Bailout - The blame game

The rescue/bailout plan outcome is still yet to be seen but the finger pointing is out of control.

The fact someone can blame our economic crisis on the current administration (Bush I assume) shows how uninformed that person may be. I will be the first to say Republicans have to own up to some of the mistakes, but when you look at the underlying problem, Democrats have a lit match in their hand.

I've already discussed the bailout and will not go into whether it's good or bad. The fact of the matter is our current economic meltdown stems from the breakdown in the lending or mortgage industry. The bottom layer of that industry is Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

The meltdown of Fannie and Freddie, which has led to government intervention of the companies, began with risky mortgages the companies were buying. Under Democratic leadership the companies were urged to provide more affordable housing opportunities to lower income families. Fannie and Freddie were more than willing to do this as it would increase their gains but also led to the unregulated buying of risky housing loans. 

Several times the Bush administration and even John McCain have expressed concern about the lack of regulation of the two companies. McCain even proposed a bill to increase regulation but was voted down by the Democrats.

It has also been brought to light several Democratic Senators who have received political  contributions from Fannie and Freddie, number 1 being Sen. Chris Dodd who is chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and number 2 is Barack Obama. Remember Obama has only been in the senate for four years and has received more than long time Senators like John Kerry.

The following video explains  much of what has gone on at Freddie and Fannie.

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Why the Wall Street Bailout Bill failed

I am posting this not knowing the final outcome of the "rescue plan" or "bailout bill" as it was initially called.  Will it finally pass? Probably, but that is not what this article is about.

This article is about "Why the Wall Street Bailout Bill" failed, as my title states. As we know the House of Representatives did not pass the first draft of the bill. The controversy of John McCain coming back to Washington or the Democrats trying to embarrasses McCain really is neither here nor there of why it failed the first time. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has even been criticized by bringing the thing to vote when there was no confirmation of enough votes. Still doesn't matter.

No, I it goes back to basic marketing. The bill was dubbed the "Wall Street Bailout Bill". How it got this name I don't know nor care but the American people heard this and went ballistic.

When mainstreet America hears Washington is going to "bailout" Wall Street to the tune of $700 billion, hell yeah they are going to raise cane. Yes, it's more complicated than that, but the average guy on the street remembers; "$700 billion","Wall Street","bailout".

Now of course, the bill has a much lighter tone, "rescue plan",  and is a little better received but I still think much of mainstreet is going to feel like this bill was shoved down their throat.

So to the guys in Washington. Before you try to sell something to the American people do a little bit of marketing beforehand. Even if you didn't come up with the term "Bailout Wall Street" make sure you have a user-friendly name and marketing plan before going public.

Geeeez the "Wall Street Bail Out Plan". Why not call it "stick the American people for $2300 plan" or "Hell, let your kids pay for it plan" or better yet "Let's help the crooks on Wall Street plan".

Ohhhh please comment!

later - jag

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