Curious

Has anyone else noticed?

On Monday, when the House began looking at the first bailout bill, the stock market dropped 777 points. On Tuesday, after it failed, the market rallied. On Wednesday, the market was only 20 points off, which, in the market, is not unusual. Now on Thursday, when the House is looking at the second bailout bill, the market dropped another 348 points.

Call me crazy, but it looks like investors, themselves, do not want any bailout bill. So, what's going on here?

The pundits would have us believe the downturn on Monday was caused by the economy. But that would not explain the downturn today. And while it is possible that it is coincidence, it looks to me like it is not the economy that brought on these downturns - it was the fact that the proposed solution - our fate - is in the hands of an incompetent House. After all, the economy turned sour about 2 weeks ago. Yet, the market did not take a dive UNTIL the House began working on a "solution". Think about this: investors, by necessity, must make choices based on what WILL happen, not what HAS happened. They are gamblers by nature. When the market tanks, it is because investors see a problem with tomorrow, not with yesterday. The whole idea of investing is to try and guess the future.

So, when the market tanked, twice, and did so just prior to a House vote on a bailout bill, that tells you the tanking was caused by the bailout bill, and not the economy.

I still believe that we, the people would be better served if our lawmakers would drop the partisan BS and offer a REAL solution, like the one put forth by Gingrich, Forbes and, if I may say so, the solution I suggested here, even before the bailout bill was first proposed.

It just strikes me that if the investors, themselves, don't like this bailout idea, and its their money that is at risk, then perhaps we should take notice, and take a second look.

But that will never happen - the House is far too partisan. Pelosi even insulted all Republicans at a time when she should have tried embracing them, for a bipartisan effort. Frankly, Pelosi, Reid, Frank and the others who control Congress have no intention of offering any plan that might make the people happy, as it would then be attributed to a success of the "Bush Administration". And this close to an election, they simply cannot allow the Republicans to get credit for anything. They would rather harm themselves - and America - than help the Republicans, or do anything that might make the administration look good. That kind of partisanship is dangerous and unpatriotic.

Sadly, that is the state of our leadership. And it will remain that way until we, the people, stand up, and vote those clowns out of office. Hard-core partisans of either party have GOT to go! We need people who care more about the country than they do about any party. Country first, party second.

As most of you know, I am no fan of Susan Collins - she is more like a Democrat in Republican clothing. But I have watched Tom Allen closely, and he is so far to the left that he makes Kennedy look like a Republican. So, I will have to vote for Collins this time - at least she has shown the ability to cross the aisle, when she feels it necessary. Allen has shown he would never even consider that. He is just another partisan hack - and we already have far too many of those in Congress.

TODAY'S SHIRT: Pissin' off the whole planet, one person at a time

I can relate to that...