I told my wife at least two years ago that those of us that understood our own situation, what was going on in the national and global economy, and who were acting responsibly, were going to be required to pick up the tab for the greedy seedy fast buck artists and their vast constituency of Average American dullards when the bill came due.  

  

I hate it when I am so very right!

 

Of course it takes two to tango.  In the Tango, one leads and one follows.  Let us first examine the follower: those poor souls that bit off more than they could chew.  It is hard to find any sympathy, let alone tax dollars, for anyone that:

  1. used their house, a capital investment, as an ATM to buy a new car/flat panel TV/pay off Cr. Cards only to turn around and max ‘em out again/take vacations/ or any other short-term indulgence;
  2. did not understand what the mortgage shenanigans were that allowed them to spin the roulette wheel and begin buying a house that was way more than their financial situation could possibly support; 
  3. dove in over their head with the intent to flip the property and turn a quick buck, but got stuck head first in the mud at the bottom of the pool when the bubble burst and drained the pool. 

The first problem dimension above and its derivatives were spawned by dimwits that did not/could not/would not do their homework.  They were dazzled by the trappings of an economic class above them which in reality was out of reach unless the housing bubble roulette wheel continued to pay off.  Worse yet, they threw their meager pearls of “home ownership” capital before the swine of immediate gratification and short term expenditure.  I say TS (tough situation) and I don’t see any valid argument that my tax money should be used to bail these nitwits out because they were too greedy or stupid to do the math. 

 

The second problem dimension above was spawned by the “American Dream” syndrome lure.  It was swallowed hook line and sinker by large schools of Average American gullible guppies.  And the fishermen lining the banks (no pun intended) were less than sporting.  Some of them hauled in their catch with illegal grab hooks and fed their catch, which included a lot of carp, suckers and other trash fish, to the credit industry cannery for a profit.   

 

To be fair, the range of motives ran the gauntlet from those that were truly trying to help people into “home buyership” through those that knowingly and aggressively hung their fish out to cure in the glaring sun of the downturn that was sure to come.  Those that took advantage of their fish should themselves be hung out to dry by the system, but of course they will get to walk away from the river bank while the mortgage industry, credit industry, Congress and regulators try to point the stink finger at the other guy without getting any fishy smell on themselves.  

 

  

The third problem dimension above was spawned by the ever present greed seed in the human race.  Oh, greed was certainly a part of all three dimensions, but it was the alpha and omega of this bunch of fast buck artists (and newly minted wannabes).  If they timed the bubble wrong and got stuck, TS (Timing Sucks)!  However at the risk of repeating myself, I say TS (Tough $hit) and I don’t see any valid argument that my tax money should be used to bail these nitwits out because they were too greedy or too stupid, or both, to avoid getting their tail in a crack.   

  

But let us take a quick look at the lead partner in our Credit Crises Tango: those crafty wheelers and dealers in the mortgage credit industry who pushed the frontiers of living on increasingly remote earnings and windfalls beyond anything possibly dreamed of by those that promoted credit as a way to fuel the economy following the Second World War.

   

There is an argument that the Federal Government cannot allow a brick in the structure such as Bear Stearns to crumble for fear that it will cause the structure to collapse.

  

I have been watching the Congressional hearings this last week, and the panic is barely contained.  The Federal Reserve Chairman used the (R)ecession word for the first time, although he choked on it.  I guess the answer to the old question from the Average American population in the back seat, “Are weeee thee eree yet??” has been slipped quietly onto the table.  Now the question is “How long and how deep will it be?”   I have even heard the feared “(D)epression” word on one occasion.  The fact that anyone even has the intestinal fortitude to utter that phrase from Economic Armageddon is a measure of the panic that was palpable in the Congressional hearings.  

 

  

But fear not!  The Bear Stearns executives and other Godlike creatures of the economy will walk away with multiple millions as a reward.  These imortals will live on and prosper so that they may bring us future debacles.  Thank great Poseidon!!

    

The holders of debt in the form of common stock, paychecks and other such trivialities however are another story.  They are consigned to Hades.  And many of those common stock holders are pension funds.  But that should not come as a surprise to any of us.  That is business as usual in our “capitalistic” economy, right?  You are responsible for the outcome of your own decisions after all.  Once again the big guys gain and the masses feel the pain – the Capitalist God is in his Heaven and all is well! 

  

Long live free enterprise, Capitalism and personal responsibility!!