Just Say No

I haven't really written too much about the proposed Wall Street Bailout as of yet, mainly because the story is still rapidly developing and changing. But here is one thing that I can say for certain: Congress has no business adopting such a plan.

When it comes down to brass tacks, what is the government underwriting of $700 billion worth of bad decisions really going to get for the American people? Not much, other than a higher deficit and a possible risk to the liquidity of the U.S. Government. The last thing we need during a time period where we are already spending more than the government can afford is such an expansion of our national debt. It's an expansion of government involvement in the economy, something that was we have seen over the years (hello Sarbanes-Oxley) generally creates new problems while exacerbating existing ones.

What's even more ridiculous about the concept is the fact that the same people who got us into the mess are the same people who seem to think that they can find us a way out of it. As Ron Smith wrote in the Sun this morning:

Why is it we are supposed to believe that the same "experts" who led us down the path to financial ruin are capable of constructing strategies, policies and bailouts that will turn us around and head us toward solvency? It makes no sense. We are assured that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke is on top of things because he won his spurs as a scholar of the Great Depression. This isn't a replay of the 1930s, though; it's something new, something perhaps even bigger.

If Congress chooses to not pass a bailout, there is no question that it would destabilize the economy both here and abroad. I think that no reasonable person would disagree with that. But it is entirely possibly, dare I say likely, that the results of the bailout will be far far worse for the economy and the American taxpayer than by letting things take their course.

We saw during the 1930's what overzealous government intervention brought in the form of the New Deal, which sunk the American economy deeper and deeper into the Depression and created the Entitlement State that so burdens middle and working class taxpayers to this day. The last thing we need today are such regulations and reforms to make this situation worse.

Congress needs to take a step back and just so no to this bailout. Our future depends on it.