I am really upset and angry about the proposed Wall Street buyout and you should be too. It's time to take action! Scroll down to find out who your Congressmen/women are, how to reach them and what to say.
While thousands of people are foreclosing on their homes, and bankruptcy laws stricter than they've ever been, the Bush administration and Sec of the Treasury Henry Paulson are asking us to pay 700 BILLION dollars to bail out their Wall Street friends, with no real responsibility for its success or failure. This is outrageous.
"A $700 billion expenditure on distressed mortgage-related assets would roughly be what the country has spent so far in direct costs on the Iraq war and would amount to more than $2,000 for every American citizen."
"The rescue is being sold as a must-have emergency measure by an administration with a controversial record when it comes to asking Congress for special authority in time of duress." Think: Patriot Act and the War in Iraq.
Here's what the bailout proposal says:
Necessary Actions.
The Secretary is authorized to take such actions as the Secretary deems necessary to carry out the authorities in this Act, including, without limitation: (2) entering into contracts, including contracts for services authorized by section 3109 of title 5, United States Code, without regard to any other provision of law regarding public contracts;
Review.
Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.
This means NO LIMITATIONS, NO REVIEW, and ultimately NO RESPONSIBILITY on the part of the Bush Administration, Paulson, and their eight-figure-salary friends. This OUR money, folks. Our taxes will go to over-paid, over-zealous Wall Street-ers who got us into this mess in the first place with their cavalier attitude towards financial responsibility. Nothing will change, and we will continue to spiral into the worst financial crisis since the depresssion.
Here's what you can say if you'd like:
"My name is ___ and I am calling on behalf of my family and friends in STATE X. We want Congressman ____ to know that we do not support the Wall Street buyout as it is written. We cannot allow this administration to use 700 billion dollars in taxpayer's money, OUR money, to bail out Wall Street without limitations, without review, and ultimately, without responsibility. If Congressmen ___ votes for this bill, I will NOT vote for him when he is up for re-election. We are angry about this!"
NEW YORK
RHODE ISLAND
CALL, CALL, CALL.