October 3. 2008

President George W. Bush

The $700 billion bailout bill passed in the U.S. House Of Representatives this afternoon and was signed by President George "I caused this problem" Bush. Many welcomed the news, but the stock market in America plunged anyway, which baffled many.

Economists and observers with any real understanding of the situation would realize the figure proposed is not enough to fix the U.S. economy. One can only hope the money lands in the right places, where it can do the most good. But knowing the government...

Furthermore, and even more economically dire, there are other factors hampering America’s financial recovery, namely government overspending ( i.e. the war in Iraq, padded expense accounts for government employees, costly frivolous programs).

America is not functioning as it used to in the world. The country, under the direction of very poor leadership, is buying and borrowing, and not exporting goods as it used to, creating a vicious cycle of debt and dependency. There's more borrowing than producing going on.

Other nations have stepped up in the world, producing far more goods and services that are being snapped up in the global marketplace. President Bush’s economic philosophy, if you can call it that, was basic thievery of foreign assets, domestic corporate thievery of Americans' finances, massive quantities of imports and the rich robbing the poor in the U.S. marketplace.

The problem is, the truth didn’t surface until 3/4ths of his time in office had elapsed and the damage was done. However, even at that point, two years ago, Congress could have and should have stopped him, but chose not to, hence the juggernaut of financial problems facing the nation today, at the hands of a president that spent more taxpayer money than any other in history.

STORY SOURCE

Congress passes bailout, focus shifts to fallout

The U.S. government enacted a landmark $700 billion bank bailout on Friday, but investors questioned whether it could contain a panic that began on Wall Street and spread to become a global financial crisis.

The U.S. House of Representatives approved the rescue plan by a vote of 263-171 on Friday. That sent the measure to President George W. Bush, who quickly signed it into law, concluding two weeks of high-stakes haggling over the plan that had roiled and captivated global markets... 

http://www.reuters.com

Fall in markets as bail-out is approved

The US Congress on Friday passed the Bush administration’s $700bn financial rescue package after a tense week on Capitol Hill, but stocks fell sharply afterwards amid continuing turmoil in the credit markets.

The 263-171 vote in the House of Representatives, which rejected an earlier proposal only four days before, came after $149bn in tax breaks was added to the bill to help sway reluctant legislators to back the plan.

http://www.ft.com