With all the talk of the failed bailout, someone needs to ask the question — What, really, is the best treatment for our economic crises?
In my family, someone very near and dear to me has struggled for a lifetime with severe acne problems. This person has tried just about every “lotion and potion” on the market, with little effect. We’ve never tried some of the really advanced medical stuff out there like blue light acne treatment, but we have done numerous prescription treatments by a variety of dermatologists — and all with little lasting effect.
Thinking of our economy in similar terms, perhaps there is no answer to our economic crises. I say “crises” and not “crisis,” because there’s a lot more going on in our economy besides just this economic bailout. It’s all interrelated, but it includes oil prices, energy crises, job losses, inflation, and on and on. Any way, suppose there really IS not good solution to these issues? What do we do next?
I would suggest two things which MUST be done to “save” the American economy: 1) accountability, and, 2) bipartisan politics. Washington leadership, Wall Street leaders, and “Main Street” leaders right down to you and me MUST recognize that policies over the last couple of decades have failed. And politicians cannot find solutions until they forget about labels like “Democrats” and “Republicans” and really start thinking about being Americans.
Seriously, campaign strategies won’t get the job done. One of the most idiotic screeds I’ve read in a long time was a recent Cal Thomas column in which he actually blamed the Democrats for the fundamental economic problems we’re facing, saying the seeds of it went back to Carter and Clinton.
Now really, Cal, get serious. If we lay blame for our economic woes at the feet of ex-presidents — one of whom was in office over 30 years ago! — instead of holding the present leadership (Democratic AND Republican) accountable, well, it’s hard to see how we’ll ever find a solution.
We’ve gotta hang together on this one or we’ll all hang separately. (Bad allusion to one of the Founding Fathers’ comments — I forget which one.)