The Day Democracy Died...
Just a short time ago, the Senate passed the $700B bailout bill by a vote of 74-25. John McCain, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden ALL voted yes. This is a bill that informal polls showed was opposed by the American people by an 80% margin.
This is a DISGUSTING bill that the House of Representatives voted against just two days ago, with 2/3 of House Republicans voting against it. Yes, it's true, I am on the side of the Republicans (I know, I want to barf, too!). So why did the Senate vote on this even after the House voted it down? Well our law says that it has to pass the House first, because it's an appropriations bill. After it was voted down, the Senate muddied up the bill with tax issues so that it would be in their jurisdiction to vote first, and now, after it was passed overwhelmingly by the Senate, gets to be voted AGAIN in the House.
So they took a bill that is essentially a $700B gift in taxpayer money--money that has to be borrowed and paid back with interest because we simply don't have this money to spend--to prevent private institutions from failing, and added $150B worth of MORE spending and tax cuts for businesses. The thinking is that House Republicans will be in favor of the bill now because of the tax cuts to businesses. BUSINESSES!
So even thought the American people do NOT want their money spent this way, our elected officials manipulated the system and are stealing $850B away from us to give to large banks. What makes things even WORSE is that NOBODY is sure that this ill even work. And, think about this, how many times have we seen Congress ask for money for something, and then end up undervaluing the price, and end up asking for even MORE? This is far from the end? Months from now, they will claim that the $850B certainly helped, but for X amount of billions more, it can probably get fixed. COME ON! This is so disgusting. These are smart people, they know what they are doing. Do you think the number of 700 billion is an accident? Had they asked for a Trillion dollars, we would have revolted. But they know by pulling it back and then asking for more, we'll end up giving MORE than a trillion dollars, and we'll sit on our hands. It's horrible manipulation of the people.
They STOLE our money by scaring us to death and telling us that our investments, retirement funds, and college funds are going to be completely lost if we don't give them our money. Last time I checked, that's called extortion. They are also trying to scare us by saying if we don't give them money, our country will have used up all of its credit, and we would only be as rich as our cash, and our credit cards wouldn't work anymore. Come on, people, this won't become Lord of the Flies. Use your heads and stop being scared into handing over your cash!
The last time the scared us into something, we ended up with the Iraq War. A mistake that cost us over 4,000 American lives, and $10B a month. A MONTH! Yet, even though everyone with half a brain knows this was a mistake, our armed forces are STILL THERE. Here's a clue to those assholes in Washington: If you want some quick cash, tell the Iraqi government that we can no longer afford to waste money there, leave, and let them invest their own $80B surplus to pay for their own security. That would instantly give us $10B a month.
So what now? Well, basically we're fucked. A lot of Congressmen called this $700B a bad bill to vote for (even though they are voting for it), but said that we need some sort of tourniquet to stop the bleeding, THEN we'll worry about healing the wound. I am not against a tourniquet, but does it have to be crusted with diamonds?? They say that our banks' problems are being caused by the rise in home forclosures all across the country. They blame the home forclosures on companies granting bad mortgages to people that couldn't afford them. They say that they were able to write bad mortgages because of Congress removing oversight and regulations from the banking and lending industry. Here's another thought: With gas cost going through the roof, the cost of goods going through the roof, the rise of local property taxes, a rising unemployment rate...perhaps...PERHAPS this is what caused people not to be able to afford their mortgages, not the mortgage itself. We're looking at the lending industry, but it goes much deeper than that.
This all points to the middle class not having enough disposable income. They don't have money to spend on things that will increase cash flow to businesses, increase investments, increase bank deposits, pay down their mortages, etc. Everyone instead is cutting down on spending and only spending what they need to survive. And nobody is investing in our banks or stocks because we just don't have the money to gamble. The middle class spending money is ALWAYS what drives this economy. The SYSTEM is flawed. It's no accident that Republican Presidents cause economic problems. Republicans believe that if they give tax cuts to big businesses and rich people, those people will create more jobs and increase production, and the benefits will trickle down. In 1980 this was called "voodoo" economics, yet those idiot Republicans, because many of them can't think beyond paying lower taxes, vote in favor of it. Reagan started this trickle down theory, and then ended up having to raise taxes before he left office. Then President Bush (the smarter one, not his retarded son) did it again, and ended up nearly bankrupting the country. Bill Clinton came in, raised taxes on corporations and rich people, and our economy prospered, then Monkey Bush came in, did what Reagan and his dad did, and now we're nearly bankrupt again. The answer is NOT to give the big banking corporations more money, that is what has caused our downfall again and again. The answer is to give the middle class more money.
