Monday, September 29, 2008

We're gonna need a bigger boat...

The past week has been akin to being in a slow speed ship wreck. We have been sitting on the deck of the Titanic arguing over whether or not we should bail out the first class cabins. Meanwhile the band played on...

Do I endorse a $700,000,000,000.00 government welfare program for Investment Bankers and Corporate Fat-Cats? Of course not... Do I endorse free markets where the risk of loss is the ultimate means of keeping the system honest? Of course I do. However, we are not dealing with a "zero sum game" in this case. Nothing in life is ever as simple as "yes or no".

We can argue about blame and credit...regulation and deregulation...until we are blue in the face. The essential truth is more nuanced and ultimately less satisfying. We need to decide whether or not we will save ourselves to "fight" another day. The ship is sinking...let's save the ship before we fire the crew.

$700,000,000.00 is an incomprehensible amount. 25% unemployment is an unfathomable possibility. If we can save the ship before we all drown...I promise we can go back to fighting over taxes, guns, religion, culture, proximity to Russia, flag pins, and war. Until then...let's grab a bucket and start bailing.