The geniuses, who love to parse words, in order to allay your concerns and sway your opinion, are trying real hard to sell us the Wall Street Bail Out Plan as the “Economic Rescue Plan”.  They know that not enough people will buy into the idea of bailing out the corporate fat-cats, who largely are responsible for the situation that we are facing.  So, what DO they do?  Well, they replace “bailout” with a more palatable word.  A more positive word.  A more heroic word.  “Rescue”.

You “bail out” your buddy, when he gets arrested for drunk and disorderly.  You “bail out” your brother-in-law, when he gets picked up in a “John” sting.  Essentially, you “bail out” someone who has done something WRONG.

Firemen come to the “rescue”.  A lifeguard “rescues” the drowning person.  The cavalry, or the Marines, come to the “rescue”.  When there’s a flood, or earthquake, or any natural (or man-made) disaster, those who come to help are called “rescue” workers.  There is nobility in a “rescue”.

But, rescuers are not paid to be judgmental.  When it comes to doling out $700Bil, of tax payers’ money, to prop up mis-managed, failing businesses . . . shouldn’t we expect some judgment?

Now, guys like John McCain are now complaining about Congress’s “inaction”.  Inaction?  They took action, John.  They voted “NO”.  Enough (bi-partisan) congressmen made the assessment that the bill was lacking, and took the necessary action.  If they had the choice between that bill and another bill, and didn’t choose either one, then THAT would be inaction.

And, they keep telling us that “Time is running out!”  “Time is of the essence!”  “We HAVE to get this done!”  Whenever you sign any kind of contract don’t they always advise you to read things . . . carefully, first?  I mean we should ALL know exactlywhat we’re getting ourselves into, right?  Doesn’t it make sense to take a little time . . . in order to get it right?  The first vote gave it a thumbs down, and the world didn’t end.  So, now we’ve been given a little more time.  Hmmm.  It reminds me of those big car sales, where they tell you to: “Buy NOW!”  “Sale Ends September 30th!”  But, now . . . because they weren’t able to sell enough:  “Sale Extended to October 3rd!”

Whenever anybody tries to pressure you in to something, it usually means it’s not going to be in your best interest.  Don’t let them bully us into a bad decision.  WE are the ones paying.

YUR

MICHAEL MOORE ? ? ?

This article was forwarded to me last night.  I think it’s right up there with the Marcy Kaptur speech.  This “crisis” is the terrorist attack that many of us expected, leading up to this Presidential election.  It essentially serves two purposes: 1. It is a marvelous WMD (Weapon of Mass Distraction), taking focus away from the most crucial Presidential race of our time, and 2. It’s a last ditch - HUGE payoff – transfer of wealth, from American citizens to the (already) wealthy CORPORATE FAT CATS.

Don’t take this lying down!  Word is out that the Senate is looking to bypass the House, and slip this “Bailout Plan” attached to a renewable energy tax incentive bill.   CONTACT YOUR SENATORS NOW!!!
http://www.senate. gov/general/ contact_informat ion/senators_ cfm.cfm?State= IL   Let them know that you do NOT approve of this sneaky, backdoor maneuver.   YUR

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
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

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.

From:  http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?messageDate=2008-09-29

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you our next media darling: Representative Marcy Kaptur!!!  If I had been present, at the time of her speech, I would have given her a standing ovation that would’ve lasted SO long they would’ve had to drag my ass outta there!  She speaks truth to power.  She speaks for ME.  About the only thing that I would have added would be a call for Hank Paulson’s resignation.  They’ve finally pushed their sick little game just a little too far, and finally . . . FINALLY enough Americans have woken up long enough to say:  Screw you!  We are not going to take it anymore.  The gravy train has made it’s final stop!

Paulson no longer has credibility.  And maybe, through this attempted force-feeding of bad legislation, with all their fear-mongering, enough Americans will see just how complicit the corporate media has been, and DEMAND that they clean up their act as well!

YUR

Subtitle: “Is it any wonder you are too cool to fool?” – David Bowie, Fame

The architect/author of the bail out bill was George W. Bush appointee Henry (Hank) Paulson.  An ex-Goldman Sachs chief executive, whose comp package in 2005 was $37Mil, and was (projected) $16.4Mil in 2006, before being named United States Secretary of the Treasury on June 3, 2006.  His estimated net worth is north of $700Mil(US).

With this little bit of wording, in the initial version:

Sec. 8. Review.

“Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.”

. . . is there any wonder why anyone responsible would be hesitant to approve anything submitted by this man?  A guy FROM Wall Street wants to give $700Bil (of our tax $s) TO  Wall Street, and he has the stones to insert such a Rovian/Bush escape clause???  From this point on the guy’s credibility (like his boss’) was shot.

Bush Job Approval           Survey Date          Apprv%      Disapprv%    Unsure%  

Even IF the version that came up for vote today had all the necessary provisions for protecting the tax payers – and we’re hearing there were still substantial loopholes – there was always going to be a George Bush/Hank Paulson stink to this thing.  They could very easily remove half of this stink if Paulson RESIGNS (Are we to believe that – for the past two years - Hank didn’t know what was going on at: Bear Stearns, Lehman Bros, Merrill Lynch, Washington Mutual, Wachovia Bank, etc.?) and they get someone who doesn’t smell like a fox, working on the inside of the hen house.

YUR