The Bailouts, Explained || ACORN & Accountability

[Christopher Hayes]

I've got two pieces in this week's issue (which also features an interview of Michael Moore by Naomi Klein)

1) The first is my Capitolism column on ACORN:

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091012/hayes

Here's an excerpt: "The disparity in the treatment of Blackwater et al. and ACORN is part of a larger American problem, what might be called the Inequality of Accountability. We diligently apply the principle of accountability to the poor and the powerless, and the principle of forgiveness to the wealthy and powerful"

2) The second is a piece I co-wrote with Nomi Prins in which we explain just how the bailout works, by imagining what it would look like if the extraordinary measures taken to keep banks afloat had been directed a single family.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091012/prins_hayes

If you find the bailout piece useful, please send around, and or let me know if you found parts of it confusing, difficult, etc.. One of the biggest reasons Wall Street has been able to get away with so much is that their actions are hidden behind a cloak of purposeful and misleading complexity. I think it's really important to try to simplify and explain, because at its base, it's all fairly comprehensible.

You should also check out Nomi's book, It Takes a Pillage, http://www.amazon.com/Takes-Pillage-Bailouts-Backroom-Washington/dp/0470529598

Onward,
-c