Daily Show: Last week's classics

Taxation without representation

From the New York Times:

Treasury Would Emerge With Vast New Power

During its weeklong deliberations, Congress made many changes to the Bush administration’s original proposal to bail out the financial industry, but one overarching aspect of the initial plan that remains is the vast discretion it gives to the Treasury secretary.

The unelected Treasury secretary.

The draft legislation, which will be put to a House vote on Monday, gives Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. and his successor extraordinary power to decide how the $700 billion bailout fund is spent. For example, if he thinks it wise, he may buy not only mortgages and mortgage-backed securities, but any other financial instrument.

Without any input - whatsoever - from the generations of taxpayers footing the bill. This amounts to taxation without representation. Care to see what our forefathers thought of this idea?

Spurred by Patrick Henry, the Virginia Assembly passed a set of resolutions denouncing taxation without representation as a threat to colonial liberties. A few days later, the Massachusetts House invited all the colonies to appoint delegates to a Congress in New York to consider the Stamp Act menace. This Congress, held in October 1765, was the first intercolonial meeting ever summoned on American initiative. Twenty-seven men from nine colonies seized the opportunity to mobilize colonial opinion against parliamentary interference in American affairs. After much debate, the Congress adopted a set of resolutions asserting that "no taxes ever have been or can be constitutionally imposed on them, but by their respective legislatures" and that the Stamp Act had a "manifest tendency to subvert the rights and liberties of the colonists."

For a full breakdown of the vast new powers congress is bestowing on this unelected Treasurer, keep reading.

There is brief mention of 'congressional oversight.' Hopefully this is a serious attempt to keep the robber barons in check.

From what I've seen in the past... pardon me if I am feeling zero trust right now.

Stick em up, America

Michael Moore on the great new, bipartisan "Fleecing of America Bill:"

Friends,

Let me cut to the chase. The biggest robbery in the history of this country is taking place as you read this. Though no guns are being used, 300 million hostages are being taken. Make no mistake about it: After stealing a half trillion dollars to line the pockets of their war-profiteering backers for the past five years, after lining the pockets of their fellow oilmen to the tune of over a hundred billion dollars in just the last two years, Bush and his cronies -- who must soon vacate the White House -- are looting the U.S. Treasury of every dollar they can grab. They are swiping as much of the silverware as they can on their way out the door.

No matter what they say, no matter how many scare words they use, they are up to their old tricks of creating fear and confusion in order to make and keep themselves and the upper one percent filthy rich. Just read the first four paragraphs of the lead story in last Monday's New York Times and you can see what the real deal is:

"Even as policy makers worked on details of a $700 billion bailout of the financial industry, Wall Street began looking for ways to profit from it.

"Financial firms were lobbying to have all manner of troubled investments covered, not just those related to mortgages.

"At the same time, investment firms were jockeying to oversee all the assets that Treasury plans to take off the books of financial institutions, a role that could earn them hundreds of millions of dollars a year in fees.

"Nobody wants to be left out of Treasury's proposal to buy up bad assets of financial institutions."

Unbelievable. Wall Street and its backers created this mess and now they are going to clean up like bandits. Even Rudy Giuliani is lobbying for his firm to be hired (and paid) to "consult" in the bailout.

The problem is, nobody truly knows what this "collapse" is all about. Even Treasury Secretary Paulson admitted he doesn't know the exact amount that is needed (he just picked the $700 billion number out of his head!). The head of the congressional budget office said he can't figure it out nor can he explain it to anyone.

And yet, they are screeching about how the end is near! Panic! Recession! The Great Depression! Y2K! Bird flu! Killer bees! We must pass the bailout bill today!! The sky is falling! The sky is falling!

Falling for whom? NOTHING in this "bailout" package will lower the price of the gas you have to put in your car to get to work. NOTHING in this bill will protect you from losing your home. NOTHING in this bill will give you health insurance.

Health insurance? Mike, why are you bringing this up? What's this got to do with the Wall Street collapse?

It has everything to do with it. This so-called "collapse" was triggered by the massive defaulting and foreclosures going on with people's home mortgages. Do you know why so many Americans are losing their homes? To hear the Republicans describe it, it's because too many working class idiots were given mortgages that they really couldn't afford. Here's the truth: The number one cause of people declaring bankruptcy is because of medical bills. Let me state this simply: If we had had universal health coverage, this mortgage "crisis" may never have happened.

