The bail-out didn't pass. There is panic on the streets. The democrats are being blamed. Life as we know it has ceased to exist. At least, that seems to be the prevailing view...

Can someone explain to me why the democrats are being blamed for the bill failing? The republicans are, by a large majority, the ones who tanked it. So how in the hell did the democratic party get the blame? And why in the world are we worried about bailing out Wall Street anyway? Yes, I am aware of some of the ramifications of what has been happening. I am also aware that the bail-out bill, had it been passed, would have taken *at least* 2 years to really be effective anyway. So in the short-term, things would have continued to be tough and miserable for the whining masses.

The bill was rushed. Does no one consider the fall-out if that huge "saving" didn't...ummm...save? We are already in trillions of dollars of debt. We are fighting a war that we can't possibly win BECAUSE THEY DON'T WANT US THERE, and spending billions to do so. And if we spent such a huge sum of money on something that didn't work - then where would we be? What happened to the notion of battening the hatches, tightening your belts, and riding out the storm?

And why the hell do I want to pay over $8000 in our household (the current figures are over $4000 per working person) to save Wall Street, when I had no say in how they managed to screw themselves up? Why does WS get the wonderful gains when the market is riding high, but we have to fix 'em when it's not? If Average Joe gets himself in a big bind and ends up declaring bankruptcy, I don't see WS riding in on a white horse to save him...so why are we?

If you can't run a business as a business and manage to stay in the black, then you're doing something wrong. Fix it. Don't expect the government to figure out a way to fix it for you, or (to borrow from something else I read) you're throwing the company a life-jacket without actually teaching them how to swim. This particular metaphor has a lot of meaning to me - having been in the Coast Guard, where I have seen all sorts of idiots get into trouble and require assistance BECAUSE THEY WEREN'T PREPARED. They didn't do what they should have done. Just like Wall Street, the airlines, and now the flippin' car makers. If it isn't viable, folks - then do something else. Anything else. Where it won't affect those of us who are barely staying afloat as it is before you decided to jack everything up.

I hear underwater basket-weaving is making a come-back....