The news is abuzz with the reports of the solemn, haggard faces of the leaders of congress when Bush's economic Czars Paulson and Bernanke informed them of the deadly threat of financial meltdown the US, even the world economy faced if something dramatic was not done immediately.
So, of course, they came out, shaking in their boots, telling the nation how awful things were, how close to the abyss we've come.
This sounds far too similar to Bush's surrogates Condeleeza Rice and Colin Powell warning us-- at the UN in congress in 2003-- that Iraq and its WMDs was an imminent threat to the nation and the world. Back then, senators Clinton, Kerry, Edwards and most of the rest of the Democrats spinelessly assented to accept the story they were told, failed to challenge the data or demand other options, and now, they all apologize to us.
It's not too late this time. We have no good reason to believe that Bush economic appointees will do any better dealing with a financial crisis than Bush diplomatic and military appointees did with the "terrorist threat."
Now, we face the financial/economic meltdown "threat."
Yeah. Right.
Haven't these legislators learned anything? How dare they sit on their hands and twiddle their thumbs and allow the most incompetent, worst president in history to run this show and manage this crisis.
Any mistakes that are made, any fraud or corruption that comes out of these Paulson/Bernanke decisions made under Bush's supervision should be 100% blamed upon Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and the rest of the Democratic leadership in congress.
If they had done their job, Bush and Cheney would have been forced to resign because of impeachment hearings and a reasonably competent president would have been in place, a senior, moderate Republican the Dems would have approved-- someone like John Warner. But no, Nancy Pelosi kept impeachment off the table and we are now facing the final stretch from hell-- four months of massive incompetence combined with partisan corruption.
The Democratic leadership will, if they merely accept the narrative of Paulson, Bernanke and company, be totally failing to do their jobs. Just think of it. These politicians, some of whom are also trained as attorneys, are going into a private meeting with economists who have spent their lives developing the ability to describe scenarios. These legislators-- Pelosi, Hoyer, Reid, Schumer, no matter how smart they are, are like babes in the woods being played by the best economic pitchmen in the world, kind of like when they were pitched by Colin Powell. Of course, Schumer, representing all those Wall Street companies, he's a different story. I'm sure he knows EXACTLY what he's doing, but it's not good for the average middle class person who elected him.
We know what horrific failures they were at processing the information. Some of them make the excuse that they were given cherry picked, selected information. But just about everyone I know who opposed the war could see right through the WMD lies of Bush, Cheney, Powell Rice and company. So I don't believe and won't believe it if these Democratic leaders just buy the "financial meltdown need to do something for hundreds of billions of dollars immediately" story. If they buy and accept that story, they will be doing another WMD job on us, failing to challenge the Bush administration.
For all I know, Bernanke and Paulson may be right, but if the Dem leaders of congress don't do highly transparent due diligence, bringing in the best and brightest, not the old Clinton guard who helped create this mess, then, well, they will have again failed America. Can America even afford a second strike before it's out?
