Why?

I firmly stand behind 25 Senators and and 171 State Representatives, 3 of which are from Oregon. Thank you doing what was right for our country! Thank you Ron Wyden (Oregon Senator). Thank you for your Nay votes on the $700,000,000,000.00 allocated to the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA 08). Thank you for doing what was right.

See how your Representatives voted - Representative Roll Call. Two out of five OR Reps. did the right thing. Thank you Earl Blumenauer and Peter DeFazio!

I struggle to see how this is an "Emergency." When loads of greedy people in our government, on Wall Street, and in our neighborhoods have been over zealous about spending and owning homes for the past couple of years, then we end up in the situation in which we - our gov't, Wall Street, our family and neighbors, and our economy - find ourselves right now.

Rather than trying to wrangle in the vast array of thoughts I have on this topic or trying to turn a buffet joint into a tapas restaurant, which I could attempt to do from now until my next birthday (359 days from now), I just want to pose a few questions, probably questions that my 196 Congressional friends asked along the way...

- Foreclosure
- Does this bill in any way make financially over-extended Americans any less in debt?

- Credit Card Debt - Unabridged vs Abridged
- Will this bill guide people who were paying for their Credit Card Christmas in March and later of this year into fiscally responsible people who will not do the same this year or in the future?

- Unemployment
- How does this bill impact the 157,000 people who lost their job in September?

- Stock Troubles
- The NYSE struggling before the thought of the EESA 08 was discussed, and it is struggling now that Congress has passed it. So what...I have not seen anything that suggests that the Stock Market's - locally and globally - will be righted by this bill.

- Does this Big Mac make me look fat?
- Does this bill bring sense to crazy Americans? If I cannot afford this house with a normal mortgage, then I should be able to afford this house at the same price with a convoluted mortgage, right?

- Personal Savings Rate
- Sure it was ok at one time...say when my great grandparents were kickin...but over the past 3 years, the savings rate is less than 1%. So much for that retirement concept, eh pal! Sounds like we really need this EESA 08 Bad Boy to re-open those lines of credit, right Congress? And if our taxes go up, will we continue to save that 1%?

The questions could go on and on and on...but I will spare you my frustration. I am simply frustrated with the idea that this bill will in any way deal with the actual problem at hand - financial responsibility. How is the EESA 08 going to change this issue? Our spending habits are out of whack - Congress' and Americans'; impoverished, middle-class, and wealthy; minorities and majorities; Southern folk, Atlantic people, New Englanders, Midwesterners, and West Coasters; corporations, individuals, and government. We are all to blame. Yes, credit cards are too easy to get and use. Sure, home mortgages about which we are clueless and unwilling to understand are / were (we will see on that) too easy to get. Right, banks were willing to take the risk on people willing to buy more than they could afford. And Washington, DC was there encouraging this along the way.

But at some point, we as citizens and individuals have to take responsibility for our own actions and lives, which we have failed to do. Now we are in our current situation in which we are left looking like a water-drenched and mud-covered little kid looking for help. Since the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 is not going to get us out of predicament, we need to figure out how to clean ourselves.

Get Out And Romp