Jaded Sage:

60 Minutes tonight aired a piece about the market meltdown and its causes. Described as a “shadow market” the details of the crisis were revealed in detail and it told how millionaires were made on the backs of ill advised loans to scores of Americans who could not afford them and these loans were in turn bundled together and sold as commodities along with a deregulated form of insurance. When the borrowers reneged on their loans the house of cards came tumbling down. Much of this is well known but the intricacies highlighted in the program were enlightening. But what was not addressed in the episode was who we were actually bailing out. All those Wall Street and banking con artists who made a fortune on this corrupt business will not forfeit one dime of the wealth they have generated from the housing swindle. In essence we are taking over those bad loans from the wealthy who made a fortune on them.

Conservatives rail on the social welfare programs that reward the laziness of the poor with food stamps and the like but no hard working American would ever want to switch places with those who are destitute, no matter how much government assistance they received under the current system. Compare that to those who have reaped millions in the real estate scam that is ensuing. Is there one among you who would turn down 10 million dollars if you knew the government was going to come in behind you and bail out the mess? This is worse than communism. In essence, the bailout is the socializing of debt and the privatizing of profit.  Most Americans are seeing the disaster of fiscal policy playing out right before their eyes; $700 billion for the war in Iraq and a similar number for the bailout. Everyone is asking, for what end?

Joe Biden was criticized recently for stating that paying taxes was patriotic. He was referring to the wealthy who will be required, under Obama’s plan, to return to their tax rate they paid during Clinton’s administration. With the $700 billion bailout bill ($850 if you include all the pork) there was a tone to its passage that sounded a lot like Biden’s. It is the right thing to do for America we were told and all those wealthy people (and a lot of not so wealthy people who are heavily vested) heard the heavenly music upon its passage. But most Americans are not comfortable with the bill. Why didn’t the Democrats use their majority in Congress to simply pass the bill on their own? The reality is their constituents didn’t want them to pass it. Those who face tight races in their districts or states, whether Republican or Democrat, would have this vote as the last visual reminder of their voting record in Congress and thus they voted no to save their political hide. To some who voted yes it may be the last vote they ever make. We are told, despite the price tag, there is no guarantee the bill will stem the tide of the damage that has been done but what I am sure of is those who made a fortune off of the backs of us Americans are neither moral nor patriotic. But the sad thing is the bill may curb the golden parachutes of future CEOs of these institutions but for most, these criminals have already landed safely thanks to you and me.