The $700 B Question

Something is rotten in DC, but who is going to pass a bill to clean up that mess? That is the $700B question.

I think we know by now, after having a week of erratic Wall Street performance, compounded by today’s activity of the Markets in the EU, Asia and US, that the bailout bill did not save Main Street and stabilize markets. The Bailout Bill, from page A13 of the NYT today, looks like it was primarily abused by our elected officials and gave them a last-minute opportunity to include earmarks. President Bush should have thrown some Texas BBQ sauce on and it and thrown it over a pit to roast.

Our overly-stressed, financially-strapped, medical community now has an added obligation to treat the mentally ill with equal care as the physically ill. Depression, Anxiety, Eating Disorder? Go to the emergency room. Go to your physician. Don’t worry, insurance will cover it and physicians and health care providers do not have a choice. I guess physicians aren’t overly burdened with their current, mandated, patient load already…so why not throw in some more people that are, well, depressed! Now, I am uncertain as to the qualification of depression, but in the era of Prozac, the overly prescribed and diagnosed diagnosis of depression is not, necessarily, scientific or exact.

This Mental Parity Bill also requires a no limit stay in hospitals. So, a person that is depressed can stay in the hospital for an equal amount of time as say, a person with cancer, or a woman that has just had a c-section. Businesses that are larger than 50 employees will have to overhaul their insurance policies and are at risk of employees taking advantage of this bill-- which would reduce productivity and profits for these small companies and add extra costs to their bottom line. The amount of paperwork, increased premium expense, crowding at our emergency rooms, impact on availability of hospital staff and supplies is for certain—but by how much?

That is the question that needs to be asked. That is the question that needs to be answered by the Senators that pushed this piece of pork into the Economic Bailout bill. Jim Ramstad (R) and Patrick J. Kennedy (D) led the fight. In 1981, Jim woke up in a jail cell after an alcoholic black out and in 2006, Patrick drank too much and crashed his car on Capitol Hill. Now see, if Joe Public drank too much and crashed his car, well, he wouldn’t be working in Congress anymore to sign a bill into law that gives him an excuse for his abuse. No, Joe Public would be attending AA classes or sitting in a jail cell or working overtime to pay off his DUI lawyer.

This bill’s passing was declared as a result of “12 years of passionate advocacy of the relatives and friends of people with mental illness and addiction disorders.” 12 years? Our elected representatives could not wait for a month, 6 months, or even12 months, to allow chaos to subside within our economy and reason to return to OUR government?

This bill is also described as “ a milestone in the quest for civil rights, an effort to end insurance discrimination and to reduce the stigma of mental illness.” I am sorry, but I thought that this Bailout bill was to stabilize our markets in order to avoid a recession. I did not realize that our economy would be more stable if we included and introduced “bandages” for civil rights and discrimination.

This Mental Parity bill is a perfect example of government forcing policy onto small businesses, professionals, and the public without any regard to the additional financial burden placed on these individuals and businesses. What happens when costs of doing business increase? Prices increase. Premiums increase. Businesses go out of business. This Mental Parity bill is another example of larger government and government mandates on the private sector. We, excuse me, Congress, has enacted legislation that is costly to the Healthcare system and the taxpayers at a time when us taxpayers just swallowed a $700B pill.

It is with absolute incredulity that our Senators could, at a time of financial crisis, use this vulnerable and fearful time, for their own self -interests. It is with absolute incredulity that policy, a BILLION more dollars of “policy” not related to this bailout, was included. What an absolutely blatant abuse of power. What an absolute abuse of our political system. What an absolute abuse of Joe Public. Maybe I will check in to my local hospital. I feel abused and I am depressed.

“Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely”

I am Miss Tory, and I approve of this message.

Congress needs to sober up and get off the train.

"Riding that train - high on cocaine. Casey Jones you better watch your speed."

These words by Robert Hunter, made famous by [the] Grateful Dead have been ringing in my head for weeks as I struggle to understand how Congress lost it's way. Rather than eying the tracks for trouble, they've jumped on board and driven it right down our throats.

There was a time in our nation's history when duties of the US Congress were clearly defined and limited. Ditto for the executive branch. But decades of action - completely unimagined by the framers of the constitution - have built on the precedence of previous and ill-gotten entitlements to power.

It seems that every time the idea pops up that "Somebody ought to ..." the US Congress or President steps in and assumes control - whether it's appropriate or not. Now it seems every action they take is geared to "save" us from their snowballing failures.

So what is Congress supposed to do? Protect us. Not "save" us, but protect us.

Protect us from countries who want to destroy us. Protect us from hurting each other by defining boundaries of acceptable behavior. Protect us by providing oversight and wisdom in complex situations that trickle down to the general population.

Instead, Congress has been indulging us like the parent of a teenager with a princess complex. Anything you want, honey. Crash your car? We'll get you a new one. Credit cards maxed? We'll pay your balance. Just love us in return.

The princess gets what she wants without sacrifice or consequence. Sound planning and lessons in sustainability are replaced with easy outs and instant gratification. When she gets into trouble, she bats her eyelashes and someone comes to her rescue.

The story ends with the princess divorced and over-forty, decorated in worn-out Jimmy Chu pumps and a blanket of debt. No inheritance will bail her out - the money was spent it in her teenage years.

Congress needs to stop indulging the princess. Teach her the hard, uncomfortable lessons that prepare her to interact with the world. Cut up her credit cards. Stop saving her from the consequences she's earned.

Congress has been drunk on the affections gained by enabling the princess - which naturally will erode from gratitude into a sense of entitlement. Now that those affections are gone (a 10% approval rating for Congress should be suitable proof) Congress needs to deliver some tough love.

The bottom line: Congress has no right or duty to buy up private paper. The market will adjust dramatically, but we will recover. And just like a grumbling teenager who just heard "no" from her parents for the first time - we'll get dramatic and freak out. But that's what needs to happen if we're going to be allowed to grow up.