Crying Wolf

Lately, as Congress wrestles with its many questions about the proposed bailout of Wall Street, I keep coming back to that old fable about the boy who cried wolf.

Both Ben Bernacke, the head of the Federal Reserve, and Henry Paulson, the Secretary of the Treasury, are smart guys. Bernacke wrote his Ph.D. dissertation on the causes of the Great Depression and he's indisputably knowledgeable about what a worldwide depression would look like, not to mention how it can be prevented. Paulson is similarly capable and folks who've work with him over the years have characterized him as impressively calm and level-headed in the midst of big decisions. The current panic on Wall Street certainly qualifies as a crisis. I respect both of these guys and I think that they are right to ask Congress for a 700 billion dollar bail out. The United States must do its level best to keep our economy on level footing. We owe it to the world.

I think that the problem here isn't that Congress doubts Bernacke and Paulson as much as the fact that Congress has been burned twice by the administration for whom these men work. The Patriot Act and the Iraq War authorization were also presented as pieces of legislation that must be authorized NOW. Congress was actively discouraged from thinking or asking critical questions. In the midst of the legislative furor that surrounded those events, those who suggested that a little time to think might be a good idea were advised by the Bush folks that THE SKY WAS FALLING. NOW. Delay might be deadly, we were warned.

And so Congress acted in haste. They have repented in leisure. Twice burned by an unwise and dishonest administration, this Congress wants some time to think. I can't fault them their instinct. They are right to engage in debate and discussion; they should ask the hard questions. That is their job and we must demand it of them. I am confident that Congress will authorize a regulated bailout. It's the right thing to do. But, understandably, they want time to understand the problem and structure an appropriate solution.

In the aftermath, I hope that Congress and the nation sits down to a serious discussion of what happens to use when our president is no longer considered trustworthy. Simply put, it's not good for the republic. The Bush Administration cried wolf one too many times and now, when a real wolf is at the door, they have no credibility with the Congress, with the American public, and most likely with the rest of the world. The next president has his work cut out for him. I keep asking myself if eight years is enough time to undo the damage that the Bush Administration has done to our world.

For the sake of my son and the many other children whom I love, I hope that it is.