Lekhni: They didn’t like the Speaker’s speech so they decided to punish the public? What kind of logic is that? Right now, I am more impressed with the Senate.

A giant sucking sound can be heard around Wall Street as the bailout bill is eventually passed.

Lekhni: Scriptwriter? Maybe you should try writing a movie based on this

Lekhni: No, I didn’t hear those. Today morning, NPR had some interviews with people – mixed bag, some were saying that they don’t want to risk a recession and unemployment rates rising to 8% etc, if no bailout, while others seemed to still harp on $700 billion being too large an amount.

There is a school of thought which says – fine, if people don’t want the bailout, they should face the consequences. That seems a little harsh

Lekhni: Hush, don’t blame the US public (aka Main Street)! They are completely above blame You will find scores of readers rising up and defending the public and telling you how Wall Street is the evil power behind this whole crisis

Let me state my ideological stance and my assumptions upfront so we don’t go round and round in the comments later. I am a centrist who like you. going by this post, supports government intervention when necessary. As a corollary I have been an inconsistent, if I may say so, opportunistic opposer of the free market ideology.

Now having stated that, I don’t understand why all and sundry are blaming the taxpayer about his/her opposition to the bail-out.

This is what we on the Main Street were told time and again to oppose (a bail out). We were brainwashed, (if that seems a tad too harsh, try propagandised) by Wall Street good Samaritans to do exactly this when government tried to interfere to salvage any business. To illustrate this better, let’s take the example of a country like India. We are still suffering from a socialist hangover. We are a country where a government almost fell because onions started costing Rs22 a kg in 1998. Do you think a bail-out of Financial Institutions would have been opposed in India? There is no way to say this without sounding condescending or highlighting the ignorance (ignorance of free market ideology, that is) of the Indian voter but he/she simply wouldn’t know and simply wouldn’t care where the taxpayer’s money is being directed. I am not saying this situation is good. Just giving an example to illustrate a point I am trying to make.

In contrast in this country you have a majority population that is center-right. This country has been built purportedly on free market ideology and the ideology has been sold, quite vigorously I might add, to the John Doe on Main Street by the John Dow’s on Wall Street. The John Dow’s have been hectoring the American populace about their misplaced sympathy for the flailing (alias failing) underdog in any business sector. They were ‘explaining’ capitalism to ‘folks’ out there so that these guys do not protest the mergers and acquisitions and the backroom deals the John Dows were making, supposedly on their behalf. These guys, who are now blaming the taxpayer’s ignorance and politician’s succumbing to their pressure were once, not so long ago, warning about the taxpayer’s ignorance and politician’s succumbing to pressure in an entirely opposite context. At the time had the affected workers from any industry located in States (as in Michigan, Ohio) represented by lawmakers demanded a bailout from the government to save their jobs, the ignorance of the voters and moral grandstanding of the politician concerned would have been panned and called things like a ‘moral hazard’, ‘socialism’. ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul,’ ‘four legs good two legs bad,’ etc.

Use taxpayer’s money to pay for our healthcare: “Run! The communists are taking over!”

Use taxpayer dollars to improve public education: “Have you ignoramuses ever heard of something called school vouchers.”

Congress should tax windfall profits of oil companies: “Please! Do we ever lend them money when the demand supply equation/gap is skewed against them? (P.S. We just fight wars in the Middle East to ‘correct’ the demand/supply gap using YOUR money.) And oh by the way: if the Oil companies are reaping profits, blame the governments and the lobbyists who facilitate this. This has nothing whatsoever to do with free market ideology.”

So in summation: if things go right, it is because the rich weren’t taxed and the markets were allowed to function ‘freely.’ But God forbid if the things go wrong, then the rich were taxed infinitely more compared to Ireland and it is government regulation/government oversight/ taxpayer ignorance/ socialist hangovers/ grandstanding politicians pandering to their lunatic and jealous constituency, union workers etc. to blame for our woes.

Wall Street promotes an atmosphere where all these things are deemed immoral. And now there is an expectation from these same people (American taxpayers) who have been fed this steady diet of free market ideology for years together to suddenly come around and allow further feeding of the fat cats on Wall Street from their own meager diet, that too with a condescending, “You fools! don’t you realise what will happen if you don’t share your wealth” message! They are, of course, supposed to gulp it down without any protest. If they do not, they they are the ones who are the culprits who bring upon their own ruin. The ones who cut the branch they are sitting on. Or as you so eloquently put it, ” cutting one?s nose to spite one?s face.”

You see inconsistencies in saving Bear Stearns and not Lehman but do not ever reflect on the inconsistency in not saving the free press/ auto majors/ airlines, which many people would deem even more important to proper functioning of their lives, democracy and economy than Wall Street machinations. I am not blaming you. Just pointing out that many of the taxpayers might have been passionate and equally agitated about inconsistencies and at the time none of the Wall Street types paid any heed to their misgivings. In light of this, what makes you (Wall Street) special that your lamentations and prognostications about doom and gloom should be taken at face value by these voters when your own cheering and betting their money on failed assets has earned them misery of a lifetime.

So let’s get this straight. You (Wall Street) blamed the politicians when things were going good about over’bearing’ regulations stopping the bullish markets from achieving their full potential. The politicians were supposedly doing this to pander to ignorant voters who did not understand the functioning of the market and wanted to reign in the fat cats because they were jealous of the earning of Wall Street without appreciation for what the Wall Street types were doing for them. But wait, when things go bad you still blame the politicians for pandering to voters who do not understand the functioning of the market and want to reign in the fat cats because they were jealous of the earning of Wall Street without appreciation what the Wall Street types were doing for them!

What did I miss here! How can the same set of people be blamed for the exact same things when the going is good and also when the going is bad? Oh well, I am just a John Doe. Only John Dow’s are supposed to understand the logic of the market!

Lekhni: Substitute “Wall Street” with “conservative ideology” and I agee with you. Conservatives are all about less regulation and government intervention, liberals are about more. I agree that it is ironical that a conservative government now has to behave in a quasi-socialist manner. Yes, that’s because there is no other option if you want to stop the wholesale panic.

But why don’t the people in charge explain to the people why a bailout is necessary, instead of playing games

Was this meant for those on the Wall St.?

Lekhni: Wall Street too, but also Main Street and the lawmakers

Lekhni: I agree And the reason why the House didn’t pass the bill? They didn’t like someone’s speech

I’ve read a few economists’ blogs, and their analogies seem to involve (entirely unoriginally) burning houses and sprinkler systems. You may be doing better