This Bullsh*t Bush Bail Out?
...just More Corporate Welfare
To know how we got here:
"The sub-prime mortgage crisis that has not only come so close to utterly destroying the markets, but has ruined the value of many people's homes and left millions with mortgages they can't pay, was also the outcome of the deregulation created by these men. The very predictable outcome. When taxpayers are left holding the bag for $1 trillion this time around, it's hard to believe it's any sort of accident.
This is enemy action. This is a bullet deliberately fired into the economy by men willing to exercise their ideology regardless of the cost to taxpayers. Men who have every expectation that they can plunder the system again and again, while the public picks up the tab. John McCain may not have had his finger directly on the trigger, but he was there. He assisted. These were his personal friends and philosophical comrades. He may not be the high priest, but he has been a loyal acolyte in the cult of deregulation.
It may come as a surprise to the champions of deregulation, but nobody likes regulation. The restrictions that were placed on banks, S&Ls, and other institutions in the 1930s weren't put there because someone thought it would be fun. They were put in place because they addressed problems that had just been clearly and painfully revealed. They were put in place because they were necessary.
It's bad enough if John McCain didn't know that. It's far worse if he did."
Read the full essay (which came from Daily Kos and is now cross-posted at the Nation here. ... by the by, the Nation currently offers many good, strong and related articles on the raping of the American economy.
Part Two
Robert Reich (Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration) offers a warning and a few good ideas for inclusion in the inevitable middle-class taxpayer-funded bail-out Congress is scheming for America's aristocratic class.
"...watch your wallets. The tab here could be very high. ... if the bottom falls out, American taxpayers could be on the hook for trillions of dollars. What then? The federal debt soars. What then? Interest rates go out of sight. What then? Foreigners lend us less money. What then? We're cooked."
Read the whole essay here.
Part Three
Lastly, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt) speaks for me:
"The current financial crisis facing our country has been caused by the extreme right-wing economic policies pursued by the Bush administration. These policies, which include huge tax breaks for the rich, unfettered free trade and the wholesale deregulation of commerce, have resulted in a massive redistribution of wealth from the middle class to the very wealthy.
(1) The people who can best afford to pay and the people who have benefited most from Bush’s economic policies are the people who should provide the funds for the bailout. It would be immoral to ask the middle class, the people whose standard of living has declined under Bush, to pay for this bailout while the rich, once again, avoid their responsibilities. Further, if the government is going to save companies from bankruptcy, the taxpayers of this country should be rewarded for assuming the risk by sharing in the gains that result from this government bailout. Specifically, to pay for the bailout, which is estimated to cost up to $1 trillion, the government should:
* Impose a five-year, 10 percent surtax on income over $1 million a year for couples and over $500,000 for single taxpayers ..."
Read Senator Sander's full thoughts here.
Postscript
by the by, the new Republican plan is to get Democrats to bail out their corporate Wall Street robber baron pals, then run against the Democrats for doing so! Read it in their own words here.
"The sub-prime mortgage crisis that has not only come so close to utterly destroying the markets, but has ruined the value of many people's homes and left millions with mortgages they can't pay, was also the outcome of the deregulation created by these men. The very predictable outcome. When taxpayers are left holding the bag for $1 trillion this time around, it's hard to believe it's any sort of accident.
This is enemy action. This is a bullet deliberately fired into the economy by men willing to exercise their ideology regardless of the cost to taxpayers. Men who have every expectation that they can plunder the system again and again, while the public picks up the tab. John McCain may not have had his finger directly on the trigger, but he was there. He assisted. These were his personal friends and philosophical comrades. He may not be the high priest, but he has been a loyal acolyte in the cult of deregulation.
It may come as a surprise to the champions of deregulation, but nobody likes regulation. The restrictions that were placed on banks, S&Ls, and other institutions in the 1930s weren't put there because someone thought it would be fun. They were put in place because they addressed problems that had just been clearly and painfully revealed. They were put in place because they were necessary.
It's bad enough if John McCain didn't know that. It's far worse if he did."
Read the full essay (which came from Daily Kos and is now cross-posted at the Nation here. ... by the by, the Nation currently offers many good, strong and related articles on the raping of the American economy.
Part Two
Robert Reich (Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration) offers a warning and a few good ideas for inclusion in the inevitable middle-class taxpayer-funded bail-out Congress is scheming for America's aristocratic class.
"...watch your wallets. The tab here could be very high. ... if the bottom falls out, American taxpayers could be on the hook for trillions of dollars. What then? The federal debt soars. What then? Interest rates go out of sight. What then? Foreigners lend us less money. What then? We're cooked."
Read the whole essay here.
Part Three
Lastly, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt) speaks for me:
"The current financial crisis facing our country has been caused by the extreme right-wing economic policies pursued by the Bush administration. These policies, which include huge tax breaks for the rich, unfettered free trade and the wholesale deregulation of commerce, have resulted in a massive redistribution of wealth from the middle class to the very wealthy.
(1) The people who can best afford to pay and the people who have benefited most from Bush’s economic policies are the people who should provide the funds for the bailout. It would be immoral to ask the middle class, the people whose standard of living has declined under Bush, to pay for this bailout while the rich, once again, avoid their responsibilities. Further, if the government is going to save companies from bankruptcy, the taxpayers of this country should be rewarded for assuming the risk by sharing in the gains that result from this government bailout. Specifically, to pay for the bailout, which is estimated to cost up to $1 trillion, the government should:
* Impose a five-year, 10 percent surtax on income over $1 million a year for couples and over $500,000 for single taxpayers ..."
Read Senator Sander's full thoughts here.
Postscript
by the by, the new Republican plan is to get Democrats to bail out their corporate Wall Street robber baron pals, then run against the Democrats for doing so! Read it in their own words here.
posted by Fred Dodsworth at 11:42 AM
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