$700 billion: just a really big number
It sounds good, but there are several problems with it. First of all, who decides what assets are bought with the $700 billion? According to the bill, it’s whatever assets Henry Paulson decides to buy. The bill is a $700 billion bet on one man. That’s a gamble I’d prefer not take.
You’re probably wondering how the Treasury Department decided on the $700 billion figure? What formula did they use? Did they do their calculations on a TI-83 or TI-84? According to Forbes, a Treasury spokeswoman said that the $700 billion figure was “not based on any particular data..We just wanted to choose a really large number.”
Some of the best comedy in the world can only be real. And I would probably be laughing at such a stupid statement and stupid bill if only it weren’t true. But, this is too serious of a matter to laugh at. Our Treasury Department is admitting to the American people that they recognize that their plan to save the economy is so unbelievable that they have to pick “a really large number” to scare the American people, and politicians, into action. And the worst part is that it worked.
But my opposition goes far above just a simple number selection and an astronomical gamble on one man. I wrote a few weeks ago that the government largely caused this financial crisis with the creation of subprime mortgages in the Community Reinvestment Act. The government caused the problem, and now the government is spending your money to “fix” the problem.
Former Libertarian candidate for President Harry Browne puts it, “(the government) breaks your legs, and then hands you a crutch and says ‘See, if it weren’t for the government you wouldn’t be able to walk.’”
In the long term, this government intervention will hurt the American economy. These businesses that are being bailed out made risky decisions that for a while were making them money, lots of money. Now they are going bankrupt and the government is bailing them out. A few years from now when these companies are financially stable again what will stop them from making the same risky decisions that made them bankrupt to begin with? If they know that the last time they screwed up they were bailed out, what deters them from screwing up next time? This is like a teacher catching a student cheating on a test and then giving that student an A on the test so that they won’t fail. It makes it so the student doesn’t feel the negative repercussions of their actions (not studying, and cheating), but it doesn’t help them learn from their mistakes.
According to a recent Rasmussen Reports poll, only 25 percent of Americans support the bailout plan. Unfortunately, the Congress and Senate did not listen to their constituents as the bill passed both houses overwhelmingly. For me, this is the most important issue of the election season and a make or break issue for each candidate running. Since I vote for politicians based on how I view their judgment, I have decided that I will not cast a vote for any Congressman, Senator or President who voted in favor of the bailout. This means that I will not be voting for Barack Obama, John McCain, Saxby Chambliss or Milledgeville’s U.S. Congressman, Jim Marshall. The economy is the biggest issue of this election season and a vote for this bailout shows horrible economic judgment.
This November the decision is yours. Will you stand for big government intervening in your life or will you vote out the offending politicians?
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Oct 10 2008. Filed under Opinion.
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