Imagine this...imagine if Congress decided to give $1Trillion to the taxpayers. They divide it by giving $3,333 to every LEGAL man, woman, and child in the country (roughly 300 Million people). That would mean a family of four would all of a sudden be $13,332 richer. Don't you think there would be a wild spending spree? The weekend after we get those checks, ever mall in America will have 3 months worth of Christmas-type business. People would take that gift money and invest it in stocks and bonds and mutual funds, and the market would rise drastically from those stock sales. People would deposit a lot of money in banks, and the banks would have a lot more capital. Maybe people will invest in their homes and pay down their mortgages. This would get rid of the forclosure problem, and American homeowners will be able to pay down their principle and shave hundreds of dollars off of their monthly mortgage payment and make it more affordable, and they wouldn't have to default on their note and pay the banks regularly. The banks will still get their money, but WE decide how they get their money. What happens when we just bypass the people and give the money directly to the banks? We still can't afford gas, we still will have all of these forclosures, we still won't have money to buy stocks and the market will continue to fall, and American industry still won't sell as may goods. But, the banks will still be able to stay in business, and we'll have the privilege of being able to add to our credit card debt. YAY AMERICA!!
But the bill still has to pass the House. Every single man and woman in the House of Representatives is up for reelection in November. ALL OF THEM. EVERY SINGLE ONE. Unlike the Senate and the President, they only have two-year terms. Call them up and tell that that if they vote for this, you will NOT give them your vote and they will lose THEIR jobs. Tell them that you want the American PEOPLE to get that money and decide how it gets invested into the economy.
And as far as McCain, Obama, and Biden go? I am so disgusted that they acknowledge it's a bad bill, but they are all voting for it because they want to look like they are doing something instead of not knowing what to do. They are using it to show that they can handle a crisis and take action. DISGUSTING. One Congressman said that he will just hold his nose and vote "yes" for the $700B bailout. I'll be doing the same thing now when I vote for Obama. They are all the fucking same.
This is a DISGUSTING bill that the House of Representatives voted against just two days ago, with 2/3 of House Republicans voting against it. Yes, it's true, I am on the side of the Republicans (I know, I want to barf, too!). So why did the Senate vote on this even after the House voted it down? Well our law says that it has to pass the House first, because it's an appropriations bill. After it was voted down, the Senate muddied up the bill with tax issues so that it would be in their jurisdiction to vote first, and now, after it was passed overwhelmingly by the Senate, gets to be voted AGAIN in the House.
So they took a bill that is essentially a $700B gift in taxpayer money--money that has to be borrowed and paid back with interest because we simply don't have this money to spend--to prevent private institutions from failing, and added $150B worth of MORE spending and tax cuts for businesses. The thinking is that House Republicans will be in favor of the bill now because of the tax cuts to businesses. BUSINESSES!
So even thought the American people do NOT want their money spent this way, our elected officials manipulated the system and are stealing $850B away from us to give to large banks. What makes things even WORSE is that NOBODY is sure that this ill even work. And, think about this, how many times have we seen Congress ask for money for something, and then end up undervaluing the price, and end up asking for even MORE? This is far from the end? Months from now, they will claim that the $850B certainly helped, but for X amount of billions more, it can probably get fixed. COME ON! This is so disgusting. These are smart people, they know what they are doing. Do you think the number of 700 billion is an accident? Had they asked for a Trillion dollars, we would have revolted. But they know by pulling it back and then asking for more, we'll end up giving MORE than a trillion dollars, and we'll sit on our hands. It's horrible manipulation of the people.
They STOLE our money by scaring us to death and telling us that our investments, retirement funds, and college funds are going to be completely lost if we don't give them our money. Last time I checked, that's called extortion. They are also trying to scare us by saying if we don't give them money, our country will have used up all of its credit, and we would only be as rich as our cash, and our credit cards wouldn't work anymore. Come on, people, this won't become Lord of the Flies. Use your heads and stop being scared into handing over your cash!
