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United we stand, divided we will fall.

These words echo so true to me in this time of partisan-politics. Even as the House of Representatives did not pass the $700 Billion Wall Street bailout plan, within minutes both sides of the aisle were attempting to put the blame on the other party. They’re missing the point, the American people did not want the bailout and the House, wary of angry voters with elections coming up in five weeks, didn’t want to lose their jobs.

What the point is: Rather than focus on the failed bailout plan and petty reasons why it didn’t pass, we need to focus on where we’re going from here.

I was strongly against this bailout, but that’s not to say that we don’t need some form of relief. Congress does need to do something, and fairly quickly, or else a lot of Americans are going to suffer. Not feeling the pinch yet? Ask anyone with a 401K who’s lost thousands of dollars in the last week and a half.

I’ve played the blame game for this recession. I still stand by my words, that the Federal Reserve and Wall Street deserve credit for the situation we’re in. Many others have their own theories for how we ended up in this state too. Regardless of who’s to blame, America needs now, more than ever, to move forward together. We need a bailout plan that will not only help the situation now, but will improve our economic strategies as we move forward as well.

How do I propose doing this? Sheesh come on guys, this is only a blog, and I’m only a college student, what do you want from me? :)

One proposal that has been floated back and forth is raising the FDIC limit on bank deposit insurance (currently at 100,000). This would be a good idea as it would increase confidence in banks. John McCain and Barack Obama both support this measure. Another proposal being tossed around is for the Treasury to use its exchange stabilization fund (ESF) to help backstop the market. The ESF allows the government to influence currency rates without affecting the money supply from the Federal Reserve. If used creatively though, it could serve as a tool to help guide us through this recession.

Whatever plan of action Congress decides to take, they need to be careful. Americans will be paying close attention to the details of the new proposal. If our legislation fails to produce something that people can see will help Main Street as well as Wall Street’s woes, it’s entirely possible that the new proposal will fall as well.

One candidate in particular is saying what the country needs to hear.

“While there is plenty of blame to go around and many in Washington and on Wall Street who deserve it, all of us now have a responsibility to solve this crisis because it affects the financial well-being of every single American,” Obama said. “There will be time to punish those who set this fire, but now is the moment for us to come together and put the fire out.”