The nation has been saved. Or at least the economic part of it. Or so we’re told.
Our fearless leaders in Washington, D.C., have peered over the edge into the abyss and decided to bail.
That is they have come to an agreement on a $700 billion economic bailout plan.
I am still staggering under this number. For the life of me, I have no idea what exactly $700 billion looks like. And I think that’s part of the problem.
Somehow, when you start tossing around these kinds of numbers, you lose grip with reality.
When you’re standing beside your car at the gas station watching the numbers click past $40 to fill your tank, that’s real.
When you’re in the supermarket and have your hands on a box of cereal that’s approaching $5, that’s real.
When you decide against going out to dinner because you just don’t have the spare cash you used to be able to scrounge together each week after paying the bills, that’s a reality check.
But there’s nothing real about $700 billion. It’s all play money. Wall Street will be saved. The financial gurus whose decisions put us in this precarious position will walk away with their pockets lined with cash, seemingly oblivious to what they are leaving behind.
This morning President Bush will address the nation on the deal hammered out in Washington, D.C. He no doubt will hail the bipartisan effort to head off an “economic meltdown.”
That’s as opposed to what happens to your family budget every week.
Our fearless leaders in Washington, D.C., have peered over the edge into the abyss and decided to bail.
That is they have come to an agreement on a $700 billion economic bailout plan.
I am still staggering under this number. For the life of me, I have no idea what exactly $700 billion looks like. And I think that’s part of the problem.
Somehow, when you start tossing around these kinds of numbers, you lose grip with reality.
When you’re standing beside your car at the gas station watching the numbers click past $40 to fill your tank, that’s real.
When you’re in the supermarket and have your hands on a box of cereal that’s approaching $5, that’s real.
When you decide against going out to dinner because you just don’t have the spare cash you used to be able to scrounge together each week after paying the bills, that’s a reality check.
But there’s nothing real about $700 billion. It’s all play money. Wall Street will be saved. The financial gurus whose decisions put us in this precarious position will walk away with their pockets lined with cash, seemingly oblivious to what they are leaving behind.
This morning President Bush will address the nation on the deal hammered out in Washington, D.C. He no doubt will hail the bipartisan effort to head off an “economic meltdown.”
That’s as opposed to what happens to your family budget every week.
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