This bailout's mission is to protect the obscene amount of wealth that has been accumulated in the last eight years. It's to protect the top shareholders who own and control corporate America. It's to make sure their yachts and mansions and "way of life" go uninterrupted while the rest of America suffers and struggles to pay the bills. Let the rich suffer for once. Let them pay for the bailout. We are spending 400 million dollars a day on the war in Iraq. Let them end the war immediately and save us all another half-trillion dollars!

I have to stop writing this and you have to stop reading it. They are staging a financial coup this morning in our country. They are hoping Congress will act fast before they stop to think, before we have a chance to stop them ourselves. So stop reading this and do something -- NOW! Here's what you can do immediately:

1. Call or e-mail Senator Obama. Tell him he does not need to be sitting there trying to help prop up Bush and Cheney and the mess they've made. Tell him we know he has the smarts to slow this thing down and figure out what's the best route to take. Tell him the rich have to pay for whatever help is offered. Use the leverage we have now to insist on a moratorium on home foreclosures, to insist on a move to universal health coverage, and tell him that we the people need to be in charge of the economic decisions that affect our lives, not the barons of Wall Street.

2. Take to the streets. Participate in one of the hundreds of quickly-called demonstrations that are taking place all over the country (especially those near Wall Street and DC).

3. Call your Representative in Congress and your Senators. (click here to find their phone numbers). Tell them what you told Senator Obama.

When you screw up in life, there is hell to pay. Each and every one of you reading this knows that basic lesson and has paid the consequences of your actions at some point. In this great democracy, we cannot let there be one set of rules for the vast majority of hard-working citizens, and another set of rules for the elite, who, when they screw up, are handed one more gift on a silver platter. No more! Not again!

Yours,
Michael Moore

P.S. Having read further the details of this bailout bill, you need to know you are being lied to. They talk about how they will prevent golden parachutes. It says NOTHING about what these executives and fat cats will make in SALARY. According to Rep. Brad Sherman of California, these top managers will continue to receive million-dollar-a-month paychecks under this new bill. There is no direct ownership given to the American people for the money being handed over. Foreign banks and investors will be allowed to receive billion-dollar handouts. A large chunk of this $700 billion is going to be given directly to Chinese and Middle Eastern banks. There is NO guarantee of ever seeing that money again.

P.P.S. From talking to people I know in DC, they say the reason so many Dems are behind this is because Wall Street this weekend put a gun to their heads and said either turn over the $700 billion or the first thing we'll start blowing up are the pension funds and 401(k)s of your middle class constituents. The Dems are scared they may make good on their threat. But this is not the time to back down or act like the typical Democrat we have witnessed for the last eight years. The Dems handed a stolen election over to Bush. The Dems gave Bush the votes he needed to invade a sovereign country. Once they took over Congress in 2007, they refused to pull the plug on the war. And now they have been cowered into being accomplices in the crime of the century. You have to call them now and say "NO!" If we let them do this, just imagine how hard it will be to get anything good done when President Obama is in the White House. THESE DEMOCRATS ARE ONLY AS STRONG AS THE BACKBONE WE GIVE THEM. CALL CONGRESS NOW.

Note to MM - we can't give them backbone. We have been trying ever since we elected them to stop the Neocon bleeding, and they have capitulated every single time, every single bill.

They didn't end the war, end warrantless wiretapping, or even penalize those who perpetuated it. They let the Republicans overturn a 25 year moratorium on offshore drilling when they should have been using their majority to pass new alternative fuel incentives. They refused to hold Bush accountable for lying, stealing, for allowing New Orleans to drown without assistance, or for breaking any of the countless laws he has laughed at. They didn't honor their oaths of office and defend our Constitution from the actions of a tyrant.

They haven't even tried to stop the bleeding! Pelosi lost her table, and her nerve. They couldn't even get Rove to appear before Congress. I hold them all in contempt.

They are toothless, compromised cowards; embedded with the Neocons. I'm sure this new fleecing bill will make their corporate owners quite happy. Meanwhile, witness the final gutting of America.

As Lincoln once said - and he was nothing if not prescient:

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.

Believe me - if congressional Democrats and Republicans think they can get away with this in an election year, they can and they will. They know damn well we have no alternative. We either vote (in our fake elections) for toothless, corporate idiots... or we're stuck with evil Neocons. Talk about voting for the least worst alternative...

