Steven Pearlstein lays it all out in the Washington Post as simply and clearly as I’ve seen yet.Beldar comments,
When you get two-thirds of the way through it, you’ll understand why some things that are getting lots of discussion are not, in fact, big problems, and you’ll also understand in at least general terms what actually is the big problem, how very big indeed it is, and why addressing it somehow is so very urgent. . . .I’m . . . convinced that this is one of those situations where as a nation, we simply cannot allow the quest for the perfect to remain an implacable obstacle to the acceptance of the good, or even the probably mostly okay. On these issues, ninety-nine point something percent of us, including our national leaders, are dilettantes at best. And this is one of those situations in which, in the words of that brilliant economist George S. Patton, “A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.”
Hugh Hewitt adds, in his “Memo To House Republicans,”
Here’s a shocker: No one likes the risks involved in Paulson 2.0 or the precedent of using so much public money to rescue reckless bankers, both private and semi-private.But there is a very good chance that (1) it will actually make money for the Treasury and (2) without it the financial crisis will spread and the small businesses of America and the people who own and staff them will be deeply injured. These businesses are the backbone of the economy, and they are in danger. This isn’t just a bailout of Wall Street; it is a breakwall for Main Street. . . .You cannot stand by and watch people’s business and savings hemorrhage and expect them to reward you for your purity of purpose and incompetence of execution.