"We have no choice"
I've been hearing that a lot this weekend, from basically everybody I talk to and from the bulk of the writing out there. Too bad it is wrong. There is always a choice, we seem to be choosing one particular approach. But there are other choices.
One thing that struck me is Paulson's claim that even though he is asking for unrestricted access to $700 billion, it is likely it won't cost that much. Grab for your wallet.
Remember the last time the Bush administration told us that their policy would not cost much and could be pulled off effectively? Even Rolling Stone knows this one:
The one aspect of having no choice that strikes me is Paulson and Bush's insistence that executive pay cannot be limited at this point in time. Maybe someday in the future, you know, when the crisis has passed and the pressure is off. We'll reform everything then, no worries.
This demand is like paying off the damages a drunk driver causes without punishing the driver. Actually, the Bush administration seems to want to buy the next round.
I've been hearing that a lot this weekend, from basically everybody I talk to and from the bulk of the writing out there. Too bad it is wrong. There is always a choice, we seem to be choosing one particular approach. But there are other choices.
One thing that struck me is Paulson's claim that even though he is asking for unrestricted access to $700 billion, it is likely it won't cost that much. Grab for your wallet.
Remember the last time the Bush administration told us that their policy would not cost much and could be pulled off effectively? Even Rolling Stone knows this one:
"
When America invaded Iraq in 2003, the Bush administration predicted that the war would turn a profit, paying for itself with increased oil revenues. So far, though, Congress has spent more than $350 billion on the conflict, including the $50 billion appropriated for 2007.
But according to one of the world's leading economists, that is just a fraction of what Iraq will actually wind up costing American taxpayers. Joseph Stiglitz, winner of the Nobel Prize for economics, estimates the true cost of the war at$2.267 trillion. That includes the government's past and future spending for the war itself ($725 billion), health care and disability benefits for veterans ($127 billion), and hidden increases in defense spending ($160 billion). It also includes losses the economy will suffer from injured vets ($355 billion) and higher oil prices ($450 billion)."
The one aspect of having no choice that strikes me is Paulson and Bush's insistence that executive pay cannot be limited at this point in time. Maybe someday in the future, you know, when the crisis has passed and the pressure is off. We'll reform everything then, no worries.
This demand is like paying off the damages a drunk driver causes without punishing the driver. Actually, the Bush administration seems to want to buy the next round.
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