Pile On
Call your congress critter... No relief for Wall Streeters without (1) National Health Care *NOW* (and not some crappy health insurance company second rate thing)
(2) An end to the tax loopholes for corporations and the wealthy... all of them.
(3) End to all foreign tax credits, until we get our house in order.
(2) An end to the tax loopholes for corporations and the wealthy... all of them.
(3) End to all foreign tax credits, until we get our house in order.
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Yes, HEALTH CARE for people - before health care for self-engorged sick corporations!
Are we a nation of people? Or corporations?
Health Care for All (people).
September 22, 2008 11:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is an utterly stupid proposal. Do you even have a job? Or are you just another pajama-wearing jerkoff blogging in Mom's basement? The stock market fell another 370 points today genius. While you and the other pitchfork-wielding nitwits are making a self-indulgent show of trying to load every item on the progressive wish list into an emergency bailout bill, the financial system is going to collapse and take your job, my job and a few million other jobs with it. Our task right now is just to prevent the economy from sinking. When that's done, we can then turn our attentions to passing all those wonderful progressive plans under an Obama administration.
Of course, we are not even going to be able to do that if the financial system crashes while Democratic politicians, encouraged by sophomoric fools like you, decide to demagogue the bailout with untimely side-debates about executive salaries, health care, wind power, the entire US tax code, and the price of tea in China. Then Democrats will be blamed for creating partisan gridlock and dragging their feet on the bailout when it was time to act.
I wish Josh would just kill this damn Reader Posts section. It's been overrun by ignorant populist yahoos determined to commit Democratic electoral suicide and trash the US economy all in one motion. You find more sense on the Rush Limbaugh show.
Please stop fucking with my future!
September 22, 2008 11:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Please stop fucking with our righteous anger and the possibility of an actual movement, with real goals.
September 22, 2008 11:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
We have a movement, LisB, and we are on target to accomplish its goals. We need to elect a Democratic president and then pass those progressive agenda items, one by one, over several months and years.
You guys seem to be under the impression that this is a case "Wall Street" over there, and the rest of us insulated from Wall Street over here, and that the bailout debate is all about doing some kind of favoris going down. You guys are grousing and stamping your feet about the deck and saying "I'm not going to help plug the hole in this ship and save my own life until we reform the entire shipbuilding industry, and build better bunk beds for the crew." Do you realize how foolish this is?
There are lots of reasonable debates we can have, so long as we have them quickly, about the structure of the bailout itself: about what measures will be most likely to succeed and stop the bleeding; about how taxpayers' financial interests can best be protected; about how we make sure the bailout does the most we can for the public good, and does not sacrifice the public good to the good of a few wealthy individuals.
But we just don't have time to work on the whole progressive agenda now.
If the economy crashes and goes into deep recession or depression there isn't going to be any health care reform; there isn't going to be any infrastructure rebuilding project; there isn't going to be any green energy investment project. That stuff will all go down the toilet along with the economy we need to fund it.
September 22, 2008 11:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
I inadvertently deleted half a paragraph of the previous post. I'm not going to bother fixing it. You all get the idea.
September 23, 2008 12:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
You are right and you make a good point.
The anger in me comes from not wanting to see more CEO's get out of their responsibilities with millions of dollars under their belts and no penalties.
September 23, 2008 12:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
You gave in too easy, Liz.
September 23, 2008 7:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
I find it interesting that more and more of the "populist" talking points (like tarring and feathering those mysterious CEOs) are identical to those of Bill OReilly and Co over at FNC.
Maybe it's time to rethink a few things.
September 23, 2008 10:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
A little narcissistic, aren't you?
September 23, 2008 12:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
Ease up, Dude. The implications of this for the entire way our country thinks and debates about politics are wide ranging. Conservatives have said we couldn't have health care, or climate change legislation, and on and on, because it would hurt the wealth machine. But it turns out they are particularly crappy drivers of that machine, and they themselves are desperately calling for socialization of large hunks of the most private parts of the private economy. People are justifiably pissed. And "your future," like it or not, involves more than your portfolio.
September 23, 2008 3:18 AM | Reply | Permalink
The sky is falling! The sky is falling!
