OMG everybody panic

It is hard to believe that everyone is falling for the same old Bush administration claim that the sky is really falling this time. (So give us $700 billion and no looking over our shoulders as we spend it, ok? We know what we're doing, this time. Really. Honest. We swear on the Bible. Did we mention that we have Bible study in the White House every week? That means we're honest and also that God is directing us!)

Look at this ridiculous reaction to the stock markets. It's a given: Stocks fluctuate. Yet I'm listening to the radio all week and all anybody can talk about is that TODAY their portfolio is only 75% of what it was yesterday and how the government has to step in.

It's been demonstrated again and again that government intervention in banking is necessary. It gets demonstrated every time the banking industry is deregulated. Yet, if you had suggested this bailout (or any regulation whatsoever) a year or two ago, the Bush administration would have screamed at you for trying to put more "big government" in and impose more restrictive regulation on businesses, and for being a socialist and then they'd have started hurling personal insults at you and trying to find every little mistake you'd ever made and throwing it in your face in order to discredit you along with your argument, since apparently that is what passes for reasoned debate nowadays.

And where was government regulation when these mortgage companies were lending people too much money and getting houses valued far, far above their market values? Where was government regulation when credit card companies started charging 20% interest and crippling fees? Apparently, any unethical business practice is just fine if it makes you money now. Plus, you can blame your victims when anyone tries to admonish you. Woo hoo.

The stock market is for long term investment. This is what I read over and over. This ridiculous panic over individual people's portfolios is only about getting enough pressure put on Congress to hand $700 billion unsupervised over to the Treasury Secretary. But no, people are looking at their portfolios and panicking and now suddenly we're all in favor of government intervention.

I guess if we shit our pants in public, the government is supposed to show up with baby wipes and new pants. And yet at least half of us fulminate against socialism (while advocating it just one time in this case only). Universal health care? NO WAY -- that would be socialism! GASP!

Now that stock prices are falling, wouldn't that be the time to get into the stock market? Whatever happened to buy low, sell high anyway? Oh wait. Maybe that's why they want the $700 billion, but only if nobody is looking where they spend it and where the profits go.