Sell! Sell!

Yes, the House of Representatives rejected today's $700 billion bailout, and the Dow Jones fell almost 7%. For the record, it's worth pointing out that Nasdaq was down more than 9% and the S&P 500 was down just under 9%. That should give you some idea of where the Asian markets will be headed in a few hours. My feeling is this: the bail-out wasn't a great idea, but it wasn't horrible. As far as ideas go in rotten situations, it could have been much worse. It was a gamble, but, because this is an election year, Congress balked. The bail-out had very little approval from 'main street,' largely because most people are struggling to pay their bills and aren't big on the idea of shelling out money to 'bail-out' Wall Street. Of course, it's bigger and more complicated than that, but the package was meant to be a compromise that included enough pieces Republicans would like that it wouldn't get vetoed, while bringing in enough Dem support to get it passed. That didn't happen.

95 Democrats and 133 Republicans voted against the bill, which now has the benefit of making both the White House and the Congressional leadership (and John McCain, who had been praised on the Right-Wing circuit for his 'leadership' in crafting a compromise) look inept, at best.



We aren't in 'uncharted territory'; we're heading down. Everything old is new again.