Action Alerts are near the bottom of this post.
Seven Hundred Billion Dollars. It's impossible to wrap one's mind around such a figure. But that's the amount of money Congress is being asked to commit to bail out the giants of Wall Street, collapsing under the weight of their disastrous loan policies, including millions of failing home mortgages. As we write this blog, it's difficult to predict what will happen. A tenuous agreement in Congress may fall apart, or legislation may be adopted any time now — perhaps even before you read this message.
And get this: Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson wants all that money handed over to him with no strings attached — no Congressional or Administration oversight, no court review, nothing.
In short, he wants to be King Henry. As Sen. Chris Dodd said in response, "It is not only our economy that is at risk, Mr. Secretary, but our Constitution, as well."
It gets even crazier: Paulson insists that the sky is falling, yet if the deal includes provisions to prevent the bailout from enriching the CEOs who screwed everthing up, they won't take the money. He's saying they will literally destroy the (economic) world if they can't keep their golden parachutes! (So far, Congress isn't buying that load of you-know-what.)
And if it the bailout includes protections for homeowners facing foreclosure, he says Wall Street will balk.
That's so outlandish it can't be true — can it? If it is true, it's even more outlandish!
Where'$ MY Bailout?
We rushed these bumper stickers into print not to just be sarcastic but to raise a real issue. The $700-billion bailout averages out to $175,000 for each of the 4 million households in foreclosure or behind on their mortgage payments. Hey, here's a concept: Why not use that money to help those families pay their mortgages and keep their homes? Voilà — people keep their homes, lenders get their money.
Debt to America
In darker moments, it looks to us as if the Bush Administration, on its way out the door, is trying to steal every last dollar in the country — and some dollars that don't even exist yet: The Treasury will have to print more money for this bailout (and of course there won't be anything left for the nation's other needs). And they're demanding this authority from Congress on the strength of a three-page memo. As Rachel Maddow points out, that's one rich document — worth $233 billion per page.
Thankfully, the phones on Capitol Hill are ringing off the hooks with people outraged at this bailout, slowing things down a bit. The public's outrage is having an impact on the shape of the bailout, but in the end, Washington is still more likely to infuse billions of dollars into Wall Street than Main Street.
Take Action Now
Even after the plan is adopted, we'll need to keep the government's feet to the fire in the days and weeks ahead. Here are the top Action Alerts we've culled from the many that have arrived in our in-box during the past few days:
- If you oppose the bailout as an illegal grab of power and money by the wealthy, send a letter HERE.
- If you don't entirely oppose the bailout but agree it must meet organized labor's conditions for assisting and protecting average citizens and taxpayers, take action HERE.
- If your position is different from the two above or you want to write to George Bush and Secretary Paulson as well as your members of Congress, compose your own message HERE.
Bring It To Main Street
To keep this issue visible on Main Street as well as Wall Street, especially during the remaining days of this election season, we've rushed these bumper stickers into production.
The second one is intended to call to account the party whose failure to regulate their fat-cat buddies over the past eight years got us into this mess. That message should give pause to every voter as the Bush White House insists on handing over the U.S. Treasury to the big banks that caused the problem. And, at the bottom of the sticker is the link to this action page.
We want to get these stickers displayed in hundreds of communities all across the country, so we're offering them at the minimum we can charge to cover costs of rush printing and distribution. Please order a bunch now, to keep asking the question: When do we get relief from the economic policies of the past 8 years?
These stickers make a statement, and they point people to this Web page, where they can take action on this outrageous situation. Please help us spread the message far and wide.
(Links to more information are below).
Read more:
- The Nation: 'No Deal' on the Bailout
- Naomi Klein: Now is the Time to Resist Wall Street's Shock Doctrine
- Seven better uses for the bailout's $700 billion
- CNN: Text of the 3-page bailout memo sent to Congress
- Robert Scheer: A Fox to Protect the Henhouse?
- Michael Moore: The Rich Are Staging a Coup...
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