What’s this?! What’s this?!
There are frantic politicians everywhere!
What’s this?! What’s this?!
There’s talk of ‘bail out’ in the air.
What’s this? What’s this?!
There’s obvious something going wrong!
Because I’ve been forced to parody this song…

Let’s not mince words. The U.S. economy is in a deep, deep rabbit hole. Alice in Wonderland couldn’t have fallen as far as our economy has nosedived in only matter of a few days. The general state of the Nation’s bankbook is probably about the same as my checking account – needless to say – I’m not exactly rolling in green.

I’m not a big economic, number crunching fanatic– so, a lot of what I hear on the news about the nation’s economic woes pretty much goes in one ear and comes out the other looking like the half eaten turkey a few days after Thanksgiving.

So far, I haven’t had faced any major conflicts because of the slipping economy but according to Sen. Barack Obama, if the market continues to slip and slide in the direction the ripple effects of the market will make its presence felt, especially for young people in search of jobs. “The bottom line is, that if money freezes up, businesses can’t do business, and you get an enormous contraction of an economy,” said Sen. Obama. “And that, ultimately, will affect that 20-year-old, because that 20-year-old is going to be looking for a better job after he gets out of school.”

The $700 billion bucks worth in bailout money would have assisted the many individuals facing housing foreclosure and pull banks out of the mortgage disaster hell. So, what happened? Why did the House nip the bail out plan in the butt?

Maybe drastic change is too much for some people, too scary to handle, or maybe the political parties are still too bitter to compromise – even at the expense of some positive change coming out of it. Change is a scary thing, especially if you don’t know whether it will be beneficial.

The day after the House’s big decision, Walt Disney released the album Nightmare Revisited, the soundtrack to the classic claymation movie The Nightmare Before Christmas redone by popular artists Korn, Plain White T’s, Amy Lee and Marilyn Manson. I know these stories are seemingly unrelated, but hear me out.

Politicians in politics are a lot like artists trying to remake beloved songs. Because if you try to do pass a bill, or push some kind of legislation—you could easily end up looking like you spent a little too much time in the sun. And if you’re remaking a classic song loved by hundreds and thousands of people, you have to be careful not to massacre it. Flip back into your music memory backs for a second and remember the songs that Jessica Simpson remade in the not too distant future. Those songs alone should have killed her career. Now, think of any political figure in recent history whose momentary act of stupidity cost them their space on the politicking totem pole.

But whatever happens there is one telling line from the old and new Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack, this will certainly be a time in our nations history that, “They’ll talk about for years to come.”
—Eming Piansay