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June 21st, 2012
07:23 PM ET
Markets plunge: We need Congress to act. Now.
OutFront tonight: the plunge.
The Dow slid 251 points today. It was the second-worst day so far this year.
The reason? People are afraid. They're scared of things spiraling even further out of control in Europe. They're scared of the economic recovery here at home grinding to a painful, painful halt.
But ultimately, they're afraid that Congress is too deadlocked to ever do anything about it. An unlike FDR said, there is more to fear than fear itself. The credit agency Moody's downgraded the credit of America's five biggest banks today specifically because of the uncertainty in the global economy right now, just the first of many real world consequences that will emerge if the fear is allowed to grow unchecked.
Congress must act, and soon.
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Here we go again with capital destruction! As much as I agree with the herd that Congress's inaction on economic issues is to blame, the financial sector has to look no further than their own mirrors to see the support behind this inaction. Until the united voice of Wall Street reaches the ears of Congress, the representatives there asume that corporations will always want lower taxes at the expense of fiscal stability and prefer the status quo to any progressive growth profile. Jamie Dimon did point this out but did not specify-and that lack of specificity Congress intrepreted as a reason for maintaining their absolute positions. Until a force equal, or superior, to the risk inherent in a politican changing his (her) position is brought upon these dolts, nothing will ever change. That impetus MUST come from the rational wealthy who realize that the only real solution to the myraid problems confronting this country is GROWTH. Hopefully they will get around to this before all the capital reinforcement that the Fed has supplied is dissipated. It's really up to the wealthy to look out for their own interests with a passion similar to the way progressives look after the poor. If the market tanks it will be as much "the Banks" fault as Congress. This is a republic as much as a democracy, after all...
Stocks are falling because they are overpriced, not because of congressional inaction.
Not to be overly cynical, but I'm pretty sure this *IS* the Congressional majority's plan, if the debt ceiling debacle & not so Supercommittee were any indication.
It has been well reported that we have a do nothing Congress. President Obama blames Congress for dragging their feet on important measures that would strengthen the economy. I frame this issue to make my point. I have yet to see a report making the correlation between the fractured relationship of a highly partisan Congress and the President of the United States as it would relate to Mitt Romney if he were elected President.
I would like to see a report or commentator asks Romney or one of his political team members how he would deal with the do nothing Congress, because I don’t see any indication that Congress will work because the President is replaced. He has been campaigning off of the presumption that if he is elected, Congress will magically be fixed. I find that hard to believe.