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Whew!: Wall Street bailout bill averts collapse - hopefully
Tribune Editorial
Article Last Updated: 10/03/2008 08:24:33 PM MDT
Congratulations to Congress, Reps. Jim Matheson and Rob Bishop and 169 other naysayers excluded. A majority of the House, following the Senate's lead, set politics and public opinion aside during an election year and united Friday in an attempt to save the nation from financial ruin by bailing out Wall Street.
Keep your eye on the stock and credit markets and other economic indicators. And keep your fingers crossed as the Treasury Department, with essential congressional oversight, buys up the toxic mortgage-based securities and other bad debt that has poisoned our economy. There are no guarantees the plan will work, but time was of the essence, and doing nothing was not an option.
Despised by dogmatic fiscal conservatives and a majority of the public who wanted Wall Street bigwigs to get their just deserts, the $700 billion bailout bill was approved 263-171 by the House, but only after a $110 billion tax-break package was attached.
The addition of the tax breaks gave political cover to Congress members who realized that the rescue was a necessity, but previously opposed the measure in an attempt to save their political skins. It gave them an excuse for changing their votes.
Some of the tax breaks rightfully raised eyebrows. For example, manufacturers of toy arrows and owners of motorsports facilities will receive tax credits and exemptions that were termed "sweeteners" and
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designed to win over key members of Congress. Limitations on the alternative minimum tax, credits to allow renewable energy resource development and other parts of the tax plan stand on their own merits.
We hope, but are not convinced, that the financial industry learned a lesson about greed, and that Washington learned a lesson about oversight. The rush to deregulate our financial system in the past decade shows that if you give Wall Street enough rope, it will hang itself. And Main Street, unless drastic measures are taken, will swing with it.
(Note to Congress: Have a nice vacation. Shake hands, kiss babies, get yourself re-elected. Then come back to Washington and finish the job. Roll up your sleeves, and rein in Wall Street and the lending industry by putting regulatory measures into place. For the sake of your constituents, make sure this never, ever happens again.)
