As the final curtain of the Bush administration’s criminal destruction of democracy slowly drops — while the U.S. and the rest of the world still reel from lies and shock tactics of epic proportions used against them to initiate the ‘global war on terror,’ and what was once known as democracy slowly dissolves into the fascism desired by the Bush administration — the final blow, basically amounting to Financial Terrorism, is serving as the coup d’etat that will help define the legacy of the most corrupt, never-elected President this country has ever known.
In addition to a myriad of other felonies and Presidential crimes committed by President George W. Bush and his administration — including, but not limited to, allowing the attacks of 9/11, anthrax attacks, starting illegal wars, torture, terrorizing the American public, illegally spying on Americans, manipulating the political system, making his own laws and believing himself to be above the law — attempts are being made by President Bush to quickly push a resolution through Congress designed to bailout the criminals on Wall Street. Not a good idea if you remember the past when Bush used scare tactics to push previously written ‘legislation’ known as the ‘Patriot Act’ through Congress. Now the people who brought us the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression are trying to stampede us into bailing them out.
For years the U.S. Government has accelerated wealth upwards into the hands of a few. This bailout would be a double standard: Wall Street profits are Wall Street profits, but their losses are our losses. Toxic bank assets would be bought for twice their market value and a select few would make massive profits at taxpayer expense. After all the crimes committed by President Bush and his administration — albeit, many with the approval and the knowledge of Congressional Leadership — it’s hard to believe that Bush, Cheney, and for that matter, all in Congress who have aided and abetted them, haven’t faced prison sentences yet. Now, as noted by Naomi Klein, is the Time to Resist Wall Street’s Shock Doctrine.
The biggest problem with the proposed resolution is the fact that it gives unprecedented powers to the Secretary of the Treasury — whose involvement in politics goes back to the Nixon administration — it has no oversight, and it doesn’t do a thing for all the taxpayers who are going to be bailing out Wall Street. Paulson came to the Treasury Department after leaving a top job at Goldman Sachs and would reportedly use the proposed bailout to help his old cronies at Goldman Sachs. Sound familiar? 10 reasons not to approve the bailout can be found from AlterNet.
Deregulation Caught Up To Wall Street
The U.S. financial market is in shambles. Almost 10 years of deregulation has finally caught up to Wall Street, and the powers that be in Washington. Wall Street created this nightmare by chasing obscene profits and the Federal Government allowed it to spread by not practicing oversight it is responsible for. Arizona Senator John McCain, the Republican Presidential candidate, has strong ties to corporate lobbyists at the center of the bailout.
Treasury secretaries under Presidents Clinton and Bush took no action to curb the abuses of Wall Street. According to the New York Times, the Wall Street investment banking firms, their executives, their families and their political action committees contribute more to U.S. Senate and House campaigns than any other industry in America. By sprinkling some of its massive gains into the pockets of our elected officials, Wall Street paid good money to protect itself from any tough government enforcement. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — basically giant undercapitalized hedge funds — have been huge money machines for both Democrats and Republicans in the House and the Senate.
Americans Are Being Despicably Misled
As with the Bush administration’s lies regarding Iraq’s ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction,’ the American people are being, as noted by AlterNet, despicably misled. As with numerous other aspects of the Bush administration, the Bush administration’s proposal to bailout Wall Street — who relentlessly lobbied Congress to be free of governmental regulation — with taxpayers’ money is a fraud. One stipulation wanted by Congress before agreeing to the massive bailout is doing away with bonuses for executives responsible for running companies into the ground. Many news agencies are reporting that if anything is done prevent the executive pay packages in Bush’s proposal, Wall Street would not participate in the bailout plan. Exactly how badly does Wall Street need this bailout?
There are other ways to keep credit needs flowing and to remove distressed assets. Washington could learn some lessons from Sweden. The losses, in this case distressed assets, can and should be absorbed by the executives, directors and stockholders of these financial institutions responsible. They need to be held accountable for their actions. A lot more information regarding the current mass deception from The Bush administration and how to fix it can be found from AlterNet, Digby’s Blog, Crooks and Liars, The American Prospect and The Daily Kos.
The last thing this country needs is to give any part of the Bush administration more unreviewable power. Bush coerced Congress into passing illegal legislation after the attacks of 9/11, and Bush is now trying to coerce Congress into giving Treasury Secretary Paulson unreviewable power. As noted by Balkinization Blogspot, the modus operandi of the Bush administration has been to use crisis to seize unreviewable power for the last seven years. Section 8 of the draft proposed by the Bush administration states that “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.” Does that sound trustworthy to you?
Lest we forget the illicit series of events that are responsible for the disaster of the past seven and a half plus years, in 2000, 5 corrupt U.S. Supreme Court Judges appointed Bush to the Presidency, instead of allowing recounts of ballots in Florida to be completed. Both the 2000 and the 2004 Presidential elections were “won” by fraudulent means, lies and deceptions, meaning that President George W. Bush Jr. will have served 2 terms — 8 years — despite never being elected, and no one has been held accountable for their actions. Fraud will also most likely play a major role in the 2008 Presidential Elections.
Wall Street has been allowed to rape and plunder the American public, regardless of the cost to taxpayers. As noted by AlterNet in an excellent article detailing stages of the meltdown from 1982 to the present, Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is Enemy Action. For years America has paid heavy prices because of those in Washington. Now, in what basically amounts to Financial Terrorism, we’re being coerced to bailout those on Wall Street whose illicit actions are bankrupting us. Allowing this to happen with no oversight and no relief for those who are struggling financially due to Wall Street’s illicit actions should not be tolerated. Oversight is a definite necessity. You can tell Congress to stop the $700B Blank Check. It’s time for Americans to hold those responsible for the disasters of the last seven and a half plus years accountable for their actions.
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How long will it be before more money is required, Is this just a short term fix ?