Last night, President Bush called on the American people to support a $700 billion government bailout to pay for the “bad decisions” of Wall Street:
With the situation becoming more precarious by the day, I faced a choice: To step in with dramatic government action, or to stand back and allow the irresponsible actions of some to undermine the financial security of all.
In his primetime address, Bush made no mention of the predatory lending practices or lax federal regulation that “set off a domino effect across our economy”:
I'm a strong believer in free enterprise. So my natural instinct is to oppose government intervention. I believe companies that make bad decisions should be allowed to go out of business. Under normal circumstances, I would have followed this course. But these are not normal circumstances. The market is not functioning properly. There's been a widespread loss of confidence. And major sectors of America's financial system are at risk of shutting down.
So, Bush’s solution is to stick every man, woman and child with a $2,333 tab to bail out greedy Wall Street fat cats.
A Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll found that 55 percent of Americans “said they did not believe the government should be responsible for funding a bailout plan”:
Most Americans don't believe the government has responsibility for bailing out financial firms with taxpayer money, a core part of the rescue plan Congress is considering to halt the near-meltdown of the nation's financial markets.
During his monologue, Jay Leno gave his assessment of Bush’s bailout scheme:
When you screw up, you pay. When they screw up, you pay.
Bush’s brazen hypocrisy is no joke. The Congressional Black Caucus prides itself on being the “conscience of the Congress.” Now is the time for the CBC to stand up and say, WTF?!
The CBC must ask: What’s in it for Main Street? And why now?
