Senate Passes the Bailout Bill

In the wee hours of the morning last night the Senate decided to pass the 700 billion dollar "bailout" bill in order to help free up the credit markets worldwide.  The once very straightforward bill, consisting of less than 10 pages has now grown to an astronomical level of over 400.  The bill has been "sweetened" with everything from an increase in FDIC insurance levels, from $100,000 to $250,000, to a mental health bill amongst others.  Many of the leaders of both parties are hoping that these sweeteners will help get the bill passed quickly, as we are seeing that it is very much needed, especially in the credit markets.  

Through the last week we have seen WaMu and Wachovia both go down in the United States as well as multiple overseas banks become "nationalized" meaning that they are now owned by the government.  

I am a free market economist and most of the time I am totally and completely against any government interaction with the market.  This however is needed.  The stimulus package will not help line the pockets of Wall Street executives, the point of this is to help lending agencies have enough cash to keep their lines of credit active to the hundreds of thousands of small businesses that line our countries "Main Streets".  

I really hope that House is able to vote this bill into law.  It is very needed, and I even might think that Dubyahhh might be right when he said that if it is not passed it could halt commerce and create a domino effect of small business closures.  

Remember...

McCain-Palin 2008, if not for anything else...do it for the economy