The last time the scared us into something, we ended up with the Iraq War. A mistake that cost us over 4,000 American lives, and $10B a month. A MONTH! Yet, even though everyone with half a brain knows this was a mistake, our armed forces are STILL THERE. Here's a clue to those assholes in Washington: If you want some quick cash, tell the Iraqi government that we can no longer afford to waste money there, leave, and let them invest their own $80B surplus to pay for their own security. That would instantly give us $10B a month.
So what now? Well, basically we're fucked. A lot of Congressmen called this $700B a bad bill to vote for (even though they are voting for it), but said that we need some sort of tourniquet to stop the bleeding, THEN we'll worry about healing the wound. I am not against a tourniquet, but does it have to be crusted with diamonds?? They say that our banks' problems are being caused by the rise in home forclosures all across the country. They blame the home forclosures on companies granting bad mortgages to people that couldn't afford them. They say that they were able to write bad mortgages because of Congress removing oversight and regulations from the banking and lending industry. Here's another thought: With gas cost going through the roof, the cost of goods going through the roof, the rise of local property taxes, a rising unemployment rate...perhaps...PERHAPS this is what caused people not to be able to afford their mortgages, not the mortgage itself. We're looking at the lending industry, but it goes much deeper than that.
This all points to the middle class not having enough disposable income. They don't have money to spend on things that will increase cash flow to businesses, increase investments, increase bank deposits, pay down their mortages, etc. Everyone instead is cutting down on spending and only spending what they need to survive. And nobody is investing in our banks or stocks because we just don't have the money to gamble. The middle class spending money is ALWAYS what drives this economy. The SYSTEM is flawed. It's no accident that Republican Presidents cause economic problems. Republicans believe that if they give tax cuts to big businesses and rich people, those people will create more jobs and increase production, and the benefits will trickle down. In 1980 this was called "voodoo" economics, yet those idiot Republicans, because many of them can't think beyond paying lower taxes, vote in favor of it. Reagan started this trickle down theory, and then ended up having to raise taxes before he left office. Then President Bush (the smarter one, not his retarded son) did it again, and ended up nearly bankrupting the country. Bill Clinton came in, raised taxes on corporations and rich people, and our economy prospered, then Monkey Bush came in, did what Reagan and his dad did, and now we're nearly bankrupt again. The answer is NOT to give the big banking corporations more money, that is what has caused our downfall again and again. The answer is to give the middle class more money.
Imagine this...imagine if Congress decided to give $1Trillion to the taxpayers. They divide it by giving $3,333 to every LEGAL man, woman, and child in the country (roughly 300 Million people). That would mean a family of four would all of a sudden be $13,332 richer. Don't you think there would be a wild spending spree? The weekend after we get those checks, ever mall in America will have 3 months worth of Christmas-type business. People would take that gift money and invest it in stocks and bonds and mutual funds, and the market would rise drastically from those stock sales. People would deposit a lot of money in banks, and the banks would have a lot more capital. Maybe people will invest in their homes and pay down their mortgages. This would get rid of the forclosure problem, and American homeowners will be able to pay down their principle and shave hundreds of dollars off of their monthly mortgage payment and make it more affordable, and they wouldn't have to default on their note and pay the banks regularly. The banks will still get their money, but WE decide how they get their money. What happens when we just bypass the people and give the money directly to the banks? We still can't afford gas, we still will have all of these forclosures, we still won't have money to buy stocks and the market will continue to fall, and American industry still won't sell as may goods. But, the banks will still be able to stay in business, and we'll have the privilege of being able to add to our credit card debt. YAY AMERICA!!
But the bill still has to pass the House. Every single man and woman in the House of Representatives is up for reelection in November. ALL OF THEM. EVERY SINGLE ONE. Unlike the Senate and the President, they only have two-year terms. Call them up and tell that that if they vote for this, you will NOT give them your vote and they will lose THEIR jobs. Tell them that you want the American PEOPLE to get that money and decide how it gets invested into the economy.
And as far as McCain, Obama, and Biden go? I am so disgusted that they acknowledge it's a bad bill, but they are all voting for it because they want to look like they are doing something instead of not knowing what to do. They are using it to show that they can handle a crisis and take action. DISGUSTING. One Congressman said that he will just hold his nose and vote "yes" for the $700B bailout. I'll be doing the same thing now when I vote for Obama. They are all the fucking same.