Bailouts Are Band-Aids

Though it is difficult to recognize, an economic crisis is a really good thing. It cleans up the system, destroys the excess, and it brings valuations low so that the risk/reward of being an investor is most advantageous. Like always, financial crisis creates opportunity.

Yet, it seems, this lesson is lost among all who continue to work against the natural evolution of the market and free market economy. Right now, the government is pulling every string possible in an attempt to save the country from financial ruin. We've watched our leaders go from telling us that there is no problem to worry about to now taking billions of dollars out of our pockets (and those of future generations) to help the rich and powerful who've made poor choices over the past few years. I say enough is enough. The rich and powerful want us to pay for their problems and they threaten our financial futures if we don't follow along. This is ransom, pure and simple, and we should not tolerate it any longer.

Bailouts are band-aids. While they reduce the pain, they don't cure the disease. We need to get back to a country that generates wealth because it is the smartest and most creative and that its businesses are the most productive, profitable, and competitive. Not a country that continues to lie to itself and creates one bubble after another in a desperate attempt to continue a standard of living that simply is no longer deserved. As Americans, we value money above all else, but we've lost a true understanding of how to create it. Instead, we try to look for short cuts that wreak utter havoc. And, even amid our darkest days, we continue to try to do the same instead of facing facts, owning up to our mistakes, and punishing those who deserve to be punished so we can move on.

In sum, let Rome burn. What will result is a much better America and a stronger financial system. But, if we continue to let our government transfer wealth in the same manner we've seen all year, the road ahead will be much tougher than anyone currently wants to think about. It will only delay the inevitable and the quicker we face and own up to our mistakes, the better off we will be. It is time for the system to punish the stupid. Let's make sure they do so we can move on, get on the right track, and prosper once again.