Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Dark Clouds and Silver Linings

So the bailout plan failed its first vote. Not a washout or anything. Pretty close. But of course people blamed it on “partisan politics.” Which is so not true. Partisan politics is what got us into this mess. What killed the bailout plan was that there were a bunch of congress people (on both sides of the aisle) who knew the constituents back home are pissed, and they were scared to vote for something that voters perceive as letting the financial industries off scot free. Cause if there is one hallmark of this entire lending fiasco it’s that people are pissed.

It doesn’t matter who you talk to. Republican or Democrat. Rich or poor. We all feel like we’re getting hosed. And we’d really like for somebody to pay. Yes. We all know that something needs to be done to fix things before we’re all standing in a soup line. But it hacks everybody off that in order to save the country we also have to snatch the finance industry’s bacon out of the fire. I don’t want to save them. I want them to be miserable. I want them to suffer. I want them to be punished. I want to resurrect debtor’s prison, just so they can be sent there to eat gruel and sell pencils from tin cups for the rest of their lives. Instead, we’re going to hand them more money, and say “Don’t do that again.” Oy.

On the bright side. I’ve complained as loudly as any one about the degraded, materialistic age we live in. Possibly louder. Maybe what this country needs is a recession to set our values back to zero. Maybe kids today will get a dose of the real world at the right time. Maybe they’ll learn the strength, courage and practicality that got our grandparents through the Depression. Maybe the will be another Greatest Generation. It’s nasty tasting medicine. But it may be just what the doctor ordered.

4 comments:

victory4angela said...

When I was younger, I laughed at my Grandma who insisted I keep an old, burned out light bulb because she inisted it could still be useful. She showed me how to take a pair of pantyhouse with a run in them, stretch them over the light bulb, and apply clear nailpolish to fix the run. I'm not sure if I want to keep old light bulbs for that reason (I can fix a run w/out the bulb), but maybe her penny-pinching ways are the way to go now. Day old bread and dented cans, here I come!

FirePhrase said...

Grandmas are smart gals. We could all take a lesson.

WashingtonGardener said...

If only we could be sure the RIGHT a-holes are punished - we need someone to poke with a stick in the town square. C'mon cowards - show yourselves.

That light bulb idea is a good one but I'd rather go hose-free and save the dimes for more to eat.

FirePhrase said...

Who should go on the naughty chair? Follow the money.

Unfortunately, I still have pantyhose occasions that I need to keep them on hand for. My handy hint, is that if you have a pair that has been in the package, rinse them with water the night before. They get dried out if they sit around too long, and they're less likely run when you first put them on if you loosen them up a bit.

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