Columnist Jamala Rogers
That’s one for the people. We were able to stop the first rendition of the Wall Street bailout plan. Now we have a little more time to minimize as much negative impact on the working and middle classes as possible.
Congress received tens of thousands of calls and emails from their constituents. Newspapers reported receiving more letters to the editor on this issue than at any other time since the September 11 tragedy. Congressman Wm. Lacy Clay voted against the bailout. We should hear from him on what his ideas are about Plan B.
The bailout plan to reward corporate greed stoked the fires of outrage simmering inside most Americans for the past several years as we watched our personal financial health suffer while corporate moguls rubbed our noses in their excesses. We remembered former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski and his $6,000 shower curtains. We had flashbacks of Enron’s book cooking that wiped out the retirement and savings of its employees. We took note of the $500 million that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson left Goldman Sachs with and now is asking us for our paltry earnings (most Americans don’t have any savings).
We reflected on the fact that we are still paying for the $400 billion from the savings and loan theft of the 1980s. We got angry, really angry.
How this country came to be on the brink of a financial catastrophe is not only about greed. Congress played a role as well with legislation that aided and abetted this criminal behavior. For example, there are about 100 corporate subsidy programs in the federal budget. (This is separate from earmarks). TIME magazine did an exhaustive investigation on corporate welfare back in 2002 and confirmed that the government was doling out $125 billion annual for corporate welfare. Add to the mix the so-called war on terrorism which has only made the Blackwaters and Halliburtons of the world richer. Billions of public dollars sucked out of an economy daily. It doesn’t take a Harvard economist to know this is unsustainable.
We’ve been hearing the refrain, “Now is not the time to figure out how we got here…” Yes. It. Is. If we don’t understand how corporate behavior, governmental economic policies and a culture of obsessive consumerism have contributed to the weakened state of the nation’s economy, we cannot fix the problem or hold anyone accountable.
Where did the figure of $700 billion come from and what was it supposed to specifically cover? Who do we borrow $700 billion from? What was the guarantee that this would solve the problem? What was the role of Wall Street in shouldering most of the financial risks in the bailout plan?
These and other important questions were never sufficiently answered for law-abiding taxpayers being asked to sacrifice yet again.
Here’s what I think has to happen the second time around.
There needs to be transparency and reporting to taxpayers about Plan B. There needs to be an immediate moratorium on corporate subsidies and tax loopholes, some that exempt corporations from paying taxes despite their megabillion profits. Since housing is the cornerstone of the market and of our neighborhoods, the original interest rates must be honored that were given to homeowners who were affected by the sub prime loan rip-offs. There must be a restructuring of the market to including safeguards, timelines and benchmarks. CEO salaries must be proportionate with worker salaries. There must be actual oversight and enforcement of policies and practices. There must be minimum burden on working people. There must be penalties for those who got the country into this mess.
Meanwhile, let’s keep our eyes on the prize. Take some deep breaths, do our homework and continue the public debate. And let’s organize like crazy to get the vote out on November 4 to send a message that we want real change.