Bailout Bill Voted Down: We are in Hell (for now)

In one of the most stunningly stupid moves ever, yesterday a majority of the members of the House of Representatives voted down the $700 billion bailout proposed by George Bush, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and other more responsible minds.

It is hard to comprehend the rationale aside from political motives. The members of Congress obviously felt greater pressure from their constituents, and took that outpouring of disgust with the bailout to heart. Unfortunately, listening to the mass of voters is akin to letting your two year old convince you that vegetables are wholly unnecessary to healthy growth.

The Associated Press reports that:

Two-thirds of Congress' most vulnerable members — Republicans and Democrats alike — voted against the massive economic bailout package, opting to protect their seats on Election Day rather than follow their party leaders off a political cliff.

So basically, rather than follow the leadership off a cliff by possibly losing their seats (yet saving the country), the chose to send America off a cliff (and preserve the seats where their derrieres will sit).

And here, still more cowardice:

The 228-205 rejection of the $700 billion rescue package for the financial markets reflected the every-man-for-himself posture of lawmakers with no plan to prop up the economy five short weeks from the election. Of the 19 most vulnerable House lawmakers tracked by The Associated Press, 13 of them voted against the bill despite pleas from their party leaders to pass it.

The article quotes one representative who states the deal, "was a step toward socialism and a philosophical leap he could not make." Thus intellectual purity trumps financial judgment and practicality, avoiding the philosophical leap to take the economic plunge.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 778 points for its biggest point drop ever as $1.2 trillion in market value was erased from American equities. The MSCI World Index of 23 developed markets slid 6.9 percent, the most in 21 years.

(Bloomberg)

The drop in the Dow yesterday by a good 700 plus points, and in the world markets today, should be ample warning to the politicians to get on it, and if not, we are truly in hell.