What If We Lose The Wall Street Bailout Bet?

The bailout plan suffered its first defeat, which stunned even the legislators, who voted against it. But it's far from over. The fear-mongering has intensified, as President takes to the airwaves, with supporting cast in the news media and many other parts. The two presidential candidates are fully on board now.

Yet the $700 billion question remains, and no one seems interested in addressing that all-important question: What if the government bailout of Wall Street fails? What if the Treasury Secretary's plan does not work? What if we spend $700 billion and come out empty?

Good question. Yeah, what if it doesn't work, like other government plans and promises that did not pane out exactly as America was told? Do we have to name some great government ideas and plans that have proven to be costlier than the good intentions that sparked them? OK, I'll briefly mention three failed or failing plans/promises.

(1) Welfare. It helped destroy the black family by replacing Dad with Uncle Sam; today 70% of black children are born to single parents, usually single mothers. Welfare made teenage pregnancies attractive by paying young mothers for every new baby they delivered. Then, after the damage had been done, the program had to be changed From Welfare To Work.

(2) Social Security. It's as good as broke. First, Uncle Sam robbed the Social Security Lock Box. Since then, the government has been borrowing money from younger workers to send monthly checks to current retirees. In the coming years, government will either have to jack up taxes, or raise the retirement age...again, if Social Security is to continue. Why? To make sure the vast majority of Social Security recipients die before they can draw much of what they paid in. Neat scheme by generous Uncle Sam. To put it mildly, if the Social Security scheme by the US Government had been perpetrated by any person or group, that individual or group would be serving time in maximum prison somewhere.

(3) Operation Iraqi Freedom. Instead of "It will cost between $50 billion and $60 billion," we have already spent around $600 billion, and we're now spending $10 billion every month, with no end in sight. Instead of lasting a few months, the operation has taken more than 5 years already. After our president's "Mission Accomplished" photo opp, more lives have been sacrificed in the war than before. And when the whole thing was headed for the greatest military disgrace in American history, Vietnam notwithstanding, the Surge Tactic was employed (Thanks, Senator McCain), which may have saved the day, but have prolonged the war. Oh, and those WMDs? Well, who's still looking for them?

The Wall Street Bailout Plan -- they are changing the language to "Rescue Plan" or "Rescue Package", or is it "Rescue Mission", what about "Search and Rescue" -- demands our unwavering trust in government, particularly in ONE person: Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson. What sense does it make to concentrate all that power in the hand of one man, or even one agency of government. I said "all that power" because "money is power". So, if this Wall Street handout gets approved by Congress, Mr. Paulson will have in his two little hands the life and fate of the economy on which the economies of the world depend, with a price tag of $700 billion. Mr. Paulson will then become the Most Powerful Man On Earth, even if it be for just a fleeting moment.

Again, we ask, What if this plan fails? What is Plan B? Is there a Plan B? Is anyone in government even thinking of a Plan B? Isn't this plan and promise to save Wall Street going against the #1 investment advice of all time: "Never put all your eggs in one basket. Diversify"? To bet everything on the Bush-Paulson aka the McCain-Obama bailout plan is like putting all of our free market eggs in one basket. We can only wish, pray, and trust that the "basket" is woven with steel or something far superior material.

If past government plans and promises are any guide, then here is one outcome we can expect if or when the bailout fails. Mr. Paulson and the President, or their successors, will go to Congress and the American people with this tweak: "$700 billion was not enough to fix the problem. We need more money to make it work. Give us s'more."