On the Soapbox

One of the people to vote against the bailout, Rep. Mike Pence (R-Indiana) said:

Stand up for limited government and economic freedom. Stand up for the American taxpayer. Reject this bailout and vote no on the emergency economic stabilization act.

Perhaps he should ask Hoover how well that strategy worked. Or the Japanese, who, after two decades, still have not yet fully recovered from the meltdown of their financial system.

This is a mess caused by a myopic Wall Street that fell into the pyramid scheme known as the housing bubble. But it seems that Main Street's ignorance (their failure to understand the importance of liquidity) is about to make things much worse. It's appalling how many in Congress do not comprehend the causes of the Great Depression, for if they did, today's bill should have passed with unanimity.