13 Votes Short

In a surprising decision, the 700 billion dollar bailout was shot down (at least for now) by Congress. Instead of acknowledging the awful economic oversight of the Bush administration, many Republicans were quick to blame Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

House Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) showed his own misguided partisan views when he said that “I do believe that we could have gotten there today had it not been for this partisan speech that the speaker gave on the floor of the House. I mean, we were -- we put everything we had into getting the votes to get there today, but the speaker had to give a partisan voice that poisoned our conference, caused a number of members that we thought we could get to go south.” (Watch it here!)

Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) further avoided the real issues as he stated that “Right here is the reason, I believe, why this vote failed, and this is Speaker Pelosi's speech that, frankly, struck the tone of partisanship that, frankly, was inappropriate in this discussion.”

Many were quick to point fingers at Pelosi, yet she had every right to criticize the Bush Administration and the mess they have made of this country. After all, it is very important to analyze what led us to this economic crisis, as well as to take the necessary steps to solve it.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) got a rise from the crowd as he poked fun at the Republican’s lame attempt to point the blame for the failure. “But think about this. "Somebody hurt my feelings, so I will punish the country." I mean, that's hardly plausible. And there were 12 Republican members who were ready to stand up for the economic interests of America, but not if anybody insulted them. I'll make an offer. Give me those 12 people's names, and I will go talk uncharacteristically nicely to them.”

Right on Barney. It is ridiculous for the Republicans (and anyone else for that matter) to point a finger at Mrs. Pelosi, who was clearly just getting off her chest what many other disgusted Americans have felt for quite some time. Instead of blaming others for the failure of the bailout, perhaps you should focus your attention on the corrupt administration which led us down this path.

As for the bailout, I have my doubts. I am hesitant of hastily handing over the Bush Administration 700 billion dollars, adding to the whopping $9,898,738,907,211.78 of debt this country already has. I am also hesitant to allow a former CEO of Goldman Sachs to have so much input, when more likely than not, there’s a conflict of interest (buddies on Wall Street?). But if the choice is inaction, then what? Do we simply let the whole system collapse and enter the second Great Depression, creating a worldwide domino effect? Must everything collapse so we can start ‘fresh’ and rid the system of greedy businessmen and politicians?

Either way, the outlook looks gloomy. Perhaps Americans should have focused on electing a president with the intellectual capacity to keep America running smoothly rather than the man they’d ‘like to have a beer with.’