Re: Sign the Petition - NO Blank Check for Wall Street

[hp...@lycos.com]

On Sep 22, 10:56 am, TJones <tjo...@genx.net> wrote:
> No blank check for Wall Street.
>
> Congress is on the brink of making a one-sided deal to give George W.
> Bush a blank check to bail out his pals - offering nearly (or perhaps
> more than) a trillion taxpayer dollars to Wall Street to cover its bad
> debts. That works out to somewhere between $2000 and $5000 from every
> American family. So what do the taxpayers get in return?
>
> Nothing. No new regulation or oversight to help avoid this kind of
> crisis in the future. No public interest givebacks to help people
> whose homes are in the hands of the banks. Perhaps most shockingly of
> all, the taxpayers get absolutely no share in the profits if and when
> these finance giants bounce back, even though we are now assuming a
> great deal of the risk.
>
> This is worse than a bad deal - this isn't a deal at all. This is a
> blank check to some of the richest companies in the world.
>
> There is some good news, though: Congress doesn't have to agreet to a
> blank check. Instead, it can choose to impose a few sensible
> conditions on the bailout to ensure that it will be used responsibly.
> Here are a few suggestions courtesy of Robert Reich1:
>
> If the taxpayers are shouldering the risk, the taxpayers should reap
> any eventual benefits. We accomplish this by giving the government an
> equity stake in every company we bail out proportionate to the amount
> we give them. If we're paying (more than) our fair share, the CEOs and
> executives should have to, too. All of the fat cats who got us into
> this mess should relinquish their stock options and salaries until
> they start showing us, their investors, that they can once again be
> profitable. Future salaries should be linked to profitability.
>
> No more campaign contributions from Wall Street executives and PACs.
> Taxpayer dollars should be used to get our nation out of a crisis.
> They cannot be used to fund giant, powerful lobby operations that will
> be used to strong arm Congress into making bad policy.
>
> Better regulations start right now. Wall Street can't expect to take
> thousands of dollars out of your paycheck without agreeing to
> increased transparency and more stringent oversight - the kind that
> might have helped avoid this mess to begin with.
>
> Bankruptcy judges get broader leeway to help homeowners. Why should we
> lose our homes so the CEOs can keep theirs?
>
> If Wall Street doesn't like these conditions, then it is welcome to
> find private investors to help it out of this debacle. But if the
> American people are going to take this hit, then we must have a say in
> the terms of the deal - even if we don't have an army of high-paid
> lobbyists at our disposal like they do.
>
> Congress must take swift and prudent action to avoid making a
> burgeoning crisis that much worse. Sign this petition today to make
> your voice heard to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Majority Leader Steny
> Hoyer, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Finance Chair Barney
> Frank, Senate Banking Chair Chris Dodd, and the de facto leaders of
> the two parties: Senators Barack Obama and John McCain. As elected
> officials, these people are all responsible to the taxpayers, not the
> Wall Street firms who line their campaign war chests. Please take
> action today.
>
> Sign the petition
>
> We strongly urge you not to issue a blank check to the Wall Street
> giants who have steered our country into financial dire straits. We
> must address this crisis quickly and prudently. Do not give these
> companies a dime of taxpayer money unless they agree to the following
> conditions:
>
> Go Here to sign petition
>
> http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/no_blank_check/?r=1606&id=912-885...