The House defeated the bailout! be still my beating heart

That’s it, I’m adding a Politics category. Sorry guys. I just can’t get off the soapbox.

Today’s issue: The House rejects the bailout bill. I think I almost went out and danced in the streets upon hearing that. And then my heart started racing and my adrenaline started rushing as I began fretting about the fact that people are going to be angry and want the government to do SOMETHING to take care of things and mobbing the House for rejecting a really stupid proposal… I actually went jogging after hearing this news. (I’ve decided I need to take up jogging, not only as a way to control my asthma, which is why I took it up a little bit over the summer, but to control my anxiety as well. And it worked, for a short while. And then I checked up on Facebook. Oh gods. I’m going to get killed. Anyway, jogging! It stabilized my heart rate, I think, and DEFINITELY stabilized my breathing, which had been far too shallow. Yay!)

Over the weekend I sent off e-mails to my representative in the House and one of my senators (the other senator’s web site didn’t work!), telling them simply that I’m very concerned about the nature of the “economic rescue plan” (as the Bush administration calls it). I realize that among many people, the idea of rescuing the economy right now is fundamental, and for many people probably necessary. But this is not the way to do it. Giving the Secretary of the Treasury $700 billion to do with as he sees fit? No, no, no!

First of all, $700 billion. Oh my gods. That is a TON of money. Where is it going to come from? Since this IS an “economic crisis”, which taxpayers actually HAVE the money required to give to the government to bail them out? Not the ones being forced out of their homes, that’s for sure. Not the ones being laid off from their jobs, that’s for sure. And what else could $700 billion do? We could fix all the infrastructures of everything!!!1! I mean, heh. We could be rebuilding sewer systems, roads, putting money into research, any and every one-time project in the COUNTRY.

You know, if we had that kind of money at the moment. Which we DON’T.

Secondly, whoa. There are three branches of federal government: executive, legislative, and judiciary. These three are there for a reason: each makes sure the other two doesn’t get too powerful. Putting the kind of power requested into the hands of one individual, the Secretary of Treasury? That’s more terrifying than George W. Bush as President. At least he’s got the Supreme Court and Congress on his tail. After hearing about this bailout plan, I had visions of the New Dictatorship of the States. Not a pretty sight.

My last concern about this is in response to the presidential candidates’ reactions that we must DO something NOW. Really? NOW? Emergency response giving “emergency” powers to a tyrant that won’t give up the powers after the emergency is over? I’ve seen this sci fi novel before and it does NOT end well. In fact, I know I’ve been thinking about the current economic recession for months, and I’ve not even taken a decent economics class, ever. So why exactly haven’t you all started dealing with this months ago?! Then perhaps we wouldn’t have gotten to this point. Really, I’m ashamed at the way the candidates put it. And I’m surprised that I agree with Republican party leaders. Ha, ha! I’m not totally partisan! Thank goodness they worked against the bailout.

And you know what? My e-mail to my representative was heard, I think. Representative Barbara Lee voted “No” on the bailout. Thanks, Rep Lee. <3 I'll be sure to vote you back in (in November?). Most people I've heard talk about her are really satisfied. She tends to have a good grasp on the complexity of many issues.

Lastly, I know many are worried about the stock market. NYTimes.com has been harassing me with "News Alerts" about how far it's dropped today. I get it. BUT. There is NO substantial objective correlation between the stock market and the House of Representatives, and no one has EVER been able to convince me that the stock market is anything more than a game of psychology. I've asked people to explain it to me time and again, and I believe there is nothing in it than gambling on how others think. So the drop in the stock market? Well, I see it as a run to the bank when times are hard, in order to stockpile money. Purely psychological, i.e. if people would think straight and not see the lack of bailout as THE END OF THE ECONOMY, there would be no problem (with the stock market—the bank failures, foreclosures, unemployment are other things entirely).

Okay. One last thing. Apparently Sweden went through a similar financial crisis in 1992. I’ve seen suggestions that we should ask them for help. I haven’t read the article yet, but why not? Better than putting too much power in a single person.

Also, again. WHY didn’t we address the economy MONTHS ago? Why must things come to crisis before the government takes notice? Sigh.