Bailout plan rejected (CNN)
First, I just realized I’ve never discussed my former life on this blog. Once upon a time I was a Risk Management and Insurance professional. I was an assistant to a financial planner, sold life and health insurance as well as Equity Indexed Annuities for companies like AIG, Allianz, Jefferson Pilot, Presidential, ING– you name it. I was a Risk Management and Insurance student at Georgia State University and I studied for my Series 6 and 63 securities licenses, and was even fingerprinted in preparation for the tests, but was laid off when my company closed my department before I could take them. At which point I fell into a personal depression and eventually emerged in a different state and reverted my goals back to those I aimed at as a youth: to be a writer. (For proof, here is an article I wrote about Equity Indexed Annuities several years ago. Note: the byline is my birth name, Kelly Rhiannon Burroughs.) Point is, I’m no expert– but I’m also not clueless about what’s going on in Washington right now. So:
Listen to me: things are about to change.
Forget easy money; it no longer exists. Financially speaking, everything is connected; our financial systems are completely incestuous.
Let go of the idea that you can live off of credit and buy every thing you want. Let go of the idea that you deserve to be pampered every day of the week and that eating at restaurants every night is a reasonable thing to do. Let go of the idea that every birthday needs to be like Christmas and every Christmas bigger than the last. Let go of the idea that little Johnny and little Jane need to have the newest and best of everything (what’s wrong with what they have?). Let go of the idea that you have to have a new car every couple of years, or that you should get a bigger, fancier car than you can actually afford. Let go of the idea that your house’s value will increase exponentially and that you’ll get an annual raise. Let go of the idea that you can vacation on your credit cards and pay everything off on time.
Things are about to change. We are all going to have to tighten our belts in America. Part of that change is accepting responsibility for our role in this crisis: We’ve been living far beyond our means for far too long… far too long.
What bothers me most about all of this is that the same Republicans who deregulated the financial industry are now blaming the other side of the isle for this problem. Let’s be very clear: this problem was created by greed and politicians in the pocket of big business. To come out and say, even though the majority of them voted against the bailout plan, this is the Democrat’s fault is blatantly false and completely partisan.
The reason this problem was allowed to swirl out of control is because the Republicans are trying to balance their bought-and-paid-for-solidarity with large corporations with their need to sway votes at the same time.
It's time for change, it's time for a different, Democratic, administration. It's time to relieve the Republicans from their duty and reistate the regulations they recklessly voided in their never ending quest for the mythical land of free markets.
It is time for leadership that is effective, leadership that cares about you and I-- the "little" people, the people who hire them.
Obama says 'stay calm'; McCain camp slams Democrats (CNN): "The bill failed by a vote of 205 to 228, with 140 Democrats and 65 Republicans voting in favor and 95 Democrats joining 133 Republicans against."
Nancy Pelosi’s Speach before the bailout vote where she explains her thoughts on how we got here; I don’t find it nearly as outrageous as the Republicans, who spoke immediately after the vote, did. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMLo7i38D58
The Republican response, and then Barney Frank’s response to their vitriol: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMLo7i38D58