Politics of Fear

As you probably know, congressional leadership has been working with the president’s office to devise an “economic bailout plan” needed to prevent a massive meltdown of the US economy.  A deal has been reached but many members of congress are not happy.

Even a republican is labeling the deal reached  as the same politics of fear we saw after 9//11/01 forward!

Rep. Ted Poe (R- Texas) rose to compare the administration’s urgings to rush a bailout plan to the pressure exerted on Congress to act after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

“This is the same politics of fear we’re hearing from the financial fat cats on Wall Street,” Poe said. “Backroom deals trouble me because they usually turn out to be bad deals for America.”

That was followed up by Dennis Kucinich from Ohio, a liberal democrat, with:

The $700-billion bailout is driven by fear, not fact.”

Bleeding Heart Liberals

Something does not smell right about this to me.  I want to help the workers of the fallen firms but can’t we do that by helping the workers and not helping the policy makers that caused the problems in the first place?  I don’t want to see people loose their homes and their savings, my heart bleeds for them and I don’t mind at all being called a bleeding heart liberal.  I don’t understand how the conservatives who usually promote themselves as having a lock on Christian values have managed to label compassion in a condescending way. I have compassion and I am proud of my “bleeding heart.”  i hope my heart never becomes so hardened.

At least one banker has questioned how come this is the only  solution being offered?  He went on to say there should be several options being considered.  Another congressman expressed concerns about how many deals are being made in privacy by the leadership and then they are told to support it.  He wanted to know where the hearings and other fact finding endeavors are.  He believes that the current way of doing things is dangerous.

As an expat living in the philippines, these issues have immediate impact on me.  If the dollar is weak, my spending power is immediately affected.  When I first arrived the dollar was at its lowest point in about 10 years in comparison to the Philippine peso.  It has now risen to a position that reflects a more historical average.  As a result, I’ve had about a $200 a month increase in my income in terms of US money.  In terms of the Philippine Peso, the increase is about 10,000p a month.  I need to disclose that I’ve only eyeballed the numbers.  I have not initiated an in depth study.

A week or so ago the dollar rose to over 47 Philippine peso, it then took a steep nose dive down to just over 46 peso.  But the trend since then has been upward.  There was likely some profit taking by investors when the dollar reached its peak and fell off.  The dollar has continued to gradually rise against the Philippine peso.  The latest closing price was 47.0321.  That is a pretty solid increase as the previous closing price was around 46.4.  I hope the economic bailout package isn’t the cause for that increase, if it is, I doubt it will last.

Source: Los Angeles Times

Tagged with: Economic Crisis 2008 • US Politics

Filed under: Expat Living In The Philippines • US Politics

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