This week's horror story has finally reached its gruesome conclusion. The monster we call the government finally broke through the wall of common sense the House had built and is now reaching into our pockets and bailing out incompetent bankers and brokers to the tune of $700 billion.

That's a lot. $700 billion is a difficult number to wrap one's mind around, perhaps because there aren't even 700 billion cells in the human brain. To make matters more confusing, the situation is so complex and what lead to it so convoluted that even those who have taken time to try to understand it find themselves throwing up their hands in frustration.

Start with the basic questions. Is it a Wall Street bailout or, as the Democrats and George W. Bush claim, a way to save Main Street?  Who is responsible for this mess?  Does it matter now?  Will $700 billion dollars fix it?  If so, for how long?  What if we hadn't done anything at all?

There are no simple answers even for those. Our financial situation defies an easy explanation. But it hasn't always been so.

In 1832, Andrew Jackson was faced with a similar situation when he abolished the Second Central Bank of the United States - what then passed as a kind of Federal Reserve. He told a delegation of bankers exactly how he felt about their business practices when he said, “Gentlemen, I have had men watching you for a long time, and I am convinced that you have used the funds of the bank to speculate in the breadstuffs of the country.  When you won, you divided the profits amongst you, and when you lost, you charged it to the bank."

Sound familiar? There's more: "You tell me that if I take the deposits from the bank and annul its charter, I shall ruin ten thousand families.  That may be true, gentlemen, but that is your sin!  Should I let you go on, you will ruin fifty thousand families, and that would be my sin!”

Could this type of leadership work today? Of course, it depends on who you ask.

Mike Brown, developer and President of the Greater Kansas City Home Builders Association, like many of us, had a feeling more than an answer: “I’m angry!" he said. "I find myself torn regarding the $700 billion bailout. I want something to be done right now!  On the other hand I don't want to see the money wasted.”

Brown's concern was oversight: “I am too busy trying to hold the fragile pieces of 8 businesses together to fully read the bailout plan, but that is why we sent 535 people from all over the U.S. to D.C.  They need to read the bill, understand it, amend it and then get a good bill passed that has immediate impact on the economy.”

The answer from Gregg Motley, President and CEO of Crosspoint Bank in Overland Park, involved an explanation of  how the period of history Andrew Jackson was dealing with led to today’s current environment.  If you expected a banker to side with Bush & Co., you'd be wrong. Motley sides with President Jackson.

“The entities involved are not commercial banks. These are investment firms who took risks similar to the wild west days of banking in the 19th century, which led to the formation of the FDIC and limitations on the powers of commercial banks.  Bailing out these firms will not help your local bank.” 

In fact, said Motley, local commercial banks are victims in this crisis as well. "It's the Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers of the world that have taken liberties and run amok.  We shouldn't be bailing them out."

On the other side of the state, Jere Beymer, owner of Kearney County Title Company, is less sure.  Like many Kansas business people, Beymer didn't see the crisis affecting his title company, citing steady numbers.  He admited to feeling like he doesn’t have the whole picture, though.

“I don’t think they want us to understand the situation completely," Beymer said. "I believe that greed and pride are the driving forces here.  The market corrects itself and I believe that is what’s happening.  I would feel better about a loan than a bailout.” 

Susan Miller, a retired securities trader, admitted to feeling ambivalent about the bailout. “I hate what is being done," she said just before the vote Friday, "but we have to do it. "

Why? "The credit markets are in such a crisis, I can’t believe it's taking Congress this long to take action.," she explained. "When the credit market seizes, and it will, everyone’s world will change.  It will be like driving down the road and having your transmission drop out.  Everyone will be affected.  There will be no credit.  Many companies won’t be able to issue payroll and if they do, some will find that the bank simply won’t honor their checks.  It will be a worthless piece of paper.”

Maybe it's unfair to think that our political and financial leaders could respond the way Andrew Jackson did.

Could he in fact take the same stand today if he were alive?  No, because regulations and subsidies have given us a different government.  It’s a different time.  No one person could repair this mess.  That kind of singular authority is gone.  Remember, Jackson is the same President who ignored the Supreme Court and claimed “The only good Indian is a dead Indian.” In some respects, it's  good thing the good old days are gone. Now the entire Congress must come to an agreement. 

There had been repeated warnings over the years.  It may be frustrating to try to understand the crisis fully, and the average person may be confused about what should have been done, but one thing is clear. Certain government officials have been feeding this monster for their own benefit for a long time.  It threatened to eat us all if we didn't give it what it wants. 

Even Andrew Jackson couldn’t have fixed this one alone.

Maria Holiday, a retired teacher, is a business owner and a consultant for Arbonne International.  She is also the co-founder for the Missing Sexual Offender Center.

The Week in Review