"Bailout" -- Express Yourself

Congress.org makes it easy to email the people who count on this. Or click here to find phone numbers and other contact info for New Mexico's Congressional delegation.
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I agree with what Bob Herbert at the NY Times says:

Does anyone think it’s just a little weird to be stampeded into a $700 billion solution to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression by the very people who brought us the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression?

How about a second opinion?

We're supposed to take seriously a $700 billion "solution" proposed by the very forces that caused the debacle in the first place? And Congress is supposed to totally surrender its oversight duties to the Treasury Secretary (formerly of Goldman Sachs)? And nobody will ever get to challenge what's done with the money? This is absurd on its face. How did they even arrive at the $700 billion figure? Why not $100 billion or $650 billion or, better yet, how about increments of $10 billion where the T. Sec. has to come back for an OK from Congress every time? $700 billion seems like it was pulled out a hat. And it probably was, a nice round figure like that. Who will challenge it?

Granted, Senate Banking Committee Chair Chris Dodd is making noises about holding down executive compensation at the failed institutions, tossing some crumbs to those whose homes are being foreclosed and demanding some very minor oversight -- but he and other powerful Dems are essentially buying into the unprecedented buyout of toxic debt hook, line and sinker. They don't seen to care that not one strong argument has been offered as to why it would even work to solve the real problems we're up against.

Read Andrew Sorkin's A Bailout Above the Law for more on why the response of the Democrats so far is entirely inadequate. Quote:

Let put aside the bill’s most offensive aspect — the raw power it gives the Treasury Department, and the lack of oversight it provides — and take a closer look at the practicalities. First off, there is nothing in the bill that will prevent these problems from happening again. The bill doesn’t address adding greater transparency in investments in subprime loans and securities and credit derivatives, which led directly to the debacles atLehman and A.I.G. The bill does nothing to rein in the credit-default swap market, which has turned out to be the weapon of financial mass destruction that Warren Buffett always said it was.

Nor are the Democrats going to help matters with their own changes. It is all well and good that they hope to use the bill to restrain executive compensation, and add stipulations to help people in danger of losing their homes. But nothing the Democrats have suggested so far tackles the core issues of oversight, transparency or regulation.

Enough! -- As Obama said at his acceptance speech at Mile High. Clearly, the only chance we have to stop this thing, or at least improve it drastically, is to CONTACT OUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS et al. and let them know in no uncertain terms what we want from them.

Congress.org makes it easy to email them. Or click here to find phone numbers and other contact info for New Mexico's Congressional delegation.

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