I know we're all a little freaked out about the 777 point fall in the Dow, etc. But you had to see it coming. When America's very land is pumped and dumped by the world's titans of finance, it was inevitable. And there's certainly more to come.
I've come full-circle on the bailout and now believe we should just go through this thing without any more taxpayer-funded life support. At least not in the form of a bailout. The patient is going to die, people. Why should we throw good money after bad at a corpse? The banks will just chew through the $700 billion and prolong the inevitable drop. Just like we chewed through the $145 billion stimulus package. The truth is the market is going to have to fall to its natural bottom and the less the government tinkers with it the faster that will happen and the quicker we can start rebuilding the economy in a meaningful way. I've heard the "burning house" metaphor a lot on cable news in regards to this bailout. Well, how about we not rush into the house with the hoses? How about we let the house, which is already engulfed, burn down and then rebuild it? Use that $700 billion not to buy toxic debt from derelict banks (how smart does that sound?) but for job programs, direct relief for the destitute, and other measures to help raise the economy from the ashes.
So what are we getting from our newspapers? Panic. Dumbstruckness. Gaped jaws. The Sun-Sentinel headline this morning: "WE'RE IN TROUBLE." Thanks for the news. The Miami Herald went with the forward-looking "No Deal -- Now What?" The Palm Beach Post led with a huge picture of the Dow sign showing -777.68 with the words "Bailout plan shot down." But my favorite front-page headline from today comes from the Log Cabin Democrat in Arkansas: "D'Oh!"
That sums up a lot of the coverage. Here's my headline: "Market Getting Real." We need to look at this as an opportunity to bring some reality to America and put an end to this bubble-based, credit-driven economy as we know it. Economic writer Paul B. Farrell calls it "The Good Depression. Hear hear.