Horrified And Outraged

The NYT reports today that...

as economists puzzle over the proposed details of what may be the biggest financial bailout in American history, the initial skepticism that greeted its unveiling has only deepened. Some are horrified at the prospect of putting $700 billion in public money on the line. Others are outraged that Wall Street, home of the eight-figure salary, may get rescued from the consequences of its real estate bender, even as working families give up their houses to foreclosure.

I am both horrified and outraged.

The common denominator to many reactions is a visceral discomfort with giving Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Jr. — himself a product of Wall Street — carte blanche to relieve major financial institutions of bad loans choking their balance sheets, all on the taxpayer’s bill.

Duh! Let's see, the foxes have been raiding the henhouse, leading to a shortage of chickens. So now we ask the head fox to take all of the rest of the chickens and.... Right.

But an underlying source of doubt about the bailout stems from who is asking for it. The rescue is being sold as a must-have emergency measure by an administration with a controversial record when it comes to asking Congress for special authority in time of duress.

Patriot Act. Iraq invasion. Abu Ghraib. Guantanamo. Illegal domestic surveillance. And they want us to trust them with $700,000,000,000? I don't think so.

Why should we trust someone like Paulson when he was one of the guys making the bad decisions, and making millions upon millions of dollar doing it just a few years ago? Why should we trust him now, when we've heard nothing from him about the dangers building up? I've been nearly hysterical for years now at the looming danger of our national fiscal irresponsibility. Where was he?

I'm sorry. I've got zilch confidence in this man and his boss. You can't have anymore of my tax dollars (or saddle my kids with more debt).