Thursday, November 13, 2008

Can we wait?

A couple of items suggest maybe we oughta wait till Team Obama takes the field to deal with economic mess.

Today's NYT reports:
U.S. Shifts Focus in Credit Bailout to the Consumer
By EDMUND L. ANDREWS
Published: November 12, 2008
WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department on Wednesday officially abandoned the original strategy behind its $700 billion effort to rescue the financial system, as administration officials acknowledged that banks and financial institutions were as unwilling as ever to lend to consumers.
Meanwhile, we have this encouraging news:
Bush: Economic crisis not a failure of free market
By BEN FELLER, Associated Press Writer
13 Nov 2008
NEW YORK – President George W. Bush asserted Thursday that the global financial crisis is "not a failure of the free market" and urged world leaders to adopt modest financial reforms that stop short of the tighter regulations Europeans favor.

"Our aim should not be more government. It should be smarter government," Bush said during a speech in New York, a day before about two dozen world leaders converge on Washington for a weekend summit he is hosting.
In fact, I agree with W: we need smarter government. Let's wait a couple months to get it!

When the bailout package was rushed through Congress in September, W and his minions assured us that
1. If the bailout wasn't approved immediately the world would come to an end.
2. They knew what they were doing.
Two months later Paulson & the rest of W's minions admit that, gee, it didn't work.

I'll note that in addition to, "Gee, it didn't work", the world has NOT come to an end.

Now we have the brilliant W pronouncing that the problem is "not a failure of the free market".
How can these guys be expected to fix the problem if they don't understand it???

The world will not come to an end in two months.
Some big ("too big to fail") companies may be forced into bankruptcy.
BUT - we'll have a smarter government in place to deal with the fallout!

Let's put the brakes on bailouts for the next two months. These guys are making it up as the they go - not the best way to manage $700Bn of tax-payer money!

Stop the madness.

1 comment:

  1. Does it feel to you like all the gamblers are cashing in their chips?

    ReplyDelete