Trickle Down Debt from Banking Industry Bailouts
The final bill for the past seven years of conservative fiscal policy is slowly coming into focus. Tax cuts for the wealthy, record deficit spending, unprecedented corporate bailouts, deregulation and toothless oversight have allowed America's corporate interests to act without fear of reprisal from the American people or the risk of financial failure in a free market.
The proposed $700,000,000,000.00 bailout of the banking industry illustrates how extraordinary risk and sacrifice are the only things that have trickled down to the middle class under the conservative fiscal policy that will define the Bush Economy.
Whether we like it or not, the American people are the new shareholders in the results of deregulation and corporate greed run amok. In the end, the American tax payer will be left with the bill as corporate CEOs, industry lobbyists and politicians that did their bidding cash out.
As Congress evaluates President Bush's response to the latest national crisis, the new American shareholder should demand Congress limit the salary and severance packages for CEOs receiving tax payer bailouts to no more than what the President of the United States gets as a government employee. The first payment back to the American shareholder for our $1,000,000,000,000.00 loan should come from Congress empowering itself to seize the personal assets of CEOs who personally profitted from robbing the American people.
Elected officials who feel the new robber barons deserve better than that should stand up and make their case to the new American shareholder.
Here's what some Nashville area blogs are saying about President Bush's banking industry bailout:
- Don't Blame Bush... - Bill Hobbs
....for the mortgage crisis. He tried to fix Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac back in 2003.
- Community Reinvestment Act: Smoking Gun! that’s killed (killing?) our Economy - Tennessee Free
The Community Reinvestment Act, pushed through by Democrat activists in 1977, signed into law by Jimmy Carter, ignored by regulators under Reagan, pushed into high gear during Clinton’s term, challenged by Republicans in 1994 (they lost that fight, btw) and now, we see the (sorry, Glen) chickens coming home to roost.
- More Power and Money For Failure? - Cup of Joe Powell
If the Bush league had ANY record of being able to accurately assess a problem facing the country, such unchecked authority would be dubious. Given the reality of constant failures from these officials and their cheerleaders, to simply go along with this plan and not actually discuss and dissect it before taking actions with worldwide influences -- that's pretty much insane.
- Cash for Trash: The New Wall Street Game Show - Crone Speaks
How much can you get the Fed to pay for your trash? This is the new game in town, and don’t you think the republican’s are going to milk that $700bn for as much as they can get, not what is deserved?
- Where Is The Word "Can"? - Sean Braisted
This whole situation is FUBAR, and I don't have any clue what the remedy to the situation is beyond stocking up on MRE's and rifle shells.
- Bailout Sheanigans: From Very Bad To Freaking Outrageous! - Stone Soup Station
If this doesn't send shivers up and down your up-to-your-neck-in-debt spine, you're suffering from what we health care folk like to say is an "inability to make executive-level decisions."
- Does this mean we have government-owned health insurance? - Rex Hammock
At times like these, even politicians know they need to turn things over to people who have at least thought about this stuff before — who aren’t working off 3×5 cards of talking-points. We’re at a place where no one knows what’s going on — so Ben Bernake can make any decision he wants — as if he were running China, or something. But I’ll confess. All things being equal, I think I’d rather have him handling things right now than any politician I can think of.
