It Must Be An Election Year...

...because Congress has opened the floodgates.  First they spent $150 billion or so on an essentially useless 'stimulus' plan, then they bailed out Wall Street, now they're about to vote on the latest mortgage bailout, with a price tag of $300 billion.  In case anyone was wondering, all of these things are being paid for by YOUR tax dollars, and, oh, by the way, our illustrious elected leaders aren't cutting back on anything else to pay for them.  Result: skyrocketing national debt.  Funny, just a year or so ago we were seeing the national debt at its lowest rate in about four years.  What's the common theme?  It's an election year, and that means our spineless jellyfish politicians are trying to buy votes with their generosity (which, of course, translates to YOUR generosity to your less-privileged, more deserving neighbors).

From the AP:

A mortgage aid plan is on track for passage in the Senate as soon as today. The massive foreclosure rescue bill cleared a key Senate test yesterday by an overwhelming margin, with Democrats and Republicans both eager to claim election-year credit for helping hard-pressed homeowners.

The mortgage aid plan would let the Federal Housing Administration back $300 billion in new, cheaper home loans for an estimated 400,000 distressed borrowers who otherwise would be considered too financially risky to qualify for government-insured, fixed-rate loans.

An 83-9 vote put the plan on track for Senate passage as early as Wednesday, but President Bush is threatening a veto, and Democrats are fighting each other over key details. Those challenges will probably delay any final deal until mid-July.

At the Capitol, Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., the Banking Committee chairman, said the lending measure "would allow us to begin to put a tourniquet on the hemorrhaging of foreclosures in this country."

"We need to demonstrate to people in this country that have lost an awful lot of faith in almost everything, but certainly in (Congress), that we can get something done, that we can put aside differences and make a difference in their lives," Dodd said.

May I remind you that this same Chris Dodd accepted a preferential deal on a loan from Countrywide, which stands to benefit enormously if this bailout goes through...?  Does anyone else smell the same stench I do?

The fact that this bailout proceeded with 83 votes shows you the state of both parties: they're a crowd of shameless, calculating hacks more concerned with looking good right before an election than the actual health of our economy.  And don't even bother with such outdated principles as responsibility, consequences for bad/risky decisions, or common sense.

Kudos to the following Senators for not folding like a web paper towel under this asinine election year stunt:

Barrasso (R-WY)
Bond (R-MO)
Bunning (R-KY)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Vitter (R-LA)

The article says the bill will save "an estimated 400,000 distressed borrowers who otherwise would be considered too financially risky to qualify for government-insured, fixed-rate loans."  First, I'd like to know what part of the Constitution assures American homeowners a right to government-insured, fixed-rate loans.  Second, I'd like to know how many of those 'distressed' borrowers are flippers or people who are otherwise engaged in activities other than simply owning their own home.  Third, I'd like to point out that this is a monster-sized financial deal for a miniscule percentage of the 300,000,000 people in this country.  By my calculator, even if you divided 300 million by four (i.e. a family of four people counts as one homeowner), and even if you assume all 400,000 are genuinely distressed borrowers, this deal is only assisting .005 Americans.

Never mind us responsible types...we get screwed again.  You might try calling your Senators to complain, but it probably won't do much good.

Shameless hacks.  They disgust me.

There's my two cents.