Warren Buffet

Warren Buffet, the “Oracle of Omaha”, has a well deserved reputation as a remarkable investor and prescient observer of Wall Street. Yesterday in an interview on CNBC he expressed his strong support for the proposed $700 billion bailout to save the U.S. economy. In Buffet’s view the bailout essential to keep us away from an economic “precipice”.  “There is no plan B.”

I believe Warren Buffet. He knows what he is talking about. If Buffet says Congress needs to adopt the bailout and soon, then that’s what Congress needs to do. In his view, Congress needs to take action in days. Buffet said three weeks is too long. Other financial experts would like to see Congress act before the markets open this coming Monday morning.

There is plenty of blame to go around for how we got in this mess, but there will be time enough to work on that later.  If a patient is in the emergency room in critical condition (and our economy at this moment is in critical condition) it is time to take action to save the patient. Deciding how to keep the patient from getting in such bad shape again will have to wait until a little later.

Buffet endorsed Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson as the very best person to see us through this mess. Other experts agree. If Buffet had his way, the next President of the United States (whether Republican or Democrat) would be wise to ask Paulson to stay on.

Three of the top five Wall Street investment banks are gone, and the worlds largest insurance company is teetering.  Credit is already frozen.  If their is not bailout, the situation will worsen rapidly. If Wall Street goes south, so does Main Street. There is talk of the possible collapse of one of the major regional banks. Individuals won’t be able to borrow money and small businesses won’t either. Jobs will be lost on a large scale basis.

Let’s hope Congress acts soon, and doesn’t do so in a way that unduly ties Paulson’s hands. Better yet, if things don’t look like they are happening today,write to your representatives in the U.S. Congress and urge them to act quickly.