One for the History Books

Will October 3, 2008 go down in the history books?  Will this be the day our country was fundamentally changed?

Yesterday was my day off, and I spent a lot of it listening to radio shows and watching news coverage of the bill passed by congress that will supposedly help out the economy.  It will be left to the academics to argue over time if the bailout helped or hindered the economy.

One thing is certain: people are angry.  People are fed up with their government.  Thankfully, I have a Congressman who listens to his constituency and stands on his principles.  I wish I could say the same for my senators.  All of the presidential candidates voted for the bill.  Great.

It was surreal how, regardless of party affiliation (although perhaps for fundamentally different reasons), the American people opposed this legislation.  Depending on who you read, the American people were against this at a rate of 80-95%.  America hasn’t been so united about their opinion since 9/11.  And what does the government do?  Goes against the will of the people.  From listening to the passion in people’s voices today, some incumbents will have longtime supporters voting against them and taking as many people with them as they can.

Time will tell about the way this bill helps our economy.  If it does not help in the way we were promised by our elected (and unelected) officials, there very well could be an uprising.  Even if the bill soothes the financial situation, October 3, 2008 will likely be the day we mark that our country was fundamentally changed. It will be up to the people of this country if we allow this change to be for the worse or for the better.  This election just got even more interesting.