Bailout passes
Learn from nation's mistakes
Editorial Board
Issue date: 2/18/09 Section: Opinion
President Barack Obama yesterday signed the $787 billion bailout, also known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Disconcertingly, this bailout has been passed through the House and the Senate on an almost perfect party-line vote, despite Obama's determination to find a plan that would surpass party lines.
Furthermore, the United States already has $11 trillion in public and federal debt, according to the Treasury Department Web site, and a $1.2 trillion deficit (the difference between the money that was budgeted and the amount actually spent).
The question that should have been asked months ago is whether it is possible to recover an economy that has been buried in a $1.2 trillion deficit with more spending.
Yes, something undeniably needed to be done to lessen future pain this downturn may cause. Now, however, the deals have been made and the fate of our economy has been set. So, what happens now?
After years of having a government that won't stop changing its mind about how to direct the economy, the most important step is to pick a path and stick to it.
Just within the past few months, the solution for a downturned economy has been uprooted and changed repeatedly. And in the past two presidential terms, our economy has been dramatically nationalized, despite having a Republican in office.
So what is to be learned from this enormous trial in America's economic history?
First of all, don't rely on money you don't have. Bank loans and credit cards can certainly help you in the long run for creating good credit scores and buying large investments, such as houses. But the next time you consider putting that new, chic Gucci bag or the most up-to-date flatscreen TV on your credit card, stop and think.
Remember the foreclosure signs that litter almost every street? Remember the panic the country felt when 600,000 jobs were lost in one month? Remember the stock crash of 1929? Right, well, they are all a result of what has unfortunately become the modern American creed: instant satisfaction.
History does tend to repeat itself, so as the upcoming generation, let's take this experience and learn from it. Maybe there is something to be said about saving for the future and reaping the consequences of your actions after all.
Disconcertingly, this bailout has been passed through the House and the Senate on an almost perfect party-line vote, despite Obama's determination to find a plan that would surpass party lines.
Furthermore, the United States already has $11 trillion in public and federal debt, according to the Treasury Department Web site, and a $1.2 trillion deficit (the difference between the money that was budgeted and the amount actually spent).
The question that should have been asked months ago is whether it is possible to recover an economy that has been buried in a $1.2 trillion deficit with more spending.
Yes, something undeniably needed to be done to lessen future pain this downturn may cause. Now, however, the deals have been made and the fate of our economy has been set. So, what happens now?
After years of having a government that won't stop changing its mind about how to direct the economy, the most important step is to pick a path and stick to it.
Just within the past few months, the solution for a downturned economy has been uprooted and changed repeatedly. And in the past two presidential terms, our economy has been dramatically nationalized, despite having a Republican in office.
So what is to be learned from this enormous trial in America's economic history?
First of all, don't rely on money you don't have. Bank loans and credit cards can certainly help you in the long run for creating good credit scores and buying large investments, such as houses. But the next time you consider putting that new, chic Gucci bag or the most up-to-date flatscreen TV on your credit card, stop and think.
Remember the foreclosure signs that litter almost every street? Remember the panic the country felt when 600,000 jobs were lost in one month? Remember the stock crash of 1929? Right, well, they are all a result of what has unfortunately become the modern American creed: instant satisfaction.
History does tend to repeat itself, so as the upcoming generation, let's take this experience and learn from it. Maybe there is something to be said about saving for the future and reaping the consequences of your actions after all.
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