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In his comment to my last post, “Notice to Bottom Feeders”, my friend Gary asked, “So what good is this bailout to me”. He expects it to cost him either in higher taxes or a devalued dollar. (See comments below that post).

I share his concerns. I don’t understand all that has gone on (and evidently neither does anyone in Washington), but even I can see that the only good the bailout might bring is that it might enable our overall economy to stabilize. Then it will take some time to work our way out of this mess.

I mentioned two points in my reply to Gary: something must be done quickly; and whatever is done must not make things worse. Whatever is done, it must be thoroughly debated beforehand to head off disastrous unintended consequences. A personal story illustrates the latter point beautifully.

In 1985 the organization that employed me got itself into financial trouble. Their solution was to eliminate salaries, including mine. That organization employed four Campus Ministers. All of us lost our jobs. We had a long discussion where the four of us (plus my wife whom I had just picked up from the airport) offered suggestions for keeping the ministry alive with a least one position retained (“Have you thought about trying to …”), and kept getting the answer “No, we hadn’t thought of that”.

Finally, my wife Lindsey said, “It sounds like you haven’t thought this through.” The Chairman of the Board that made the decision roared back in anger, “Of course we haven’t thought it through. We only made the decision yesterday!”

Sounds like Washington, doesn’t it?