As predicted by many here and elsewhere, a great show of "protecting the taxpayer" commenced, but, in the end, the bailout bill sailed through largely unchanged.
[quote]WASHINGTON — Congressional leaders and the Bush administration reached a tentative agreement early Sunday on what may become the largest financial bailout in American history, authorizing the Treasury to purchase $700 billion in troubled debt from ailing firms in an extraordinary intervention to prevent widespread economic collapse.[/quote]
Sure, they tacked on a few trinkets, such as "limiting CEO pay," but in the end, this was simply the largest handout ever given to the banking industry since monopoly power was granted to the Federal Reserve in 1913.
I am dead-set against this bailout, and I judge it to be the very worst possible reaction to this crisis. Sure, our banking system could have taken a tumble, but it deserved to do so and needed a lesson in moderation. Now that opportunity is gone.
I have just become a single issue voter. I will absolutely vote against any and every incumbent who votes for this bailout package. Period. I don’t care WHO is on the other side of that ticket.
And here’s why. When it came right down to it, Congress extracted not one single concession from the banking industry. Not one. Although it is presented here as a "D vs. R" sticking point, let’s be clear – this was really a "bankers vs. the taxpayers" sticking point. The bankers won.
[quote]Among the last sticking points was an unexpected and bitter fight over how to pay for any losses that taxpayers may experience after distressed debt has been purchased and resold.
Democrats had pushed for a fee on securities transactions, essentially a tax on financial firms, saying it was fitting that they contribute to the cost.
In the end, lawmakers and the administration opted to leave the decision to the next president, who must present a proposal to Congress to pay for any losses.[/quote]
Get that? They couldn’t even get a nominal (and probably meaningless) transaction fee stapled onto the bill without folding on the issue. And, of course, I see nothing in here about banks giving up past or future profits, or in any way returning even a small portion of the loot they stole or favor they received.
Nothing.
In the end, these "intense meetings" were a sham, designed to project the impression that real issues were being discussed – but nothing of the sort really happened. The banking industry gets to offload all of its toxic stuff and continue on its merry way, while you get to live with a now highly elevated risk of a major dollar collapse.
We were sold out.
Probably for about $10 million in campaign contributions.
If you’re a DC power broker, is there a time that is any more exciting than when you’ve directed the largest single chunk of taxpayer money towards the monied elite? It is giddy, heady stuff, as this picture makes clear.
This picture leaves me feeling a little ill.
by rlee