But sure, I'll call my toothless, corporate idiots again.

Much ado about fleecing

Whoopee! Negotiators have very nearly settled on a blueprint for how they plan spend our great-grandchildren's money!

Hurray. Meanwhile, China returned triumphant from space; confident in the knowledge that we're about to borrow another $700 billion from them (which would pay for quite a few more trips to space and beyond.) Thank you W, for selling our entire country out from under us.

How long do you imagine it will be before Bush starts raffling off our National Parks and forests? Perhaps the Chinese and Saudis already own them. Its not like anyone would tell us.




CNN:

Under the tentative deal being finalized, the rescue program would be overseen by a board including the treasury secretary, secretary of commerce, head of the Securities and Exchange Commission and chairman of the Federal Reserve, said Sen. Kent Conrad, R-North Dakota, who heads the Senate Budget Committee.

What if we don't trust any of these people? I don't trust the three people in above photo - let alone a bunch of unelected government stooges. Do you?

Who exactly are... the secretary of commerce, head of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the chairman of the Federal Reserve? Who are these people? Undoubtedly Bushies. Isn't everyone in government a Bushie these days? Would you give $700 billion to Brownie?

If our money will be paying for this, shouldn't we get to decide who oversees the deal? I choose Tom Hanks, Jon Stewart and the Dalai Lama. What -- I don't get a say?

We have no trust left, guys. NONE. You have stolen, begged, borrowed and caved so many times now that we don't trust any of you lobbyist creatures.

I wouldn't trust my own 'representative' to oversee this deal. I sure as hell don't trust Paulson and his cronies. Not a single congressman watching over our money? Because congress is at least elected to watch out for our interests.

Terrific.

Jon Stewart: Awkward Loan Interview

Jon outdid himself last night. Grade for last night's show...? Emmy ++

Verbal brawl in the White House

-- What - George didn't get his way?

It appears the Republicans want their party back! And not a moment too soon.

I'm sure Congress worked very hard to forge a bipartisan compromise; a solution to the financial crisis that was constitutional, and included protection for taxpayers. The very predictable and reoccurring problem is - of course - that compromise isn't (ever) what George and his buddies want. The Neocons want total control of the purse strings - a complete financial coup - and nothing less will ever satisfy them.

George won't be happy until he and his pals have stolen every last borrowed penny.

This was so predictable. That the Republicans fought back... that is a welcome surprise. It may just save our nation from crippling debt and bankruptcy.

Congress - both Republicans and Democrats - hammered out a compromise. But it was never going to fly with the Neocons. They (who created this mess) refuse all compromises, all oversight, all 'rights of man' -- and they spurn and scoff at our Constitution.

They came for our money, our children's money, and our grand children's money. I'm sure they planned to spirit it overseas, perhaps to Dubai.

Thank you Congress -- and especially to congressional Republicans -- for standing firm. Stick to your principles! Don't let up. We're counting on you.

Thank you to the real Republicans. I dream of a day when the Democrats can remember what they once stood for as a party; the party of Kennedy and Roosevelt (they can start by glancing over at Dennis Kucinich and Russ Feingold.) Perhaps then there will be balance again.

If not... its time to form a third party to represent the growing numbers of us that fall through the cracks. Honestly... I've always been something of a mix: fiscally conservative, socially progressive. And no, I don't mean 'liberal;' progressive... as in 'progress.'

Progress means alternate forms of energy that won't destroy our climate or cause endless wars for oil. Progress means protecting the environment for future generations and simply because it is the right thing to do. Teddy Roosevelt (Republican) created our National Parks Service. Eisenhower (Republican) created the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge. Republicans have a tradition of preserving the land. They haven't always been greedy destroyers.

Progress means protecting our Constitution against tyranny and any hostile overthrow of our democracy. The Constitution is the only true guardian of our freedom. No foreign war is ever going to make or keep us free. That is our responsibility.

Progress means change from this rule of greed and elitism. Progress means a return to the days when we Americans believed in justice, honor, fair play, prosperity for all. Remember that American dream? Many of our ancestors went through hell to reach our shores so that their descendants could live well and prosper, in freedom and harmony. But they expect us to preserve this dream.

