Well, it's Done.

The House just passed the $700 billion bailout bill......

And, in my view, we are now officially a socialist country.

Now, I know we were never a true capitalist ecomomy. I get that. But if we were ever close to one, we would ride out the bear markets, just like we revel in the bull markets. Not try to keep the recessions from naturally happening. Its all part of the system.

What have we learned?

In the future, we should continue to let financial institutions operate almost completely unchecked from the government. They should still be able to make profits for themselves for years. But, as soon as they manage to run themselves into the ground, like many did, good old Uncle Sam will be there to give them money we don't have, and pick up the pieces. Why?

Because we are so scared of the alternative. And what is the alternative....and I don't mean what all the politicians are saying it is and scaring everyone into hastily and foolishly acting.

The alternative is....

No one has any f'ing clue.

I have no idea what would happen if we didn't pass this bailout. However, I know what more ridiculous borrowing is going to do to our future.

And the question I have had since this whole bailout talk started...what is the damn hurry? Why do we have to rush this thing through so fast? Why don't we take a step back, make sure we fully understand the consequences, and what is happening. I think that is the biggest reason I am against the passing at the bill. Even more than the borrowing thing (see next paragraph). I want to know why we have to rush to make such drastic and expensive decisions.


So what to do now.....let's all start learning Mandarin Chinese. It's where we are getting the money from, and where we will be probably indebted for the rest of my life at least. That's the scary part for me....not us letting the financial world and those who invest, and take a risk, figure out their problems.

The United States is the financial equivalent to a 30 year single girl with a good job, a lot of credit card debt, and no sense. She may make 100 grand a year, but she spends more. she also has the best of everything....apartments, shoes, clothes, furniture. She goes to the best restaurants and clubs. From the outside, she is fabulous. On the inside, she can barely even make the minimum payments on her credit cards. What happens when she loses her job and the money stops coming in?

What gets me is that no one is talking about raising taxes. We can spend $600 billion on a war, $120 billion on a stimulus package, and $700 billion on a Wall Street bailout, and no one dares even mention the slight possibility that we may need to increase our income as a country? What is wrong with everyone? No one wants more taxes, but come on.....its Economics 101.

For the first time since this election started....I am disappointed with Obama. Don't take this the wrong way, because I still support him, and think he will make a great president, but I wanted him to be against this bailout. I wanted him to be, in my opinion, the one lone voice of reason talking out there.

Well, like I have said about most of my extreme opinions, I hope I am wrong. I hope this bailout fixes everything. I hope we did not borrow and spend that much money in vain.

And, I hope the American people realize that this is a problem that will not be fixed overnight. And this bailout doesn't mean all the money they lost in the market will instantly be back. And I definitely hope that we change the policies, and work on the deregulation that brought us to this point.

I willingly admit that I am not a financial specialist, but I am a citizen with a stake in what happens. And I know that this blog entry has been rambling and vague, but I'm mad. And this is what I am thinking and feeling at this moment. This is my outlet to express it.

Like I said before....I hope I'm wrong. I hope this bandaid on our bullethole fixes everything. But I'm not going to hold my breath.....