Kass: No Time for Partisanship

This blog post originally appeared on RealMoney Silver on Nov. 24 at 7:37 a.m. EST.

During the deepest depths of one of the worst financial crises in history, where are President George W. Bush and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson?

I have consistently written of the need for bold and decisive personnel and policy measures to stem the economic free-fall. Friday and this weekend brought some personnel announcements from the incoming Obama administration, and the Fed came to the rescue of a levered Citigroup (C), but we need more collaboration between the incoming and outgoing administrations in order to foster confidence in our economy and stock markets.

Now, many previously optimistic types, such as Ben Stein, are chiming in with the notion that this time the economy and credit markets are different and that, in all likelihood, the economy's downturn will be harder and the duration of the recession will be longer than previously expected.

That acceptance might be the first step toward Mr. Market's recovery, however, the more the market "is allowed" to behave in this manner (ever lower and increasingly volatile) before the Obama inauguration in January 2009, the less the likelihood of a significant rally and the more likely that the economy will be crippled and unable to recover in a real way for some time to come.

It is imperative for the current administration to step up and work closely with the Obama transition team and with Congress.

Today is no time for partisanship -- we are in a deepening global downturn of unknown proportions -- rather, it is the time for policy "shock and awe" in the face of accelerating crises (especially of an automobile and financial kind) and continued degradation in home and stock prices.