When Washington Is Not Taken Seriously

Bob Schieffer Says Skeptical Americans Tuned Out Financial Alarm Calls From Leaders Used To Crying "Wolf"

(CBS)  Weekly commentary by CBS Evening News chief Washington correspondent and Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer.

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Well, it was some week. Washington finally did something.

The right thing? I hope so. Frankly, I don't have the expertise to know for sure.

What I did conclude was that the problem was so serious, some action was required.

Any time that I hear national leaders and experts from Nancy Pelosi on the left to George Bush on the right to Warren Buffett in between agreeing that the country is facing a financial meltdown, maybe the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, I take it that something has gone badly wrong and must be fixed.

Yet when Congress first confronted the issue early in the week and decided to do nothing, the vote told us that beyond Washington many Americans just didn't see it that way.

The president, Democratic leaders, the two presidential candidates all called for immediate action. Yet some members of Congress told me their phone calls and e-mails were running 90-to-1 against the rescue plan.

The government has cried "Wolf!" so often, the Congress has wallowed so long in mean partisanship, our politics has been dumbed down so low, that many Americans no longer take seriously anything our leaders say.

A dire warning from the president is taken as just more political blather. And the congressional posturing left no doubt why Congress' approval ratings are even lower than the president's

By the end of the week, Washington finally did something, but I found it hard to cheer.

When we have reached a point where fewer and fewer of us don't believe much of anything our leaders say, I find it not only sobering but almost frightening.

[idahovoter]

Do you think if no incumbents were returned to office after the election, would Congress get the hint?!

[samthetvcat]

pt 1

---"Don''t you people get it? It was a good old fashion bank robbery in reverse---The bankers and Washington bums robbed you the people and they are laughing all the way to the bank---or mansions, or yachts or penthouses or whatever. If you end up sleeping under a bridge, they will laugh even more!!!"---
Posted by linymo

ita . . . The bailout controversy was a power struggle not a policy argument, and Paulson''s fear tactics were an appeal to those who hold a position of responsibility towards society to not let ''armageddon'' happen.

Those of us who didn''t support the bailout weren''t prey to that vulnerability. And while I sympathize and understand that people in positions of power had an extra concern than the rest of us, I still think the way out of the chokehold of Paulson''s manipulations would have been by fighting back with merit.

[samthetvcat]

pt 2

Paulson''s got that same egomania as Bush that leads him to believe that he''s got more control over a situation than any one person ever does, and his ability to scope out an issue seems to be limited to the personal. The NYT did a quick article on his biography when he was named Treasurer and reported that he was cashing out his Goldman Sachs stock under a plan designed to encourage Wall St. to take Government positions - was that his motive or was it an attractive proposition because it allowed him to cash out early while the market was at its peak before it tanked?

The article also concluded that he was all about charity because he had set up a foundation in his name - wasn''t that also a tax shelter? The bailout was said to be necessary for America - isn''t the prime recipient is career employer Goldman Sachs? Didn''t he just NOT entertain bailout plans whose prime recipient would have been anybody else?

I do think both Paulson and Bush sincerely think they''re doing the right thing, and same with Congress and some members of the media that plug their ideas hard - but I just don''t think people having more respect for the voices of these ''leaders'' based on the decision-making they''re demonstrating is warranted at all . . . just the opposite . . .

[noloyalisti]

Propping up the economy with credit (aka smoke and mirrors), a right wing Republican and conservative Ponzi scheme couldn''t work forever.

[amrt5016]

I was, and remain, completely in he dark about this bailout. I strongly suspect our leaders are little more sure of what they just did. I do know one thing however - us being out hundreds of billions of dollars and going through a financial meltdown is far worse than just getting the meltdown over with. The ironic thing is that we''''ll never know unless the worst happens. If the markets stabilize and nothing horrific happens the pols will pat themselves on the back for their wise decision and yet we''''ll never know if the same wouldn''''t have happened if they didn''''t pass this bailout. Of course if things go to he!! in a handbasket they''''ll just tell us how much worse it would have been without the bailout. It''''s maddening!!
Posted by rational_1 at 09:44 AM : Oct 06, 2008

I share your sense of befuddlement and skepticism. However, the international reaction to our financial mess, in Europe, Asia, Russia and South America, seems to in line with the true severity of the situation we are told about. If there''s a rat in Denmark, you''d think someone whould have sniffed it.

[noloyalisti]

Don''t trust anyone like Bush or another Neo Con CEO if they say they are doing something to help you. They do not represent us.

This may be part of the Republican fascist plan to steal the election as they have done twice already. The CONS will lose most of Clngress but if they can get their pResidential puppet in, they can retain some power and continue onto fascist rule here.

Be ready to act this time when they steal it. Millions in the streets, shut it down.

[aloop-2009]

This money will be blown before the end of the year and Congress will be back asking for more. I urge all citizens not to vote for any incumbent. We need to clean house. Throw da bums out.

Member
VOICE ( Vote Out Incumbents Curb Excesses)

[horse3farm]

Bob...Americans were running against the bailout 90-1 because it involves our money...didn''t have anything to do with whether or not we believed Washington.

George W. Bush has been the poster child for OCD in Washington,DC. I guess that would make it DCOCD. He has had an extreme view on a great many topics, exercising his right of veto to "save" us from our "follies." From "saddam definitely undeniably has wmds" and "they will welcome us as liberators" to "mission accomplished," "good job, brownie," "our economy is robust," "everyone will give up their present insurance and take the government plan," he as cried, if not "wolf" at least "trust me." We can only respond to the Pavlovian bells and whistles so often before their cacaphony melds into the background noise and the "mad scientist" exclaims success, for that is what he intended all along!

[linymo]

Don''t you people get it? It was a good old fashion bank robbery in reverse---The bankers and Washington bums robbed you the people and they are laughing all the way to the bank---or mansions, or yachts or penthouses or whatever. If you end up sleeping under a bridge, they will laugh even more!!!