The Bush era has been a period of one outrage following the next, but the administration's bailout of Wall Street's wheeler-dealers is the most outrageous yet!
Bush's parting gift to the fat cats who twice filled his campaign coffers to the brim -- when they weren't busy playing fast-and-loose with the American economy -- is a huge pile of tax dollars that will get them out of the problems their recklessness created, while leaving Main Street high and dry and at risk of foreclosure.
Here are five things about the crisis -- and the Bush-Paulson Plan -- that we just can't believe our officials would even have the nerve to contemplate, as well as something you can do to help stop them …
1. They're Making Long-time Wall Street Honcho Henry Paulson Into an Emperor!
We just can't get over this little tiny section in the Bush-Paulson plan. Just 32 words long, it says that the whole thing is up to Paulson's "discretion," and "may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency." That's like burning the Constitution! What happened to the separation of powers -- to checks and balances?
2. They Want the Fox to Guard the Henhouse: Wall Street Brokers Will Decide which Wall Street Brokers Get a Piece of the Pie!
Believe it or not, Henry Paulson, who was a key player in creating this mess in the first place as the CEO of brokerage giant Goldman Sachs, wants to "outsource" the buying and selling of all these junk securities to Wall Street money managers. Remember, there are no restrictions on what they can do -- their actions can't even be reviewed by the courts!
3. They Want to Establish American Socialism for the Richest, and Dog-Eat-Dog for the Rest of Us!
Another thing that's sticking in our craw is that this outrage is being pushed by the very same politicians who passed the horrible bankruptcy "reform" bill in 2005. That law actually made the mortgage situation worse, because it kept ordinary people from getting out from under a pile of consumer debt, and many more ended up losing their homes as a result.
When Bush signed the law, he said, "America is a nation of personal responsibility where people are expected to meet their obligations," but that only goes for the Little Guy -- the Big Boys get to make a mess and take no responsibility for it at all!
4. Nobody Knows How Much They'll Really End up Pilfering from the Treasury?
The headlines all say that it's a $700 billion bailout. But the plan that Bush put together only says that Secretary Paulson can hold onto $700 billion in bad securities at one time! He can buy some, sell 'em at fire-sale prices and then buy some more. Even worse, nobody knows what the final bill will be, because nobody knows what all those bad mortgages are worth.
5. They Want to Borrow All This Cash to Give to Wall Street, and Foreign Banks Too!
And, remember, the government doesn't have that kind of money lying around -- it'll all be borrowed cash, sending the deficit through the roof.
When Bush came into office, he had a budget surplus. Then he got us into a trillion-dollar war in Iraq and at the same time gave all these huge tax cuts to the same people who are most responsible for this mortgage mess. He was set to pass a half-trillion-dollar deficit to the next president -- now, it'll be even higher! If the bailout passes, our children will still be paying for it for decades to come.
And Paulson says he even wants to let foreign banks get their snouts into the trough as well. It's crazy!
This is certainly the greatest outrage yet, and we've got to stop it.
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