Fiscally conservative and socially progressive. I don't see why we can't live in a nation that succeeds economically and socially. I have never understood why our corporations couldn't be successful in a free market, while taxpaying Americans (and the poor, the down and out) also succeed or at least survive with good jobs, fair pay, good schools and affordable health care. It was only corporate greed that got in the way of balance and the 'good life' in our country, and around the world.

If the corporations - with Neocons promoting this irresponsible behavior - weren't so damn greedy, we'd never have gotten into this mess. We could have had a healthy society that all could live in and thrive.

I hear there are a lot of us who consider ourselves 'fiscally conservative and socially progressive.' Neither party wants us... we need our own representation.

From the New York Times:

September 26, 2008

Talks Implode During a Day of Chaos; Fate of Bailout Plan Remains Unresolved

WASHINGTON — The day began with an agreement that Washington hoped would end the financial crisis that has gripped the nation. It dissolved into a verbal brawl in the Cabinet Room of the White House, urgent warnings from the president and pleas from a Treasury secretary who knelt before the House speaker and appealed for her support.

“If money isn’t loosened up, this sucker could go down,” President Bush declared Thursday as he watched the $700 billion bailout package fall apart before his eyes, according to one person in the room.

It was an implosion that spilled out from behind closed doors into public view in a way rarely seen in Washington.

By 10:30 p.m., after another round of talks, Congressional negotiators gave up for the night and said they would try again on Friday. Left uncertain was the fate of the bailout, which the White House says is urgently needed to fix broken financial and credit markets, as well as whether the first presidential debate would go forward as planned Friday night in Mississippi.

When Congressional leaders and Senators John McCain and Barack Obama, the two major party presidential candidates, trooped to the White House on Thursday afternoon, most signs pointed toward a bipartisan agreement on a grand compromise that could be accepted by all sides and signed into law by the weekend. It was intended to pump billions of dollars into the financial system, restoring liquidity and keeping credit flowing to businesses and consumers.

“We’re in a serious economic crisis,” Mr. Bush told reporters as the meeting began shortly before 4 p.m. in the Cabinet Room, adding, “My hope is we can reach an agreement very shortly.”

But once the doors closed, the smooth-talking House Republican leader, John A. Boehner of Ohio, surprised many in the room by declaring that his caucus could not support the plan to allow the government to buy distressed mortgage assets from ailing financial companies.

Mr. Boehner pressed an alternative that involved a smaller role for the government, and Mr. McCain, whose support of the deal is critical if fellow Republicans are to sign on, declined to take a stand.

The talks broke up in angry recriminations, according to accounts provided by a participant and others who were briefed on the session, and were followed by dueling news conferences and interviews rife with partisan finger-pointing.

Friday morning, on CBS’s “The Early Show,” Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the lead Democratic negotiator, said the bailout had been derailed by internal Republican politics.

“I didn’t know I was going to be the referee for an internal G.O.P. ideological civil war,” Mr. Frank said, according to The A.P.Thursday, in the Roosevelt Room after the session, the Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., literally bent down on one knee as he pleaded with Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker, not to “blow it up” by withdrawing her party’s support for the package over what Ms. Pelosi derided as a Republican betrayal.

“I didn’t know you were Catholic,” Ms. Pelosi said, a wry reference to Mr. Paulson’s kneeling, according to someone who observed the exchange. She went on: “It’s not me blowing this up, it’s the Republicans.”

Read more...

Sanders: Bailout Transfers Wealth Upwards

Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont was a member of the House Banking Committee before his election to the Senate. He is now a member of the Budget Committee.

As one of the few 'Independent' voices in the growing congressional din, I read his words with great interest.

Sanders, as quoted in The Nation:

For years, as a member of the House Banking Committee and now as a member of the Senate Budget Committee, I have heard the Bush Administration tell us how "robust" our economy was and how strong the "fundamentals" were. That was until a few days ago. Now, we are being told that if Congress does not act immediately and approve the $700 billion Wall Street bailout proposal these "free marketers" have just written up, there will be an unprecedented economic meltdown in the United States and an unraveling of the global economy.

This proposal as presented is an unacceptable attempt to force middle income families (and our children) to pick up the cost of fixing the horrendous economic mess that is the product of the Bush Administration's deregulatory fever and Wall Street's insatiable greed. If the potential danger to our economy was not so dire, this blatant effort to essentially transfer $700 billion up the income ladder to those at the top would be laughable.

