The Wall Street Bailout -- the September Surprise?

For a long time during this Presidential campaign some progressives have speculated that, to put the Republican candidate over the top in the closing days, the Bush administration will use its control of the many tools of government to stage an "October Surprise." This Surprise was expected to consist of a military move, and several possibles were mentioned, though eventually only one mattered, and that was an air attack on Iran's nuclear establishments and on hundreds of its other utilities and facilities as well.

Now we have a big financial crisis, which started with a credit crunch in the banks and with mortgage loans going bad, and that accelerated sharply, with so many huge, financial machines suddenly bursting into flames that spread from one to another, like overloaded planes clustered tightly together on a tiny flight deck, that many suddenly saw another Great Depression looming right around the corner. And now I'm wondering if in that circumstance, GWBush and his people, especially including H. Paulson, his Treasury Secretary, who hasn't even been in that post that long, saw a golden opportunity to stage the long-feared Surprise, except moved up a few weeks.

They would use this crisis to give the strong impression that, rather than sitting back like lame ducks for sure, they would affect future American policy after all, hitting the American body in one of its most sensitive spots, second only to the racial one, and that is the area of the wallet and the purse. And as H. Paulson clearly represents those Money Changers whose actions control all big events, and who might even be one himself, the Surprise would bring happiness to the hearts of all Money Changers around the world. And they calculated that it would even have the effect of ensuring that a Republican, any Republican (J. McCain could not have been their candidate of choice -- he's not a team guy) is again in the Presidential seat.

The Surprise would work because though it would come almost totally at the expense of the Lesser Men, the Lesser Men would be relieved of the ability to have anything to say, so great would be their fear of the economy crashing, banks closing, jobs becoming non-existence, and some 21st century equivalent of selling apples on the corner becoming the norm. The plan would entail earmarking the huge sum of at least a trillion dollars that would come from the monies paid into the government primarily by the Lesser Men, and it would be given to the financial institutions in exchange for the bad debts that are bringing these companies so much embarrassment, under the shell game promise to the public that at some time in the future, suddenly these bad debts would become good debts. Meanwhile, the one person who will decide which of those bad "instruments" to buy and hold will enjoy total immunity from being sued, penalized, or in any other way having his judgment seriously questioned. In a nutshell the reckless and the greedy bankers who brought about all the worries would be let off the hook, while the non-reckless and the prudent would see their hard-earned dollars, which they would prefer to see going toward some lowering of the costs of health care and lower energy costs and improvements in the infrastructure, will now see it being passed into the Money Changers' hands in a classic case of throwing good money after bad.

And any Democrat, especially the one now running to be President, B. Obama, who would dare to say, "Wait a minute. Let's hold up. There's a lot here that needs to be looked at closely," will be accused with deadly affect of not caring about Americans having enough money to put bread on the table and feeding their children.

So, to that end, once again this morning, like a real estate agent selling a mountain top ski chalet in Florida, GW Bush is out in the news again, insisting that Congress should not bother to read the fine print but just hurry up and sign on the dotted line without changing a word and so do the non-partisan thing, which in Republican lingo means taking the Republican line and passing legislation as presented purely by Republicans. Because if you don't, Demos, his message unmistakably adds in so many unspoken but highly audible words, we will tell the electorate how you chose to try to bring on the next depression, and your man and your party will be toast for sure.