Get it done already
Posted by John McHale
Watching the political shows this morning all I saw was the blame game and partisan bickering from Congress for why they failed to pass the economic recovery package for bailing out Wall Street.
This is getting ridiculous.
I refer to both parties. They claim lack of leadership from President Bush and the Wall Street elite caused the current crisis, but their behavior demonstrates they lack the responsibility or wisdom to fill that alleged gap.
A colleague of mine made an interesting point this morning when he said if this happened a year ago and not a month before an election, it probably would've passed already. It makes one wonder if the esteemed members of Congress are voting based on what will get them re-elected or what is best for the country.
Based on that thought I find it ironic the one "person" not ever running for office again is the only who has offered a solution -- President Bush. His proposed $700 billion bailout even goes against the small government mindset of his party. He and his administration may be at fault for some of this, but give them credit for risking political fallout to fix it.
President Bush's approval numbers remain low, but as a Wall Street Journal editorial put it today: "Congress is living up to its 10 percent approval rating."
Anyway, yesterday's stock market nose dive affected everyone including defense market giants. For example Boeing was down $2.85 a share, closing at $55.47; Raytheon was down $2.36, closing at $53.70; Northrop Grumman was down $1.41; closing at $61.59; and General Dynamics was down $3.52, closing at $71.40.
I don't know that we are technically in an economic recession, but it's hard to see us avoiding it.
That said I believe a recession or depression is much more personal. I'm reminded of Ronald Reagan's line when running against Jimmy Carter: "a recession is when your neighbor loses his job, a depression is when you lose your job, and a recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his."
Yeah, it was a campaign slap against Carter, but the other part is very true. Quite a few of my friends are already in their own personal economic depression and this week only made it worse.
So get it done Congress.
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
