Want our money? Then we OWN YOU.

I'm sick and tired of banks begging at our doors. The same banks that would happily foreclose on us, without a thought. The same banks that came begging to the government for a bailout because they "just couldn't make it" after all of their irresponsible but lucrative business ventures; then threw another lavish, 'we deserve the best' party for themselves.

As though our money was their birthright. Partying on our thin dime... while people are being tossed out of their homes. Partying on our thin dime after repeated bailouts and promises that they won't use corporate jets, etc., etc., etc., (lie after lie -- and undoubtedly laughing behind closed doors as they get richer and We The People go bust.)

This must stop. This has to stop.

Mr. Obama, please: the next time the banks come asking for cash, they sign over the stock and We own them. They report to us, the stockholders; and the party finally ends.

Federal workers all took a pay freeze... right? The only way to make these greedy bastards toe the line is to take them over and freeze their pay.

And fire their loser CEOs. As the GOP is so fond of saying... there is no free lunch.

From Maureen Dowd courtesy of the New York Times (OP-ED:)

I Ponied Up for Sheryl Crow?
By MAUREEN DOWD

LOS ANGELES

Talk about being teed off.

The economy is croaking and bankers are still partying at a golf tournament here on our dime.

It’s a good argument for nationalization, or better yet, internationalization. Outsource the jobs of these perfidious, oblivious bank executives to Bangalore; Bollywood bashes have to cost less than Hollywood ones.

The entertainment Web site TMZ broke the story Tuesday that Northern Trust of Chicago, which got $1.5 billion in bailout money and then laid off 450 workers, flew hundreds of clients and employees to Los Angeles last week and treated them to four days of posh hotel rooms, salmon and filet mignon dinners, music concerts, a PGA golf tournament at the Riviera Country Club with Mercedes shuttle rides and Tiffany swag bags.

“A rep from the PGA told us Northern Trust wrote one big, fat check in order to sponsor the event,” TMZ reported.

Northern No Trust had a lavish dinner at the Ritz Carlton on Wednesday with a concert by Chicago (at a $100,000 fee); rented a private hangar at the Santa Monica Airport on Thursday for another big dinner with a gig by Earth, Wind & Fire, and closed down the House of Blues on Sunset Strip on Saturday (at a cost of $50,000) for a dinner and serenade by Sheryl Crow.

Read the rest (if you can do it without smashing your monitor...)

Renewing America's 'Contract with the Middle Class'

Excellent commentary... and true. Leo Hindery Jr. writing for the LA Times:

In the last 25 years, what is good for America and what is good for much of corporate America have gotten way out of sync.

Not all that long ago, America's prominent business and government leaders widely believed that our nation's prosperity depended on a strong middle class growing from the bottom up. Workers were rewarded for their hard work with fair wages, benefits and advancement opportunities -- and our economy and our national security were much stronger for it.

Henry Ford certainly knew this, and often said that his company would prosper only if his workers earned enough to buy the Fords they produced. And in 1953, when General Motors' president told the Senate that "what was good for the country was good for General Motors and vice versa," he was simply stating the then-commonly held belief that success for American corporations generally meant success for America and American workers.

However, over the last 25 years -- especially over the last decade -- what is good for America and what is good for much of corporate America have gotten way out of sync. Our current business culture too often emphasizes only short-term corporate profits and shareholder returns -- however and wherever they are generated -- and in the process, what is good for America is being pushed aside.

Read more