I think there is a big similarity between circus monkeys and the Congress these days. The similarity is that based on their popularity and actions this year – they seem to have the same IQ as circus monkeys. According to a recent poll, the Congress has an approval rating of 15%. Surprisingly, the President has a higher approval rating at 30%. The reason why? It’s very simple, they haven’t done anything. And, that lack of leadership has cost us dearly. Their mistake on Monday alone cost us $1.4 trillion in market value.
Today, the Senate took the leadership hat, went into office and tried to pass a different version of this “rescue bill.” They passed it AGAIN but this time with a 74 “yea” and 24 “nay” vote. The big question on everyone’s mind here is – will the Congress pass it? If they don’t – according to Warren Buffet – it would be catastrophic to the world economies come Monday. The sad thing here is that some of the congress that voted “no” on this bill went on TV – to discuss their reasons – and I was in utter shock. Since, it was obvious they had no real clue of why we needed this. They were oblivious to the magnitude of the situation here and should all be fired or resign. The Congress in essence, flexed its power for no apparent reason, but convinced Americans why we should never elect them ever again. The two biggest reasons why they didn’t pass this bill Monday was:
• The Republicans claimed they got their feelings hurt when Nancy Pelosi spoke negatively about them and the President for getting us to this situation in her speech. So, they decided to vote against the bill. Pretty pathetic decision. I think most of them needed to get picked on more during school – so when they grew up – they could face “adult” situations and handle them more maturely.
• They claimed they were inundated with people calling their offices telling them to vote against the bill. Like I said earlier – this is a clear fault on their side. Since, if these politicians actually did their job and educated people how their lives would quickly diminish in a matter of months if this bill didn’t pass – they would be begging to get this passed. And, secondly – how many times do people actually write “Hey Congressman – I’m for this bill. Keep up the good work.” But, hey if that’s what they want – all they need to do is tell us that “We’re incapable of making decisions, we have no clue what do – so here’s an email address, and we’ll tally up the people who want this and who don’t – and then we’ll vote.”
Bottom line is – as a leader – whether you’re a CEO of a Company, the President of the United States or a Congressman/Senator – the job requires you to make tough decisions. These decisions are tough because they aren’t always the most popular decisions – but as a leader – you vote for what you believe is right and you move forward. You don’t vote with your feelings or become afraid that your decision to do something right may hurt your popularity in the short term.
I’ve never written or watched this much about politics in my life, as I’ve done in the last few weeks. But in these few weeks – what I’m starting to realize is that the very core of America is falling apart. In 1985, my parents came to America because it was clear that this was the land of opportunity and the land where people made their dreams come true. In the last few weeks, that very core element of America is changing because of the lack of leadership we have in this government. If we are to be the same nation that allows individuals to achieve their dreams – then we need to have a strong government that can make decisions, not a circus.
Tags: bailout plan, circus monkeys, congress, crash, credit risk, depression, Dow Jones, financial system, nancy pelosi, NASDAQ, President Bush, recession, rescue bill, RTC, stock market
October 3rd, 2008 at 12:57 am
I agree G…however, the lack of leadership in corporate and main street America should also be given equal attention. Everyone got drunk at the party.
October 6th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Valid points, however an oversite into this bailout plan is important. As you have seen over the past few days, the sweeter deals that got added to this proposal seems littel fishy.
All in all if this bailout can help the average consumer who is trying to stay above the water, its worth it.
October 7th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
Yes a lack of government oversight seemed to have created much of this problem, and Congress isn’t responding quick enough to the crisis- interjecting partisan ideology when we all need to walk the same path as don’t we all live in this great country?
Just some thoughts.
Nice website G
October 12th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Everyone is quick to blame the government, but lets’ not forget who really runs our country, corporate America has done an excellent job of keeping the money and who care’s about solutions? Greed is rampant and now the world pay’s. If we did business as partners and not as the corporate pyramid, the world would be a lot better place, time’s are a’changin’…
October 24th, 2008 at 12:23 am
It seems to me in Goverment or in any major Corporation or organization, the one with the most money always wins.
While Working for the University of Michigan Medical Center for 17 years after I spoke up about my concern for patient care because, I had co-workers sleeping on the Midnight shift at they Medical Center, I soon later was fired, at age 49. I had to spend my 50th birthday with out a job and NO money.
It just goes to show you that the large corporations even a Medical Center does not care about the average person, if you speak up about them they just get rid of the problem and they do not care.
October 24th, 2008 at 5:53 am
Sir they are:
Circus Monkeys.
R
October 24th, 2008 at 10:44 am
I don’t agree with your perspective entirely, but I see some truth in what James Staley wrote. Much of this credit crisis started with a housing bubble and the lack of accountability once that bubble started to burst. I’ve heard poor people being blamed for the burst. But it seemed that everyone and their brother was out there flipping houses and making big money. That is the source of the problem. Houses became investments, not houses. And when average people start making money from investments, the rich and powerful lose their advantage, so they change the game. You can only get rich by exploiting something – be it people, or a market. If you think hard about that statement, you’ll realize it’s true.
A simple remedy would be to prosecute people for fraud if they knowingly participated in fraud. Be them the home owner, or the mortgage company. Everyone that took on an adjustable rate mortgage should have had their negotiations videotaped. This would have been protection for both parties to show that no fraudulent behavior happened. But without the fraud, there would have been no opportunity for big money to be made, so it was allowed to happen. And average home owners encouraged the behavior.
Once we get through this credit situation, our lives will improve. But the game is changing as we speak. An astute investor tries to play the game better than 80% of the people. If you do that, you’ll be on the winning side.
October 27th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
I blame the the brokers and agents, here we are paying top dollar for representation while they’re running off with big commissions, then the brokers blame congress and so on. I’m glad most of these idiots that made so much money off the helpless. are unemployed and suffering.
ETHIC. MORALS
A quik read 42pgs
“none dare call it reason” how the average american has hanged himself. you’ll know now why we desparatly need change. In short, government once us to think they are broke and can’t pay for medicare and the like, but somehow now they can plan mr equity manager. is this a good thing and for who?