#1 · Sep 20, 2008 17:42 UTC
After all the previous debates this is what this election will be all about.
The 700 billion dollars rescue is only the start, it will end up multiples of that - more like 2 trillion.
Whoever becomes the next president will have no choice but to go cap in hand to China and the other sovereign funds for a bail out to repair the financial destruction from the Bush years.
The new president will risk being made the scapegoat, getting the blame pinned on them for selling the US to Commies and Arabs.
So winning this election is about being handed a poisoned chalice.
For Obama this election is only worth winning if he makes it absolutely and unambiguously clear where the blame lies for the current economic fiasco and what the solution will ultimately entail to clear up the mess - selling a portion of US interests to those who actually have money rather than debts.
He needs to pin the blame firmly and squarely on the wanton economic mismanagement of the Bush years, while supporting the measures being taken to shore things up and not destabilise them.
And if there is to be a presidential envoy to Chinese and Arab sovereign funds to ask (beg) for help - there would be no better figurehead for that ritual humiliation than the former president who presided over the mess - yours truly G.W. Bush.
This is the only way he can draw a line under the mistakes of the past administration's mismanagement and free himself up to act as a fresh pair of hands as president. If it risks losing the election as the message is unpalatable - so be it.
This is a crisis of confidence in the US Inc. and it is as much about a political meltdown as a financial one.
The first act in a solution is to change the CEO and board.
The second act is looking for new investors in US Inc., however unpalatable, beggars can't be choosers.
Duck Fuld of Lehman Brothers had an ego fit and refused to sell the bank to a Korean fund on a Friday, he went bust on a Monday.
That is not the sort of President you need in a crisis, if Lehmans had ousted Fuld earlier this year it would still be a going concern owned by Koreans.
This is capitalism - when you make mistakes you pay for them.
There is no socialist solution to this problem where you can put up the barricades and ignore the financial barbarians at the gate - you have to pay in ways that are painful and maybe humiliating or face ruin.
These are crazy times and all previous assumptions about the world are now null and void.
The 700 billion dollars rescue is only the start, it will end up multiples of that - more like 2 trillion.
Whoever becomes the next president will have no choice but to go cap in hand to China and the other sovereign funds for a bail out to repair the financial destruction from the Bush years.
The new president will risk being made the scapegoat, getting the blame pinned on them for selling the US to Commies and Arabs.
So winning this election is about being handed a poisoned chalice.
For Obama this election is only worth winning if he makes it absolutely and unambiguously clear where the blame lies for the current economic fiasco and what the solution will ultimately entail to clear up the mess - selling a portion of US interests to those who actually have money rather than debts.
He needs to pin the blame firmly and squarely on the wanton economic mismanagement of the Bush years, while supporting the measures being taken to shore things up and not destabilise them.
And if there is to be a presidential envoy to Chinese and Arab sovereign funds to ask (beg) for help - there would be no better figurehead for that ritual humiliation than the former president who presided over the mess - yours truly G.W. Bush.
This is the only way he can draw a line under the mistakes of the past administration's mismanagement and free himself up to act as a fresh pair of hands as president. If it risks losing the election as the message is unpalatable - so be it.
This is a crisis of confidence in the US Inc. and it is as much about a political meltdown as a financial one.
The first act in a solution is to change the CEO and board.
The second act is looking for new investors in US Inc., however unpalatable, beggars can't be choosers.
Duck Fuld of Lehman Brothers had an ego fit and refused to sell the bank to a Korean fund on a Friday, he went bust on a Monday.
That is not the sort of President you need in a crisis, if Lehmans had ousted Fuld earlier this year it would still be a going concern owned by Koreans.
This is capitalism - when you make mistakes you pay for them.
There is no socialist solution to this problem where you can put up the barricades and ignore the financial barbarians at the gate - you have to pay in ways that are painful and maybe humiliating or face ruin.
These are crazy times and all previous assumptions about the world are now null and void.
