxing the only protections we had against thievery, and they robbed us blind. No one could have seen that coming, unless of course, he or she had ever read a history book.

If all of this sounds a little strong, it is merely the unvarnished truth. The gravest insult and injury to the American people is that now that these hyenas have stripped our carcasses, so to speak, we are now going to need to help them digest the meal they've made of the economy. We must now rescue them from their own gluttony and vices.

I am one of those who feel that the bailout/rescue is probably necessary...though it shouldn't have been. We have to go through with it because our personal financial futures and the future of the worldwide economy are so intertwined with the fate of the Wall Street thieves and their minions, that we'll all go down together. It shouldn've have been necessary because Wall Street investors assumed much risk to make maximum profit. They got the government to sanction the risks they were taking. Then when their bet didn't work out, they want a bailout. Casinos don't work that way, but it looks as if our government must. Hope it works, because it is the most expensive lesson this country will ever have to learn.

When all was accomplished, we had the spectacle of the finger-pointing. It was fun to watch the Republicans, the stewards of the country's economy low these many years, trying to blame this on poor people in general and an obscure loan program in particular. Hard to believe that could be the only cause of this mess, when you look at the expensive homes from coast-to-coast that sit in foreclosure next to little bungalows. If all the foreclosures were caused by poor people defaulting, we've got some pretty crafty poor folks out there.

Lastly, we were treated to more of The Palin Phenomenon. Pundits, who mere days before, were calling for her resignation are now singing her praises....not because she had a command of, or even an understanding of, major policies. Peggy Noonan, Pat Buchanan and others on the right are so proud of her because she was warm, cuddly and made a connection with the people. So does a warm puppy, but let's not elect one to the vice-presidency under a very sick old man. It certainly doesn't take much to impress the right...they loved Bush. Need I say more?

The Republicans have decided to take the gloves off and go after Obama's character for the next 30 days. I don't blame them at all. They have no programs to get us back on track, so why not make the opponent look like a terrorist or worse?

I'm done with the week that was. The next week doesn't appear to be any more restful...but it couldn't get worse. Could it?