The Rich Are Staging a Coup This Morning ...a message from Michael Moore
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
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.
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.
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my personal reply:
I still say you can't blame one party over the other. Both are to blame. Both have added extra benefits for their respected party to bills they have tried to pass. Both have caused debt at one point or the other. Both tell us what we want to hear only to fail on their promise of change.
ReplyDeleteThere are a number of reasons why people end up losing their home. However, I know over a dozen people who were barely able to afford their monthly payments long before the economic struggles we have have today. So part of the blame is the fact that people took on more than they could chew.
One of the problems with buying a home that you can't honestly afford in comfort is the fact that you will most likely end up with a loan that is not locked in. Thus, you are at the mercy of the market. So yes, part of the blame does fall on the individual for taking that risk.
I was able to get a loan that is locked in so that I could buy my first home for $36,000-- a home that needed a lot of fixing up that was within my budget. Since that time I've put in new wiring, fixed the wood floors, and repaired the bricks of the foundation all without taking out more loans. I did a little at a time and did most of the work on my own or with the help of friends who do that sort of thing for a living.
A friend of mine bought his first home around the same time. He was able to obtain a loan that was not locked in so that he could buy a house for over $100,000. He was at the mercy of the market and ended up racking up all of his credit cards in order to add an addition to the house. He lost it. He simply could not afford it in the first place. Again, that was his mistake.
Part of that blame does fall on Clinton and the Democrats just as it falls on the Republicans and Bush. Again, both sides helped to create this chaos. Regardless of which party you support you must admit that people need to be more responsible about loans and credit cards.
If Obama and McCain were honest they would both say, "We both had a hand in this and we will both work toward fixing it". As it stands 'bipartisan' is thrown around often, but it does not really happen.
No matter who is elected the problems will still be here. It is not like everything will magically change for the better if Obama is elected or if McCain is elected. Both sides are going to have to work together no matter what or the US is going to be split far beyond social viewpoints.
I think we have all learned the hard way that we need to change our spending habits. That we don't need to see every new movie that comes out. That it is far cheaper to learn how to cook than to eat out every other night. That the used car might be a better purchaser than a new car with all those little gadgets. That wearing last years trends might be a bit more economical than buying knockoffs of celebrity clothing. That cutting back on smoking or drinking can save thousands per year that can be placed into insurance. That the old video game is just as fun as the one that came out last week. That a good book is more entertaining than an expensive radio or cd player. The list goes on.
Thank You Balhatain for your comment. I agree wholehartedly. For some unknown reason I didn't receive the follow up on this, so I only noticed today I got a comment from you. What can we say now, let's see! Happy festive season, Stefano.
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