Now that the first debate between John McCain and Barack Obama is behind us, and it appears the Democratic hopeful got the better of the exchange, we can refocus on the trillion dollar Wall Street bailout package Treasury Secretary Big Bank Hank Paulson is about to bring home to his partners in crime.
We are being told by all parties concerned that if we don’t make this deal happen, we will all be living with in-laws, we will be dining in the back seats of our SUVs or worst yet cardboard boxes on the street. We are being told that this deal is being designed to give the country time to dig it self out of a hole and restore confidence in our ability to manage our economy. We are being told that this all has to be done expeditiously because foreign lenders won’t part with another peso until we can prove we are a worthy risk again.
Congressional Democrats and Republicans are trying their best to find a way to meet the demands of their masters seeking financial protection, while coming up with a line of bull to sell to the voting public and anybody still stupid enough to loan America money. Congressional stooges, lacking the knowledge, the ethics and discipline to protect the taxpayer, while Wall Street CEOs were allowed to run the country’s financial institutions like a back alley crap game, left America’s credit rating looking like someone with a 200 FICO score trying to buy a Maserati. America is now considered a bad risk in the eyes the nation’s creditors and few have any faith or patience left for American financial leadership; nor should they.
If we look carefully at how things have been mishandled on behalf of the country, you will see a very strong argument can be made for this bailout failing to stem the tide of bank failures and a possible total collapse of our economy.
Our entire economy depends on easy access to credit and heavy consumer activity. We need to spend money on clothes, cars, homes, vacations, electronics, dining out, and anything else you can think of. When the nation is facing month after month of heavy job losses, there are fewer and fewer people able to buy stuff to keep people making money by selling stuff. If people are losing their homes, they are probably not making their car or credit cards payments either. This leads to a lousy credit score which will affect you chances of getting affordable access to credit should things miraculously get better. These days having bad credit can even impact a person’s ability to get another job.
With congress closing the bankruptcy window for Americans seeking relief, people are finding themselves in a very tight box with few options to ever get themselves back on their feet. Once again, fewer people working, means fewer people shopping, means fewer people needed in sales and service jobs, so even more are laid off. When an ugly cycle like this begins to feed it self, it is difficult to stop before all is consumed.
If Barack Obama had touched upon the above realities, he would have scored a knockout blow in the first round of these three debates. Had Obama brought to the debate the sad tales of people having to move in with family members, the domestic conflicts that develop when money is tight and the sense of hopeless that prevails during trying times, we think there would be no contest left between he and John McCain.
When they meet again, Barack Obama would be wise to drive the narrative towards the huge numbers of people that have lost their jobs. Sen. Obama should point out how many people now have no health care coverage, if in fact they had any before they lost their jobs. He should tell how many people were responsible in their finances but just had the misfortune of getting sick, with no means to pay their medical bills. What? Can’t pay your medical bills? Here come the collection agencies ready to take what is left on the carcass of your former life. And we need not mention having any dough set aside for retirement and college educations for our kids. Unless our leaders are able to fess up to all the real reasons we are faltering, then we are doomed to continue to fall until we all hit rock bottom. If America’s leadership refuses to acknowledge our true problems, believe us when we say America’s creditors are acknowledging them or us.