Lack of Leadership and Lack of Confidence

 Ok, yesterday I was shocked that the congress failed to pass a bailout bill. I was upset and angry. Today, I have tried to review some news and uncover why we failed to pass this bill. By the end of today, I could be back to angry depending on the market.

It appears that our representatives have chosen to abdicated their responsibilities in fear of their jobs. They believe that government action is necessary, but fear they won't be around next year if they vote for it. So I guess they lack the confidence of their convictions and their ability to communicate to their constituents. I vote for people to lead, to make decisions in an informed manner, on issues where they are better informed than I am. And I expect them to recognize the limits of their own knowledge and place some value in the leaders(Paulson and Bernake) that have more knowledge on specific issues.

Yesterday the speaker of the house shot herself in the foot with her own mouth. But the currently democratic seats in the house that are considered in danger might be safe, be cause they voted no. The same can be said of currently held republican seats that voted no. There was no leadership on either side of the aisle yesterday.

As the speaker mentioned, this is a situation that might arise once in a hundred years. But our representatives chose to take a pass on what many said needed to be done, but feared voter backlash.

I want leaders that will make hard choices that they believe are right and risk the consequences from their constituents. If polls show that your constituents disagree with your position, take it, hold it, and explain to them why it is the better choice. Don't hide behind a vote you believe is wrong because those who might not have as much information feel differently.

Many have describe this economic bill as a bailout for the rich. When assets are sold at 20 and 30 cents on the dollar, the rich have already taken their hit of 70 to 80%. But if bankruptcy and failure occur in the financial markets, the future price of money will go up. The cost of money to buy or lease a car is going up. The opportunity to do these things will disappear for a large number of people. Historically higher rates of home ownership will be unreachable for decades. Some of these things are good, perhaps too many people had access to too much money, based on their ability to pay it back. But less credit means fewer new small businesses, the single largest factor in new job growth, kiss it good bye.

Back to leadership, if our representatives truly felt that this economic bill was the wrong thing to do, I hope they will tell me why. I watched, I listened, I googled. But I have not found a statement from anybody that voted no, that tells me what in this bill specifically was so objectionable. Five years from now economists will be able to look back and tell us what the costs are in terms of lost tax revenue, and lost economic activity. It will be in the trillions of dollars. But those in washington might still be there having moved from the house to the senate, protecting their positions and not keeping the best interest of the country first.