Let us be clear. If the economy is on the edge of collapse we need to act. But rescuing the economy does not mean we have to just give away $700 billion of taxpayer money to the banks. (In truth, it could be much more than $700 billion. The bill only says the government is limited to having $700 billion outstanding at any time. By selling the mortgage backed assets it acquires -- even at staggering losses -- the government will be able to buy even more resulting is a virtually limitless financial exposure on the part of taxpayers.) Any proposal must protect middle income and working families from bearing the burden of this bailout.

I have proposed a three part plan to accomplish that goal which includes a five-year, 10% surtax on the income of individuals above $500,000 a year, and $1 million a year for couples; a requirement that the price the government pays for any mortgage assets are discounted appropriately so that government can recover the amount it paid for them; and, finally, the government should receive equity in the companies it bails out so that when the stock of these companies rises after the bailout, taxpayers also have the opportunity to share in the resulting windfall. Taken together, these measures would provide the best guarantee that at the end of five years, the government will have gotten back the money it put out.

Second, in addition to protecting the average American from being saddled with the cost, any serious proposal has to include reforms so that we end the type of behavior that led to this crisis in the first place. Much of this activity can be traced to specific legislation that broke down regulatory safety walls in the financial sector and allowed banks and others to engage in new types of risky transactions that are at the heart of this crisis. That deregulation needs to be repealed. Wall Street has shown it cannot be trusted to police itself. We need to reinstate a strong regulatory system that protects our economy.

Third, we need to address the needs of working families in this country who are today facing very difficult times. If we can bail out Wall Street, we need to respond with equal vigor to their plight. That means, for example, creating millions of jobs through major investments in rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure and creating a new renewable energy system. We must also make certain that the most vulnerable Americans don't freeze in the winter or die because they lack access to primary health care.

Finally, we need to protect ourselves from being at the mercy of giant companies that are "too big to fail," that is, companies who are so large that their failure would cause systemic harm to the economy. We need to assess which companies fall into this category and insist they are broken up. Otherwise, the American taxpayer will continue to be on the financial hook for the risky behavior, the mismanagement, and even the illegal conduct of these companies' executives.

These are the last days of the Bush Administration, the most dishonest and incompetent in modern American history. It is imperative that, at this important moment, Congress stand up for the middle class and for fiscal integrity. The future of our country is at stake.

If you like what Senator Sanders has to say, you can sign an online petition (posted on his Senate website) in the form of a letter to Paulson.

I believe I have posted every reasonable solution offered from the left, the right and middle; from Republican, Democrat and Independent. Any one of them is better by far then the swindle plan offered up by Bush and Paulson.

Now we wait.

It will be interesting to note what sort of compromise Congress can strike with our famously stubborn Neocon-in-chief; and the endless ripples this decision will cause long after the (first) check has been cut.

An open letter to my 'representatives' in Congress

To my Indiana senators and my representative:

Please... please resist the pressure from the Bush administration to deliver them a $700 billion blank check to address the current economic crisis. This is extortion. They have put us in the position where we absolutely must address this crisis, and quickly. But giving $700 billion to the Treasury Secretary to spend as he wishes will devastate the American economy for generations. And once it is done, we won't be able to undo it.

Please do it right: don't allow Wall Street to ram through whatever lucrative bailout they want, while leaving the entire rest of America at risk. Pass legislation with sensible checks and balances that protect the public as hundreds of billions of our taxpayer dollars are used to address the crisis:

1. NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION.

   Our forefathers fought the Revolution over this issue! I'm sure they are rolling in their graves (and have been for the last 8 years.) If our tax dollars are going to buy bad assets from irresponsible bankers, the American people must have oversight... and get something for it. Equity in bailed out firms. Strong regulation so this doesn't happen again. Stern public oversight. And, no golden parachutes for CEOs with our money.

   We the people are now bound by strong bankruptcy laws that penalize ordinary Americans for any disaster that may strike out of the blue: hurricanes, terrorist attacks, even astronomical medical bills. When signing the Bankruptcy Reform Bill in 2005, George Bush said "America is a nation of personal responsibility where people are expected to meet their obligations." Really now.

   Greedy CEOs that deliberately put investors' money and our economy at risk simply to rake in more cash, want to walk away with a bag of cash - no strings attached. Is this still America? Or was I simply brought up believing in an America that was never more than a myth? This is where the rubber hits the road: we're either a democracy, where 'we the people' have representation and protection from robber barons; or some sort of financial fascist state. You tell us. Because you can't hide the truth any longer.