I was thinking about this while in a class tonight. And I realized, the "shock doctrine" can work both ways. The only way these Neanderthal Republicans can be brought to the table is when *they* are panicked. When *they* see *their* wealth slipping out from under them, they might come to the table. So it is time for real bargaining.
Frankly, the great depression brought us some good things, Social Security being one of them. I don't care if the upper middle class might have to work a few extra years. Time to roll up the shirt sleeves and use this risk to our advantage.
September 23, 2008 12:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
Are we a nation of sheeple, or We The People?
Those of you who think it's a waste of time to write your representatives and senators.....it is you who are the sheeple.
Raise Your Voice!!!!
Sure, we won't get everything we demand, but, we'll get heard.
September 22, 2008 11:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry, M. Bad idea. Keep loading up the financial response bill with unrelated demands and we'll all be blogging with pen and paper again—if we can afford them.
September 22, 2008 11:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
I, for one, will not cry when another bank crashes. What did it ever do for me? If financiers have to work for a living, they might learn something... In the meantime, I am damn tired of the crap we have tolerated for the last 30 years. I see this as the *last* time they might *have* to come to the table in my life time. So bring 'em to the table for a real bargain.
September 23, 2008 12:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
Agreed, healthcare has nothing to do with economic bailout. WTF - that's like a 6 month debate!
But I think we've got a few weeks. Paulson is dissembling - Cox is the only one who is answering honestly ... and his urgency level is lower.
September 23, 2008 12:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
So EVERYONE!!! PANIC!!!!!
=D
Maybe later. Hey, you know what? The Dow dropped 450 points in a day last week, and then it came back up. You financial geniuses are kinda thin-skinned. Take a deep breath. Now keep breathing. Goooood.
Que Sera, Sera. (Keep breathing, nice)
Not everyone want's to bend over and assume the position with ya condescending pansy's.
Folks were scared after 9/11, too. Rushed into stuff. How'd that work out?
September 22, 2008 11:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
Que Sera , Sera
Whatever will be, will be
The future's not ours to see
Que Sera, Sera.
When I was just a little girl
I asked my mother what will I be -
Will I be pretty, will I be rich
Here's what she said to me -
Que Sera, Sera
Whatever will be, will be
The future's not ours to see
Que Sera, Sera.
I just hope to hell we're all pretty.
September 23, 2008 1:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
Que Sarah, Sarah?
September 23, 2008 2:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
good one!
September 23, 2008 3:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
As for me, I'm looking forward to the new economy that comes after this broken one is swept away. In the meantime, we could all afford to lose a few pounds.
September 23, 2008 7:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
This "crisis" has been building and was in sight in the year or so. Bush et al were just hoping it would happen in January after they left. They lost the bet. The first thing I thought of WHY does it have to happen SO FAST? Reminds me of WMD doesn't you? I'm sitting here listening ANOTHER economist saying the 700 billion may not work. Republicans, the financial "balance the budget" conservatives just blew it out of the water. I think the best we can do is keep the check from being signed as long as we can until they can tell us more about it. Stocks are going to go down to nothing by the end of the week so if you have any of them just hang on tight - they are doing it on purpose.
I am not saying this is not really very very seriously bad and getting worst, I just want to make sure the cure that is proposed is going to fix it and I DO NOT trust this administation.
September 23, 2008 7:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
If you go back to the neocon writings dating back to the 1990's (including many people who GWB surrounded himself with), the goal was to screw up government so bad it would have to be dismantled -- thereby shrinking it, and eliminating the strong federalism that another GOP President (Lincoln) started.
This stuff has been in plain site -- only it's not associated with any particular news cycle. And that's what the neocons etc want -- because then it goes under the radar.
September 23, 2008 10:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
DanK is basically right. Stop the bleeding with some oversight and *then* we can think about the rest.
What a clusterf**k this is. I think it has to dramatically change how we intervene (if at all) in crises overseas. Makes you want a stronger U.N., don't it?
September 23, 2008 8:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
DanK,
Thanks for being a voice of reason -- and being brave enough to do so.
The extremists here turn me on about as much as the religious right -- and, in fact, tend to sound the same overall.
There was a lot of effort to dismantle the government over the past 20 years or so. It will take a while to right the ship again.
September 23, 2008 10:53 PM | Reply | Permalink