Recession Politics Will Push Massive Bailout Plan

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It's sad that people are still wedded to the idea that government will solve the problems of 300+ million people. Markets go up and markets go down. This is the nature of markets. Attempting to have a bunch of elected officials try to "fix" things can only make matters worse because no one really knows what exactly needs to be fixed. Sure, on the surface the credit markets and housing are not doing so well now, but these are only two facets of a multitrillion dollar economy and none of its problems have so far leaked into the rest of the economy.
" "The surest guide to the decline of a civilization is the unwillingness of the wealthy and powerful to tax themselves for the common good." "
Umm, Dennis, this comment is by far one of the stupidest comments I have ever heard a leftist say. No one will be willing to tax themselves. That's why governments do it. Anyway, the rich taxing themselves is not a surest way to ending a civilization. The surest way to ending a civilization is by surrendering all of your freedoms to government to have them "do" something.

Chris of AZ 7:48PM March 06, 2008

Free-market ideologues got us into this mess and they remain in control of the government. Since they're ideologically committed to the idea that Big Government is bad, it seems unlikely that they would accept a massive New Deal-type of bailout for mortgages.

Richard Dixon of FL 2:35PM March 05, 2008

Two points: Bernanke as well as other members of the Fed Open Market Committee have pointedly reminded the country that the Fed has a strong commitment to maintaining stable prices and currently the core PCI is above their target of 2%. They are probably telling the country that only one more cut in interest rates should be expected.
Secondly, it is curious how USN&WR columnists are addicted to the discredited Republican economic theory of trickle down economics, i.e the only way to save the economy is to reduce taxes on the wealthy. Reducing the capital gains tax further to only 5% for the wealthy- its elimination for those with lower incomes is economically meaningless- would do nothing to solve the current economic problems which are caused by counter party risk, the unwillingness of banks to lend for fear of default. In stead it is good to remermber the wise words of Edward Gibbon in The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, "The surest guide to the decline of a civilization is the unwillingness of the wealthy and powerful to tax themselves for the common good."

Dennis Waller of WA 1:46PM March 05, 2008

5) Finally bust the felony pyramid scheme-o-servitude-infestation called capitalism, which forces 18 year olds to join or starve via putting free-marketeer blockades (pricetags) on all the survival goods, and whose pyramid scheme symbol is easily seen on the back of the USA one dollar bill.

Wingnut of MI 8:17AM March 05, 2008