The 700 billion dollar transfer of your hard-earned dollars to the Wall Street moguls who created our economic mess is a bad idea that just refuses to die. Rarely in our history has such an ill-advised piece of legislation been seriously considered by our Congress. Conservative Americans oppose the plan because it would be an unprecedented government intervention in our free market economy that will do more harm than good. Liberal Americans oppose it because the beneficiaries of this windfall are the very people who took advantage of poor and uneducated home buyers and created the economic mess we find ourselves in today.
But, despite broad public opposition, many leaders of both the Republican and Democratic parties support it. President George W. Bush (R), House Speaker Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA 8th), and both major party Presidential nominees Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) are all supporters. The bill failed in the House yesterday, but it failed narrowly. The Senate will be considering it again tomorrow, and our Congressmen will continue to bring it up until it passes.
Do not believe the fire-and-brimstone talk of bailout supporters. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ‘crashed’ a record 777 points yesterday, but recovered more than half of that amount today. Things are not that bad, and there is no evidence that this bailout will have any long term benefit (though there are many long term risks, and the establishment of a dangerous precedent of government interventionism).
I implore all of my readers, Republican and Democrat, to contact all of your Congressional representatives in the House and Senate immediately and demand that they reject this unprecedented waste of your money. Send emails, make phone calls, drop by (if you live near DC). The leaders of the Republican and Democratic parties will try to force this bill through by any means necessary, and we must make sure they know we oppose them.
The U.S. Capitol switchboard, (202) 224-3121, can get you in touch with the offices of your two Senators and your Representative. You can also send emails to any or all of your Congressional representatives through the excellent Congress.org web site.
DO NOT DELAY. There are, literally, only hours to make your voice heard. The debate is tentatively scheduled for about 9pm Wednesday, and the bill is being tied to a number of earmarks and unrelated issues (like Exxon Valdez victim benefits [!?!?]) that will make it harder for members to vote against it.