Political Whispers: A Look Into Today's World of Dark Politics

BAIL OUT OR NO BAIL OUT: THAT IS THE QUESTION

By Schuyler Thorpe
Author and Political Activist

Despite all the reshuffling of our belongings to storage–as we are going to become homeless by next Tuesday–I’ve been keeping up on the developments surrounding the firestorm with bailing out Wall Street to the tune of $1 trillion dollars or more. (Because $700B is too low a number.)

What I find disturbing is how John McCain thinks that this can be his “shining moment” where he comes in to save the day–in classic John Wayne style.

First he makes contradictory statements that the bailout plan will be approved and that Congress is making progress, but apparently things have gotten so bogged down with resistance from conservative Republicans and some Democrats; that the realistic chances of this passing any time soon–even by next Monday (at the White House’s insistence) is almost next to nothing.

But then McCain does a curious flip-flop by first suspending his campaign–and then claims he needs to hurry to Washington to get things going. (Even though he has already stated that he knows next to nothing about the economy.)

However–he has time to do some media interviews and then pisses off David Letterman all at the same instant; by claiming he “can’t make it”?

(I don’t blame Dave for being upset. I would be too!)

When McCain finally gets to Washington, his role in the bailout becomes even more clear: He’s just a minor functionary at best. His place in the crisis is nothing more than a small footnote and an unimportant one at that.

Not a real player at all.

Because what it boils down to is whether or not Congress has the stomach to swallow this massive bailout plan–which is mostly the GOP’s cause in the first place. (With their love affair for a deregulated market.)

Democrats on the other hand face little backlash from this appropriation measure–because in classic Democrat style–they are always the ones to come in and clean up the Republicans’ mess–long after they leave office.

But it still leaves the American people with two choices: Do something now and delay an even more painful recession down the road.

Or do nothing at all, watch everything collapse, then pick up the pieces afterwards.

If I were a betting man, I would go for the latter.

Because we may need that $700B later to rebuilding our shattered financial system–not use it to bail out the fat cats of Wall Street.

Schuyler Thorpe is an author, a political activist, and a frequent letter writer to The Everett Herald of Snohomish County. He can be reached at: starchildalpha1 at yahoo.com

Labels: bailout, Congress, Democrats, financial crisis, John McCain, Republicans, Wall Street

posted by Schuyler Thorpe @ 1:16 PM 0 comments

HOUSING BUBBLE HAS FINALLY POPPED

By Schuyler Thorpe
Author and Political Activist

Despite Bush’s rosy reassurances that the economy remains strong–there is no disguising the reality of the housing market and the ongoing meltdown in the sub-prime lending sector.

The housing bubble has finally popped–after building up enough steam in the form of expensive homes, low rates, and virtually no checks or balances in the loan application process.

Everyone gets a piece of the action, right? Even for those who can’t afford it?

Now you have skyrocketing mortgage-interest rates, heavy-handed payment practices, a glutton of unsold homes on the markets–and to top it off: Astronomical foreclosures in many parts of the country and delinquencies stretching all around–including those who have good credit!

And Bush still thinks this won’t affect the economy at all?

Boy, is he in for a rude awakening!

What happens in the housing market affects every aspect of our own economy! If there is an upsurge in spending–based on a strong and healthy housing market–then the economy will do well.

But if it’s like this–then don’t expect our economy to do the same. And in fact, it hasn’t. Despite some plentiful jobs in parts of the country, our economy is so saddled in personal debt–that the certain collapse of the housing market was due to follow.

Coupled with high energy and food prices, stagnant wages, and high cost of living expenses, the American Dream is all but dead at this point–with so few families wondering what to do next.

Wall Street certainly woke up to that fact–after months of shrugging off signs that the housing market was indeed in much worse shape than imagined.

It lost 311 points on July 26 and 207 on July 27th, 2007–knocking it off its 14,000 peg.

And with some reports suggesting it will be 2009 until the housing market recovers–if it ever does–both Wall Street and the US economy will be in for one rough ride until then.

Schuyler Thorpe is an author, a political activist, and a frequent letter writer to The Everett Herald of Snohomish County. He can be reached at: starchildalpha1 at yahoo.com

Labels: economy, housing bubble, stock market, Wall Street

posted by Schuyler Thorpe @ 5:14 PM 0 comments