Finger Pointing

There is more than enough blame to go around during this 'correction' of our markets. But the people, by 2:1, place most of it on the Right:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- By a 2-to-1 ratio, Americans blame Republicans over Democrats for the financial crisis that has swept across the country the past few weeks, a new national poll suggests.

That may be contributing to better poll numbers for Sen. Barack Obama against Sen. John McCain in the race for the White House.

In a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey out Monday afternoon, 47 percent of registered voters questioned said Republicans are more responsible for the problems currently facing financial institutions and the stock market; only 24 percent said Democrats are more responsible.

Personally, I don't think that is fair. Members of both sides of the aisle scuttled away opportunities to catch the economy before it went into complete and total free fall. Because of those decisions the country will need to take its lumps.

One thing we do know, is tax gifts to the rich don't work during troubled times, especially during times of war. They may be an effective strategy for short term reinvestment into capital in peace time if a recession is looming, but that isn't what happened with the Bush Gifts. The money was invested into the market to enhance personal wealth, creating an over valued market that has now virtually collapsed. The money that was suppose to be re-invested in the people was reinvested in self, and now everyone is losing.

So lets be clear, there is plenty of blame to go around, and regardless of what we think, the electorate gets to decide A) Who is responsible, and B) who they want to fix it!

Flash

UPDATE: A Senatorial candidate actually behaving . . Senatorial!!

Franken announced that he would only support a bailout plan if it adhered to these principles:

1. No blank check. “Not one dime should go to this bailout without independent oversight, real accountability, and complete transparency.”

2. Taxpayers get a stake. “If we’re footing the bill for keeping these companies afloat, taxpayers should get an equity stake so that we can share in the benefits when and if they get back on their feet.”

3. No golden parachutes. “In the public sector, there’s no such thing as a golden parachute. And if we’re going to sacrifice $2,000 for every Minnesota taxpayer to bail out these companies, these executives are going to learn about sacrifice, too. So, all excessive compensation, bonuses, and severance agreements are hereby cancelled.”

4. Bring back oversight. “We need to restore the regulatory framework dismantled with George W. Bush in the White House and Norm Coleman in the Senate so that this doesn’t happen again.”

5. Help homeowners. “The foreclosure crisis caused this problem, and we still haven’t taken the steps I’ve been proposing for months to address it. We have to freeze foreclosures and allow bankruptcy judges to re-set mortgages on primary residences.”

6. Protect consumers. “I’m calling for a new Financial Products Safety Commission with similar duties and powers to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.”