Massive Bail-Out Passes, Main Street Still Squeezed

While I was at work, the House debated the $700bn  Wall Street bail-out and voted to pass it.

The House on Friday passed a far-reaching and historic plan to bail out the nation’s financial system.

The vote for passage of the Senate-amended bill – 263 to 171 – was the result of strong lobbying on the part of the White House and other supporters of the bill all week, following the House defeat of a similar measure on Monday – a defeat that shocked the markets and congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle.

I’m dismayed that helping the people and helping Main Street is not a large consideration with our congress critters, but bailing-out gamblers trying to keep their profits high, and your costs higher takes precedence.

Bah!

Even though this massive bail-out has passed and is headed to Bush, will it help Main Street? Probably not very soon.

Though a financial rescue plan was passed Friday, credit still remained tighter than ever.

The House voted in favor of the Treasury’s $700 billion plan to buy up troubled assets from financial institutions. Those assets, mostly mortgage-related, have caused the credit markets to seize up.

The bill now goes to President Bush to sign into law.

But even with a rescue plan on the horizon that is designed to restore liquidity to the credit markets, banks still opted to hoard cash rather than lend to one another Friday.

That is not a good sign for Main Street, or you and me.