The Treasury Secretary Who Cried Wolf

What happened to the urgency with which the $700 billion bailout needed to be passed?

If I recall, didn’t Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and President Bush come out and push for an emergency bailout package of $700 billion that just had to be passed immediately or the world as we know it would come to an end?

Then, if I remember right, didn’t the Republicans in Congress vote against the initial bailout bill, only to vote for it after another $150 billion in pork for things like rum imports from Puerto Rico were added to the bill?

Well, here we are almost a month later and are things any better for you and me? Hmmm…let’s see. The stock market is still falling, jobs are still being lost, homes are still being foreclosed, and the banks are not lending. In fact, banks are actually talking about using the monies they have received to pay dividends to their stock holders instead of using it to lend to consumers and credit card companies are threatening to reduce the credit lines for their cardholders (even those who have paid their bills regularly).

Yet, even with all this negativity, the world has not come to an end.

In addition, the original purpose of the bailout, which was to purchase bad debt (like the dreaded mortgage-backed securities) that banks had incurred, has basically been eliminated. It has been replaced instead by the notion of purchasing preferred shares in US banks that will pay dividends.

To date, only about $290 billion of the bailout bill has been used and Hank Paulson is now saying that he will probably not use the remaining $410 billion, which means that it will probably be saved for President Obama and his new Treasury Secretary to do with as they wish. So much for the urgency!

Now who knows what all that money will be used for? Maybe all the beggars like GM and Ford who are asking to be bailed out of their financial woes and city and state entities which have stepped forward with their hands out looking for a hand out will get what they want. All they need to do is wait for "The One" to take the oath of office and for him to get his fillibuster proof Senate in place and who knows.

I think I need to get in line. How about you?