Unless you were on another planet yesterday, you know that the House of Representatives voted down the bailout plan that was supposed to save us from economic disaster. You also know that the Dow lost 777 points yesterday. And you know that the political recriminations started before the final vote was announced.
I’ll admit that I have mixed feelings about the bailout plan. If the politicians and bureaucrats are right, the bailout is (was) the only way to avoid an economic catastrophe. But aren’t these the same politicians and bureaucrats who were telling us just a few months ago that everything was fine and there was no problem? And aren’t these the same people who passed the laws and made the regulations that allowed us to get into this mess in the first place? Why should I believe what they are telling me now?
Perhaps something dramatic needs to be done, but I don’t really like many of the ideas that have been proposed. Betsy and I have tried to be prudent — we saved for a sizable down payment on our house and only bought what we could afford. If something like the the proposed bailout plan passes I think one of two things will happen to Betsy and me. Either our taxes will go way up to pay for the bailout or inflation will go way up and eat away at the money we’ve saved for our retirement. (Of course both of those things could happen at the same time, but I don’t want to think about that!).
Sometimes I feel that I was foolish to try my best to make prudent decisions. Perhaps I should have just enjoyed myself and then yelled for someone to bail me out when things got bad.
I don’t know what is going to happen in the next few days as far as the economy is concerned, but things should be interesting.
Senior Moments 