Many sectors of the public grudgingly supported the federal government’s bailout plan for financial institutions after repeated warnings from top-level officials that it was do-or-die for investors.
So Congress passed the measure supported by $700 billion from taxpayers, and many naively hoped that the problem would go “poof.” It didn’t, and now there is more dire financial news.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke painted a gloomy portrait of the economy Tuesday as creditors remained hesitant to lend. In so many words, Bernanke said the nation has a serious case of financial constipation.
President Bush promises the bailout laxative will work — eventually.
“We’re going to get through this,” the president said Tuesday during a speech in a Washington suburb. “Have faith, the economy is going to recover over time. I wish I could snap my fingers and make what happened stop. But that’s not the way it works.”
It’s sure not working so far. The Dow Jones industrial average was down a record 800 points at one juncture Monday and closed the day below 10,000 for the first time since 1994. In Tuesday afternoon trading, the three major U.S. stock indexes were down more than 3 percent.
The market, no doubt, will rebound as savvy investors snap up undervalued stocks. A longer term rebound could result if the Fed cuts its key interest rates this month as has been proposed.
While the bailout package may yet work, as Bush promises, and federal interest rate adjustments can be effective when used judiciously, they are simply Band-Aid solutions to the real problems plaguing Wall Street — a lack of federal control over destructive practices such as sub-prime lending.
Until such consistent control is gained, strap yourself in because the runaway Wall Street Roller Coaster will continue to hit the valleys at breakneck speed.
Opinion
EDITORIAL: Credit constipation requires long-term market control
- Opinion
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Editorial: Madison County needs vision for future tourism
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Letter: Consumer-driven economy will pay off debt
To save America some money — by acclimation of course — let’s not have a presidential election in 2012. We already have a good president who will do his best to kill all Republican bills (DOA) and, consequently, create more good-paying jobs in the $30 per hour range.
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Letter: Gingrich cashes in on political amnesia
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Two reasons seem to tell the tale. Gingrich has shown that he will fight, and Romney is a Mormon, believed to be a “cult” by a majority of evangelicals. -
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Editorial: AHS grad rates moving up, must be pushed ever higher
A diploma is a must, but it has to mean something. Anderson High School must do this the right way, not cutting corners and passing students through classes, but making them accountable for learning the subject matter.
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Letter: Bill of Rights being nullified by new law
President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act on New Year’s Eve. I doubt many Americans noticed its implications because they do not yet comprehend the big picture. This law, coupled with the Patriot Act, is paving the way for America’s direction toward tyranny.
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Letter: $14 trillion debt started by previous president
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Letter: Economy putting people in the gutters
We are now getting the results of putting people in the gutters. We need to take a second look at our government and its policies. It’s not working.
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Editorial: With changes to program, why not begin recycling?
The public has to understand the importance of recycling aluminum and steel cans, cardboard, glass, newspapers and certain plastics. Besides minimizing a community’s waste, recycling saves energy, natural resources and the environment.
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Primus Mootry: Challenge for black leaders in 21st century? Lessons of past
The black experience in America can roughly be divided into five main periods including the slave trade and slavery itself; emancipation (or the end of slavery) and Reconstruction; the Jim Crow era; the Great Migration; and the civil rights era.
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Editorial: Madison County needs vision for future tourism
