228 Congresspeople Just Don't Understand
I really don't get it. The House not voting for the bailout is like being in favor of a second Great Depression. Someone call Sen. John McCain; surely he remembers how bad the Depression was (I promise, it'll be the only easy "McCain is old" I make this post).
Looking into the issue, there was clearly opposition coming from both sides. The thing is, I think those who voted against this bill are more in love with the idea of America instead of the actual America. This measure may very well be starting on "the slippery slope to socialism" as Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex) said in the debate before the bill, but it still doesn't change the fact that this may very well be a necessary measure.
As America breaks into the 21st Century, it will have to go through these growing pains. It may have to take on more socialist aspects as its population grows and its citizens grow and need for more. The America of old was a pull itself up by its bootstraps kind of country, but it was also younger, harsher, and needed for less. In this age in which we can each actually aspire to the American Dream; in this age in which it simply costs more to survive than before; in this age in which noblesse oblige is becoming less and less a shunned idea; perhaps we should do what keeps us alive and thriving instead of clinging dearly to the ideas of old. Those ideas may be to the detriment of this nation.
It's moments like these when I think of the work of Aaron Sorkin. Seeing that vote of 228-205 in opposition, I think of Sidney Ellen Wade's line in The American President: "How do you have patience for people who claim they love America, but clearly can't stand Americans?" I don't think those 228 congressmen hate Americans, but I do think they just don't understand where this nation is headed. They don't see these are the growing pains of a new nation. They can't tell how 300 millions people are having trouble paying bills and finding gas. They can't feel for those losing their houses. They can't comprehend the people who have bad credit. They don't know those people who strive to make it through the day.
I'm going to say a prayer for those 228 representatives of the citizens of the United States. I hope God can show them that they stand for people who can't stand on that Congress floor for themselves. Some can hardly stand in the face of their bill collectors.
A new America is dawning and it will have a great deal to endure to be molded into the benevolent nation it's meant to be. Hopefully Congress will see that (with great expedience).
And hopefully they can agree on a bill to get us out of this mess.
Looking into the issue, there was clearly opposition coming from both sides. The thing is, I think those who voted against this bill are more in love with the idea of America instead of the actual America. This measure may very well be starting on "the slippery slope to socialism" as Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex) said in the debate before the bill, but it still doesn't change the fact that this may very well be a necessary measure.
As America breaks into the 21st Century, it will have to go through these growing pains. It may have to take on more socialist aspects as its population grows and its citizens grow and need for more. The America of old was a pull itself up by its bootstraps kind of country, but it was also younger, harsher, and needed for less. In this age in which we can each actually aspire to the American Dream; in this age in which it simply costs more to survive than before; in this age in which noblesse oblige is becoming less and less a shunned idea; perhaps we should do what keeps us alive and thriving instead of clinging dearly to the ideas of old. Those ideas may be to the detriment of this nation.
It's moments like these when I think of the work of Aaron Sorkin. Seeing that vote of 228-205 in opposition, I think of Sidney Ellen Wade's line in The American President: "How do you have patience for people who claim they love America, but clearly can't stand Americans?" I don't think those 228 congressmen hate Americans, but I do think they just don't understand where this nation is headed. They don't see these are the growing pains of a new nation. They can't tell how 300 millions people are having trouble paying bills and finding gas. They can't feel for those losing their houses. They can't comprehend the people who have bad credit. They don't know those people who strive to make it through the day.
I'm going to say a prayer for those 228 representatives of the citizens of the United States. I hope God can show them that they stand for people who can't stand on that Congress floor for themselves. Some can hardly stand in the face of their bill collectors.
A new America is dawning and it will have a great deal to endure to be molded into the benevolent nation it's meant to be. Hopefully Congress will see that (with great expedience).
And hopefully they can agree on a bill to get us out of this mess.
Comments