There, I said it. The proposed bailout of 700 freakin billion dollars would effectively cripple the government budget for a generation. We are already running about a $500 billion deficit this year. Adding another trillion dollars to that would be difficult for even the federal government to absorb. Investors would lose confidence in the U.S. government's ability to pay its debts, which would have far more dire consequences than the failure of a handful of major banks.
The dollar would plunge, interest rates will soar...the economy would be in a deep recession for years, and that's if we PASS this damn bailout.
Quite frankly, this bailout seems almost tailor designed to accomplish Republican goals. With this kind of massive increase to the deficit, the government really would be starved of funds. Which means there would have to be deep spending cuts in existing programs, and you can forget about money for expanded healthcare spending or funding of green energy.
Which makes Obama's statement pretty damn disappointing. Looking over his list, I see a lot of platitudes about making sure there's no blank check, and helping regular Americans. But I don't see a damn thing about actually standing up to what amounts to a massive transfer of taxpayer money to the very same financial institutions that have so spectacularly screwed up.
I am so terrified that the Democrats are going to fucking cave again to the most unpopular president in history. If Democrats cave on this one, a blatant screwing of the American people, then frankly I don't see the point of continuing to support the Democrats. If they control Congress and can't say no to this bill, then what the hell is the fucking point? After this kind of bailout, there won't be any damn money left in the budget anyways.
Tinkering around the edges isn't going to make this a good bill. Yes, we will likely be headed to a deep recession without some kind of government intervention. But we were headed there anyways, and this bill is just one more fuck you from the Bush Administration. Getting Obama elected won't mean a damn thing if the federal government is drowning in debt for the next several years.
So for the next week, let's all focus on this bailout. Contact your representative. Send letters to your local newspaper. Let's do everything we can to kill this travesty of a bill. And please for the love of god Obama, show some real leadership on this and get the Democratic Party united in opposition.