Where will the $700 billion buck stop?

by Dollars and Sense

In another reliably sensible column, Dean Baker asks Washington power brokers if they are willing to resign if they're $700 billion taxpayer-funded gamble fails to work.

Responsibility and the Bailout: Will They Resign If It Fails?

If it is not possible to stop the bailout, how about a fallback position? Perhaps we can force our political leaders to take responsibility for their actions. Remember, we are only in this economic mess because the people who designed this bailout (Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, and President Bush) failed to stem the growth of the housing bubble. Rather than take responsibility for this disaster, they are demanding $700 billion bailout to patch up their mistakes.

How about a commitment to take responsibility this time?

In other societies, and at other times in our society, the leaders that brought on such a disaster would feel the need to resign their positions. That apparently is not about to happen just now.

However, since we have heard so much sanctimony about the importance of this bill to the nation's economic future, perhaps we can force our political leaders to put their power where their mouth is.

Follow this link for the rest of Baker's column.

Labels: Ben Bernanke, Dean Baker, economic meltdown, financial crisis, financial crisis bailout, george bush, Henry Paulson

 

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10/02/2008 01:36:00 PM