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penfield"May you live in interesting times."
- Ancient Chinese Curse
Maybe it's just a self-serving headline, but The Washington Post reported on Sunday that the epicenter of financial power has shifted from New York City to Washington D.C. The gist of the article was how Wall Street titans suddenly have to downgrade from Cristal to Dom Perignon.
Ostensibly, Washington D.C. has always been the seat of national power, with presidents, congressmen and justices plying the law to their will. But New York City has always been the tail that wagged the dog. As the epicenter of finance, commerce and attitude, New York City is quite metaphorically the grease in our political machinery.
As such, it has inspired some measure of envy in other American cities. Boston is the austere and brainy older sister who resents New York's gaudy, new-school success (and thinks she is kind of a slut). Philadelphia is the scrappy, down-to-earth sibling who sees through New York's self-satisfied pretenses (and thinks she is a little gay). Chicago is the younger sibling who looks up to New York as a role model (but thinks she is getting a bit old and uncool). Los Angeles is the distant cousin who ran away to the circus and works as a New York impersonator.
And D.C. is the parent, setting most of the rules of the house and holding the purse strings, though her children end up doing whatever they want, anyway. And nobody gets away with more than New York.
This month, though, New York got into some big trouble. They were stupid and irresponsible and crashed the family car into the Chinese embassy. Now they're asking Mom for bail money. Of course, Mom feels a little guilty herself, because she failed to establish rules and discipline for her children. And Mom knows that if she doesn't bail out New York, the whole family is going to fall apart.
I'll end the metaphor there, because this much is apparent: Washington D.C. has to help bail out the financial markets. The challenges will be:
(1) To provide relief without indulging bad behavior,
(2) To establish discipline without being punitive,
(3) To institute oversight without smothering,
(4) To rehabilitate the macroeconomy without sacrificing the microeconomy (and vice-versa), and
(5) To project confidence without diminishing the significance of the problem.
I personally don't know whether the $700 billion package -- rejected by the House of Representatives today -- is the silver bullet that will kill the bear market. But because the bill has been crafted through thorough compromise and because I trust Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson as a custodian, I think this legislation may be the best weapon at our disposal. And you know what they say about the bear: sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes it eats you.
Perhaps this is the right time for Washington D.C. to take a little more control over our nation. You might even say it is the perfect time -- considering that we have the opportunity to select our government in a little more than a month. If there's one lesson I've learned that is applicable to any situation at any time, it is this: always listen to your mother.
Much of my day today was spent watching C-SPAN, and I saw things I never thought I would see: House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer praising Minority Whip Roy Blunt; House Minority Leader John Boehner shedding tears at the podium as he reluctantly threw his support behind the bill; 205 lawmakers putting principle ahead of politics. Unfortunately, I also saw things all too familiar: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi delivering a tone-deaf, bellicose speech to poison the House well; presidential candidates impulsively blaming each other; resolute ideological gridlock.
I admit, I felt a certain thrill watching history unfold on television as part of my job, then reporting it to my organization's constituents. I feel privileged to be one of the many satellites orbiting the capitol building. I enjoy being so close to the new epicenter of power. But as a nation, we're in a bad place right now. It may get worse before it gets better.
There's only so much you and I can do. But one of those things is so incredibly important that I have to remind you to do it, now, no matter how obvious:
Vote. November 4, 2008.
- Ancient Chinese Curse
Maybe it's just a self-serving headline, but The Washington Post reported on Sunday that the epicenter of financial power has shifted from New York City to Washington D.C. The gist of the article was how Wall Street titans suddenly have to downgrade from Cristal to Dom Perignon.
Ostensibly, Washington D.C. has always been the seat of national power, with presidents, congressmen and justices plying the law to their will. But New York City has always been the tail that wagged the dog. As the epicenter of finance, commerce and attitude, New York City is quite metaphorically the grease in our political machinery.
As such, it has inspired some measure of envy in other American cities. Boston is the austere and brainy older sister who resents New York's gaudy, new-school success (and thinks she is kind of a slut). Philadelphia is the scrappy, down-to-earth sibling who sees through New York's self-satisfied pretenses (and thinks she is a little gay). Chicago is the younger sibling who looks up to New York as a role model (but thinks she is getting a bit old and uncool). Los Angeles is the distant cousin who ran away to the circus and works as a New York impersonator.
And D.C. is the parent, setting most of the rules of the house and holding the purse strings, though her children end up doing whatever they want, anyway. And nobody gets away with more than New York.
This month, though, New York got into some big trouble. They were stupid and irresponsible and crashed the family car into the Chinese embassy. Now they're asking Mom for bail money. Of course, Mom feels a little guilty herself, because she failed to establish rules and discipline for her children. And Mom knows that if she doesn't bail out New York, the whole family is going to fall apart.
I'll end the metaphor there, because this much is apparent: Washington D.C. has to help bail out the financial markets. The challenges will be:
(1) To provide relief without indulging bad behavior,
(2) To establish discipline without being punitive,
(3) To institute oversight without smothering,
(4) To rehabilitate the macroeconomy without sacrificing the microeconomy (and vice-versa), and
(5) To project confidence without diminishing the significance of the problem.
I personally don't know whether the $700 billion package -- rejected by the House of Representatives today -- is the silver bullet that will kill the bear market. But because the bill has been crafted through thorough compromise and because I trust Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson as a custodian, I think this legislation may be the best weapon at our disposal. And you know what they say about the bear: sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes it eats you.
Perhaps this is the right time for Washington D.C. to take a little more control over our nation. You might even say it is the perfect time -- considering that we have the opportunity to select our government in a little more than a month. If there's one lesson I've learned that is applicable to any situation at any time, it is this: always listen to your mother.
Much of my day today was spent watching C-SPAN, and I saw things I never thought I would see: House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer praising Minority Whip Roy Blunt; House Minority Leader John Boehner shedding tears at the podium as he reluctantly threw his support behind the bill; 205 lawmakers putting principle ahead of politics. Unfortunately, I also saw things all too familiar: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi delivering a tone-deaf, bellicose speech to poison the House well; presidential candidates impulsively blaming each other; resolute ideological gridlock.
I admit, I felt a certain thrill watching history unfold on television as part of my job, then reporting it to my organization's constituents. I feel privileged to be one of the many satellites orbiting the capitol building. I enjoy being so close to the new epicenter of power. But as a nation, we're in a bad place right now. It may get worse before it gets better.
There's only so much you and I can do. But one of those things is so incredibly important that I have to remind you to do it, now, no matter how obvious:
Vote. November 4, 2008.
Booooooo-ring
Date: 2008-10-01 12:47 am (UTC)-GDM
Re: Booooooo-ring
Date: 2008-10-01 02:59 am (UTC)