Hey Congress, Grow Up!

Well, here we go.

The House has rejected the bailout bill, by a pretty substantial margin and the stock market is flailing around wildly in response. The Hill reports that the Dow was down 525 points by the time the vote was over and Hot Air reports that there was a bit of a rebound and things are sitting at about -360 from the beginning of the day as of now. Expect that number to change wildly before we’re done today.

I’m sure we’ll see reporting from the MSM that the market is desperately waiting for a bailout deal to pass, but I don’t think that’s the reason things are so wild today. In fact, I’d be willing to wager right now that most folks in the financial market – at least the ones not looking for an immediate handout from Washington – don’t care if there’s a bailout this week or not. What they do want right now is stability from Congress. They want rational, reasonable, and adult behavior. There is no way in the world that anyone with a brain in their head would put money in the market while Congress jerks around like an epileptic flounder hooked to a car battery.

We have heard for a whole week what a dire crisis we face and how this bailout is the only thing that will save us from the Great Depression v 2.0. Meanwhile, Congressional Democrats have been larding up the bailout with humongous giveaways to their leftist friends and smash-mouthing the American people for wondering why their financial prudence is worth exactly dogspit right now. Those are not the actions of people facing a real crisis. Those are the actions of people willing to gin up a crisis in order to consolidate their own political power. Nancy Pelosi’s performance today was disgraceful.

I swear, I’m dumbfounded. That speech should disqualify her from taking any further role in this process. She has proven not only that she is the dumbest Speaker in the history of this Republican but that’s she’s willing to bend whatever dim spark of intelligence she has toward malice.

The Republicans, though not anywhere near as egregious as Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats, have a serious leadership problem, too. There was no real reason at all for any of them to accept the “crap sandwich”. If the bill “sucks”, then Republicans should have dug in their heels in Congress and on the airwaves to get it pared down to exactly what was needed to get the job done. They didn’t and now their caucus is badly fractured as well. I’m willing to grant that the Republicans think that this crisis is overblown and that going slow and doing things right is the most important thing, but if that’s the case, then they need to be saying it a whole lot more than they have been.

The President isn’t off the hook either. Save for a televised speech, he’s been mostly invisible. Oh sure, he’s been working behind the scenes, but anyone can do that. We elected a President to lead when leadership was demanded. Well, it’s demanded right now. If this crisis really is a crisis, like his Secretary of the Treasury has been saying to anyone who’ll listen, then he should act like it and get in the game.

In the meantime, investors have no idea what to do with their money, which means that all of our money is at risk. And until Congress gets its act together, the confusion will continue.

Other Posts of Interest:

• Yet More on the Mortgage Mess, Including What Must Happen
• What Does Our Government Want to Buy Next, Gambling Debts? (UPDATE: A Glimpse of Our New SecTreas?)
• Obama and the Dems Front on McCain, Yo.

Tags: Democrats, Economics, Hot Air, Nancy Pelosi

Category: Our New Democratic Overlords, The Economy and Your Money