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Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Who’s going to bail out the rest of us?
This editorial will appear in Wednesday’s edition of the Telegram:
Washington doesn’t do emergencies well.
The United States rushed into a decision to invade Iraq … because it was an emergency. Congress passed the U.S. Patriot Act … because it was an emergency.
Now comes U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson pressing Congress for a $700 billion bailout of Wall Street … because it’s an emergency.
In every instance, the onus has somehow fallen on Congress to act quickly, whether the move made sense or not. Should Congress fail to do so, the fault somehow gets shifted to Capitol Hill because of the lawmakers’ “short-sightedness.”
Lord knows, Congress has been guilty of thousands of other poor decisions, and the bailout may indeed be the only sound course of action for the U.S. economy. But here’s hoping senators and representatives will make that call after hearing reasoned arguments and evidence - not on panic-stricken cries from the financial institutions who cared little about abandoning their responsibility during the past couple of years.
The $700 billion it will cost U.S. taxpayers to rescue lenders is more than the war in Iraq has cost us thus far. For that kind of money, let’s hope taxpayers get a few reassurances out of the bailout legislation.
As Wall Street struggles back to its feet and begins to turn profitable again, those profits should be returned to the people who threw them their life line - that’s U.S. taxpayers. And the notion that the people who steer the recovery should be paid handsomely for their efforts needs to be thrown out the window, also.
Taxpayers are dog-tired of paying through the nose every time trouble comes along - in airline prices, at the gas pumps, for failed savings and loans - only to see how well the CEOs and other corporate leaders line their pockets.
We’d much rather help the family down the street in danger of losing its house because of the sub-prime meltdown than write another check to a Wall Street tycoon.
If Congress can come up with a plan that addresses those concerns, we’ll swallow the pill a little more readily.
