Senate Socks it to Main Street

Thomas Riggins

Well, with “bipartisan support”—read kissing Bush’s boots and Wall Street's hinder parts, both parties (including both the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates) turned their backs on Main Street and rushed to bail out monopoly capitalism from its own folly by voting for the $700 b bailout of the financial sector. The real problem, and hence the real solution (ending foreclosures, lowering interest rates on mortgages, and allowing judges to set new conditions on mortgage payments) went unaddressed. Only the same people in finance who made the problem will ultimately benefit since the money is going to bail them out and not the debt ridden American people. The theory behind this bill is the old “trickle down theory” so if anyone thought anything has been really learned from this crisis—don’t hold your breath. Like the Bourbons, Wall Street and its Congress has learned nothing and forgotten nothing. We can still hope the House rejects it again. Until measures are added to help homeowners and working people, and hold those on Wall Street responsible for their actions, this hand out to the rich should be rejected.