Bad times
Chapman Rackaway
In case you hadn't noticed, oil is below $100 a barrel for the first time in two years. Of course, nobody can afford it anyway since the stock market's in utter meltdown after the U.S. House doesn't pass the bailout bill Wall Street wanted. I can't say the bailout bill's failure is a terrible thing, but neither one of the options is very good. All I am confident in is that things are not going to get better quickly.
Blame game begins
I wonder why Republicans are getting blamed for the failure of the bailout bill. Democrats have the majority, and could have used certain procedures (whipping the vote, motion to reconsider) to bring the vote up again within two days. Instead, they let the bill die on the floor. Makes you wonder if this bill wasn't to bail out Wall Street, but to provide content for direct mail attack pieces at the end of the month.
Blame all around
A spokesperson from the Treasury Department didn't help at all, telling Forbes magazine the $700 billion price tag wasn't well-thought-out. "It's not based on any particular data point, we just wanted to choose a really large number." Between that admission and the lack of oversight built into the bill, it looks like this is nothing more than Treasury making a power grab and counting on a panicked public to approve it.
Why bother?
The first presidential debate of the general election featured a near-miss as McCain almost pulled out, a looming financial crisis, and a teetering position in the world at large. So, just maybe, you'd think people would pay attention. But fewer people watched the debate than did in 2004. Just another example that we get the government we deserve, not the one we want. If people don't start paying more attention, we're going to have more of the nasty, personal campaigning and fewer constructive solutions to growing problems. We love to blame politicians for the world's ills, but we need to realize we the inattentive public are mostly to blame.
Chapman Rackaway is an associate professor of political science at Fort Hays State University.
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