Yesterday, we were told by the politicians who created the country’s current financial mess if they weren’t given $700 BILLION to fix their mess there would be financial Armageddon in American and around the world.

The media breathlessly reported that the Dow Jones average plummeted by 777 points.  That’s the single biggest point drop in the history of the Dow!  So.

What’s it mean?

The 777 point drop was a loss of 6.98%.

On October 19, 1987 the market lost 22.61%.

On October 26, 1987 the market lost another 8.04%.

In one week the market lost over 30%.

I don’t recall hearing about a financial Armageddon.

On October 27, 1997, the Dow dropped by 7.18%.

On September 17, 2001 the Dow dropped by 7.13%.

Apparently, we, as country, weathered those earlier downturns in the stock market without the collapse of civilization as we know it.

As 9:15 AM, the Dow has climbed over 250 points.  That’s a 2.6% gain.  So far, in two days the Dow has suffered a net of less than 5%.

More info needed

The sky may fall one day, but we need more evidence from our public officials before we agree to give them $700 BILLION to implement some Rube Goldberg bailout plan.

We don’t need to be told that we are too dumb to understand the Rube Goldberg bailout.  We need politicians who are smart enough to explain it to us. We are their bosses!

Have you ever told your boss that you have made a mess of his business; that he’s not smart enough to understand the problem,  but you can fix it if we will just give you more money.  If you had that kind of nerve, what was the result?

A proposal

We also need a plan that holds those who created the problem responsible.  That includes those in the White House and Congress.

Include in the next bailout plan a provision that until we see the long term results of the plan, the pay of the President, his advisors and Congress is suspended.

I wonder what the outcome of the vote will be in Congress if the Congressmen actually have something at stake.

C.B.