The $700 billion bailout

Congress is currently considering a bill that would allow the U.S. government to spend $700 billion on a rescue fund for financial markets. This bailout plan is intended to buy all the bad mortgage-related assets from these large financial companies as a way to save them from bankruptcy. If this bill is passed, it will be the largest government bailout in the history of the country.

According to our president and our treasury secretary, the world as we know it will come to an end if this proposal is not passed quickly. There is no doubt that the country is in a severe crisis, but is throwing $700 billion at the problem the right answer?

The financial market is very complex and has many different aspects that need to be examined before we rush to make this decision. Some of the country's top financial analysts are having a hard time wrapping their mind around the extent of the problem and the effects it could have. The reality is that this government plan is based on speculation. The time has not been taken to fully question all of the implications of these financial firms declaring bankruptcy.

We need not be rushed when considering our options. It seems like just yesterday we were led astray by our government thinking there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and we had to act immediately because our lives were in danger. Come to find out, no such weapons ever existed and we are still continuing to pay for that multi-billion dollar mistake five years later.

This is not to say that the Iraqi war and the current financial crisis are the same, but there are similarities in the tactics that the government is using to convince people to go along with their proposals. It seems that our government thinks that establishing fear in the public's mind is the only way to make us comprehend the severity of a situation.

If they are going to spend $700 billion of our hard earned money, we deserve to hear more than just scare tactics. We deserve to know the predicted results of the bailout and the implications it will have on our personal finances. Working in haste is not the right answer for a problem as large as this one. We should take the time to learn and grow from our past mistakes and not rush down the same dangerous path.

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