The Moose in the Closet: Congress is Broken

Max Cascone, a buddy of mine from college, pointed out that my post on voting out those in Congress that voted against the bailout (along with Pelosi and Frank for their comments) was contradictory to an early post where I talk about better things to do with $700-billion. I explained my position in the comments section but I wanted to take a couple of minutes to address it on the blog.

The bailout plan was a beast. It was an a-bomb when a scalpel was required. It’s true that I don’t support the bailout plan and I think there are much more productive ways to rescue the economy – ways that look towards the future instead of trying to delay the inevitable. But I also understand that there is no leadership in the White House, at the moment, no common ground in the congress or senate, either. I also understand that the best we can get, right now, is an influx of money – something to keep it all going while we work it all out later on. I believe that action can’t wait until January, confidence in the market is clutch, and if we don’t show some sort of unity and movement now things are going to get really, really bad.

The plan would put $250-billion into defaulted assets now, an optional $350-billion later on, and $100-billion to be used at the President’s discretion. Maybe it’s the optimist in me, but I think the plan is mainly symbolic; $250-billion would go in now, increase confidence, and then Obama can rejigger and pass a more productive bailout with the rest of the money.

But here’s what really upset me about the bailout not passing – it shows a complete inability of our congress to work for the American people and the American economy. And Pelosi’s speech was condescending and unnecessary and Frank’s comments after the fact where almost a challenge to the Republicans not to pass the bill. And the Republicans who voted against it because of Pelosi’s comments were also acting childish but they were all included in my Nay List, obviously. Basically, we had something that could at least restore some level of confidence in the economy but, instead, we showed that we can function, we can not work together, and that we are a house that is seriously divided. If we can’t pass this plan, this clunky, monster of a plan, how can we pass a plan that’s more robust and progressive?

Look, the whole situation is enormously fucked up. The Bush administration has seriously hurt our infrastructure and our ability to lead in the 21st century.

I guess there’s also the fact that I fucking hate Congress and I’ll take any opportunity to shit on them. Seriously. I hate the idea and the structure of Congress. There are too many Congressmen and women that come from small districts. They never even left their country or visited another region of the states or even considered a different viewpoint. They don’t have the tools or the knowledge or the resources to make decisions on things like how to prevent the global economy from collapsing. Go look at previous experiences of House members – journalist, insurance executive, ship captain, lawyer, pharmacist, farmer, optometrist, investment banker, engineer, nurse, teacher – it’s a fucking focus group. Sure, there are plenty of exceptions, but the fact is 25% of our Congress is Sarah Palin and I rarely give them the benefit of the doubt.

I’m rambling now and I can probably ramble for hours on this. The fact is that our House is a mess and it couldn’t even rally the sheep to vote for something that’s not perfect but it’s the best we’re going to get right now. And it’s only going to get worse, as the “Good ‘Ole Boy (or Girl)” persona continues to dominate our political landscape.

I think that explains it a little bit, at least. Of course, I change my opinion on a day-to-day basis so a little nudge in the comments could have me recanting this tomorrow.

Labels: editorial, politics

Congress is Broken

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

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