Most Americans are not financial experts. It's very difficult, nearly impossible, for normal mortals to sort through the dense policy talk and conflicting opinions to figure out if the rhetoric of reform is real. Confusion is widespread in the land. Most Americans want to believe this president is leading us out of the swamp, but how can they know? I say, trust your gut feelings. They are as reliable as the learned experts.Many Americans want to believe because they think that returning to "normal" means their decimated 401(k) accounts might somehow recover the 30-40 percent that disappeared during the past year. If it takes monster bank bailouts to restore stock-market prices, let's have bailouts. Good luck with that. The Dow has regained 21 percent in two weeks of rallies, but I remind friends that steep, short bursts in the stock market do not foretell the future of the economy. Banks may be relieved of their losses without changing the general economic outlook. After the crash of 1929, there were occasional stock rallies, followed by fierce bears. It took twenty-five years (until 1954) for the Dow to regain its old peak. Another way to assess the Obama plan for reform is ask: who likes it? The verdict was swift and sure after Geithner's twin announcements. Wall Street likes it. The blueprint for regulatory reforms was applauded by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association; the American Insurance Association; and the Private Equity Council, the trade group for the major private funds that will get public money and backup insurance to buy the banking system's rotten assets. This could be born-again patriotism. Or it could be the animal appetites of financiers smelling gorgeous opportunity for returns.
This may be one of those moments where people can find some guidance from their moral convictions. They do not need to know all the details to ask simple questions. Does the outline of what's happening to rescue major financial institutions seem morally wrong? Or is it justified by the larger necessities of the national predicament? Is the government insufficiently tough in demanding reciprocal commitments from the beneficiaries? Should Washington pursue larger structural changes in the banking system?
Show of hands: does anybody really believe that Washington can be trusted to deal effectively and responsibly with this crisis?
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*Trust your Gut*
One can trust that that will result (for the overwhelming majority) in some form of buying high and selling low ... or not buying low in order to sell high; IOW mirroring Mr. Markets tendencies toward manic-depression.
*Trust your Gut*
One can trust that that will result in public policies that bounce from one extreme to another; from complacent cheerleading to stifling over-regulation.
For those of us who like to see it drawn up -- rather than reading it spelled out in fine print -- here's a youTube enterpreneur's educational explication of
Geitner I http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ervHbKa7R5g
Geinter II http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-arbfLTCtI
Get that? HUGE wealth transfer TO THE VERY PEOPLE who got us into this mess! If morals never meant much to you up until now, perhaps now's the time to warm up the limbic part of your brain: fight or flight!
"Trust your gut"
In the wake of George W. Bush's experiment with operating government from his "instinct" one would think that the gut is the last place to look for anything resembling useful input. St. Ignatius of Loyola regarded the gut as an false guide to discernment. Research shows that "gut reactions" are only useful if they're made by people who are deeply versed in what they're reacting to, otherwise they tend to lead us to precisely the wrong thing.
But hey, gut instincts got us into this, surely trusting our guts will get us out. Whatever you do, though, don't bother engaging your brain, because that would be bad. Brains bad, guts good.
Reminds me of a piece John Oliver did on Daily Show a few months back...America's brains are located between it's chest and it's belt.
"Show of hands: does anybody really believe that Washington can be trusted to deal effectively and responsibly with this crisis? "
I think there is a better chance Washington will be successful compared to not doing anything. The chance would be much higher if the people in Washington could put the good of the country over their finger pointing for attempts at political gain. In addition, many in Congress want to please their voters rather than making decisions based on what is best for the country.
I don't know why my post was removed.
Trust Washington? Haha. Washington is the problem!
Obammy should have appointed an independent special prosecutor right after taking office. The fact that he did not make this obvious step makes it clear that nothing will be done to punish the thieves and scumbags who are looting the treasury and running the country into the ground.
Partisan dummies, I won't name names, continue to bash the GOP! This is richly hilarious. Some of you still believe that there is a difference between the two "parties." You must not read.
Note from Rod: Your post was removed because you advocated murder. Which you do with disturbing frequency. Stop it.
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