2. NO HELP FOR WALL STREET WITHOUT HELP FOR MAIN STREET.

   To truly get our economy back on track, we must aid the victims, not just the predators. Freeze foreclosures. Renegotiate bad mortgages. Create jobs generating clean energy and modernizing infrastructure. Prevent cuts in local police, health, road and school budgets. Extend unemployment insurance and food stamps. Whatever you do or don't do today will come back to haunt or redeem this congress. Show us you really represent us, not just wealthy lobbyists.
   

3. NO INSIDER DEALING.

   Wall Street can no longer be allowed to write their own laws. Legislators must step up and refuse campaign money from Wall Street PACs or executives. We need a "time out" on contact between paid Wall Street lobbyists and elected officials while the crisis is addressed; and yes I realize it is an election year... and I'm sure this is their way of extorting whatever they want from any politician running for re-election on their dime.

   Don't let them get away with it. Any congressional meetings with Wall Street officials must be immediately posted on a single website for complete transparency.

Thank you in advance for taking a stand for common sense and democracy. Oh, and may I remind you in this election year... everyone is watching.

Fear, then Loathing of Wall Street

Allison Linn, MSNBC.com:

"As Americans digest a dizzying series of events that has left Wall Street shaken to its core, the mood on Main Street is shifting from fear to loathing. They are angry that government regulators did not do enough to prevent this - and protect them - in the first place. They are upset the government is proposing billions of dollars in bailouts for Wall Street, even as many regular Americans are struggling to hang onto their homes and pay their bills."

Yes ma'am. We are.

And imagine... there are only 41 days, eleven hours and 6 minutes - or less - until we vote. Hell hath no fury like a taxpayer scorned.

Kucinich: "Cash for Trash"

Great article in truthout.org; I noticed immediately that Kucinich was back in form, once again fighting for the rights of the citizens.

Seems he has company from the other side of the aisle as well -- from Republicans that remember what it means to be Republican:

Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), spoke out against a bailout, calling the current proposal "cash for trash," and proposing a distribution of the assets back to the taxpayers.

"Since the bailout will cost each and every American about $2,300, tomorrow I will offer legislation to create a United States Mutual Trust Fund, which will take control of $700 billion in stock assets, at market value and not higher, convert those assets to shares, and distribute $2,300 worth of shares to new individual savings accounts in the name of each and every American," Kucinich said in a statement.

And now... a voice from Indiana! I was a little surprised to see that it was Mike Pence (of 'Baghdad is like an Indiana market' notoriety. Yes - that Mike Pence.)

It appears that he is one of those old school Republicans:

Conservative Republican Representative Mike Pence of Indiana was the first to loudly oppose the bailout plan from within the Republican Party.

"The Administration's request amounts to the largest corporate bailout in American history. Congress should act, but should act in a way that protects the integrity of our free market and protects the American taxpayer from more debt and higher taxes," Pence said in a statement Saturday.

Pence makes his argument based on his belief in the Republican mantra of "free market" economics. "To have the freedom to succeed, we must preserve the freedom to fail. Any solution to our present crisis must preserve our essential economic freedom," Pence said.

Today, Mike Pence can say anything he likes about Indiana farmers markets. He stepped up to the plate and spoke sanity to greed.

Wall Street is taking advantage... of the fact that it is an election year and they have nearly all politicians that are running for re-election over a barrel: a financial barrel. As I have been musing, and at times angrily shouting, Wall Street buys politicians through campaign contributions. This is an election year. You can call this outright blackmail and not be out of line:

The rush to bail out financial institutions and the willingness to defend executive compensation comes as no surprise to campaign finance experts. Massie Ritsch, communications director for the money in politics watchdog group The Center for Responsive Politics, examines the effect of campaign contributions to politicians in Washington.

"Wall Street is one of the biggest campaign givers in American politics. When you combine donations from the finance, insurance and real estate sectors [all of which stand to gain from the bailout], they become the largest contributor, splitting roughly $311 million evenly between Republicans and Democrats," Ritsch said.

Wanna get something done? Buy everybody.

I read the news today - oh boy (Friday edition)

CNN Breaking News alert:

-- Treasury Secretary Paulson says "hundreds of billions" of dollars are needed to resolve U.S. financial crisis.

Have a nice weekend! :)