Progress of the Bailout

The Great Deal has turned into the Great Debate, and is digressing into a Comic opera where Paulson kneels to Pelosi, and TV Commentators rant at each other. Washington Mutual burns out, and JP Morgan seems posed to be the next disaster. They, at least, are buying what Others have found toxic, and at least absorb $31 billion in losses from WaMu. Legislators revolt in the trenches, though, must be the major Story, and the Bailout will not occur under desired Conditions.

Wall Street is almost universally desirous of the Bailout, but there are Signs that it is doing better at Recovery measures than any Government agency could produce. They want the Cash, but there is no indication that it would make any difference. One TV Commentator admitted that there already has been about $1.5 trillion of bad Debt flushed out of the system, and Another suggested that another $700 billion will make no difference (Outside predictions that a total of $4 trillion is at risk). I personally side with the outlaw Legislators, and deem it necessary that the Markets cure themselves.

There has been much suggestion that the Bailout has become politicized; I would suggest that a Price Tag of $700 billion has always been political. The whole Situation revolves around whether the American people are willing to fork over for what is basically Investor Welfare. Most Americans, I imagine, would be adverse to such Suggestion, even if they had to absorb some of the loss on their own part. What is known states that the Global Slowdown is real, and will impact the American economy, no matter how much the Government spends trying to save unstable Banking practice. One cannot forever fund bad practice. lgl