It's Come to This

The Fed and Treasury Department want $700 billion* to do with as they, in their wisdom as Bush appointees, decide. And they don't want any legislative or judicial oversight. None. No courts, please.

If the Democrats, who control Congress and the Federal purse-strings by virtue of a 233-202 majority, waver from these demands and hesitate for even a moment, all hell with come crashing down on the financial world, dooming all of us to poverty, miserable retirements, and endless reruns of Family Matters. Oh yeah, and the Democrats will be blamed for all of it. You bet they will!

Democrats: Don't insist on independent oversight or transparency on the Executive branch's giving away $700 billion however it wishes. Don't try and divert some of that money towards assisting beleaguered taxpayers on the brink of bankruptcy, since they obviously lied, cheated, and thieved their way into a 30-year mortgage that brought their world crashing down around them once pa got canned from his job. And don't, repeat, DON'T try to play chicken with the party that wrecked America, the Republicans. They're better at this than you. Note the dog above.

Do I really think the Congressional Democrats will band together, show some spine, and stand up to the demands of Wall Street via the minority Republicans? Nope. Not for a second. The sense of panic has been whipped up into a frothy inevitability. And yet...

My advice to my readers: Have some cash on hand this week and next in case the bank system decides to temporarily freeze up for a couple of days... or weeks. Inconceivable, I know, but what'll it hurt to have a bit of spending money in your pocket?

*How much money is $700 billion? It's $2,333 from every man, woman, and child in the United States of America. That's what we would be giving Wall Street to take their "moral hazard"** off their hands.

**Moral Hazard = Bad investments motivated by greed and the belief that the American taxpayer would bail them out if things turned sour... because they are just too important to the overall economy to let fail.

Update: Sunday evening and the Democrats have fired back: Oversight provisions; Wall Street executive compensation limitations; address the crisis on Main Street; and: "We will not simply hand over a $700 billion blank check to Wall Street," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a statement.

Back to you, Republicans...