Yeah, it makes no sense to me either. The American system is just so opposed to handouts. "They got themselves into this mess, they can get themselves out!" and "we believe in the capitalist system and its ability to right iteself." And then they give a $700B handout to bankers for the sake of economic welfare. Huh? Did they at least manage to establish some decent checks and balances to ensure that things like this don't happen again?

I didn't catch enough of the news to know the answer to that, but somehow, I doubt it. :(

Exactly -- no handouts for poor people, but always for the corporations -- no checks and balances, as far as I can tell -- and we will certainly see the costs as far as the dismantling of social services for years and years...

According to the numbers on October 4th 2008 the population of the US was 305,328,014. If every one were given 1 billion dollars they could more than likely pay off their homes and bills and have money to spare. This would also save the US government almost 4 billion dollars. Let the large companies go out of business. There is always someone in the wings waiting for a take over.

I'd be happy with just a million :)

Thanks, Mattilda, you're a voice of sanity in a crowd with way too many terminally naive partisans of this or that Democratic (sic) savior. Your comments on the bipartisan Congress get to the heart of the matter.

This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as when the baby gets hold of a hammer. Will Rogers

Bipartisanship equals bigotry, war, and an all out attack on our standard of living to make the rich richer and preserve their riches. It’s all we can expect from the two parties and it it’ll get worse. By the end of the year the national debt will be almost doubled: from $8 to about $15 trillion dollars.

That debt is the end of social programs and the beginning of forced austerity. Working people are not going to take that lying down. We’ll fight and they’ll usher in an even harsher reign of authoritarianism. Welcome to Denver. Welcome to St. Paul. Welcome to Guantanamo.

Attempts to reform the Democrats, the Republicans, the Congress or any part of the system put in place by the rich since the end of the Civil War are as absurd as they are unworkable.

In any case, independent mass movements are the key to victory, not elections. Democratic elections cannot, do not and will not exist in a nation where .01 percent of the population controls most of the wealth, where they buy and sell politicians by the bushel, and where they exercise absolute control the media and opinion making industries by virtue of owning them outright. Add to that the Electoral College and the hundreds of anti-democratic laws on the books to prevent leftwing and labor political challenges and you have a political system that will not change.

That doesn’t mean we can’t win full equality for ourselves or the kind of fundamental change that working people need to survive. All we have to do is pull the rug out from under them. It’s a long-established tradition in this country, one dating from 1776.

(BTW, while we're pulling the rug it's ok if you want to scream, but I'm going to giggle.)

Corporate welfare is bullshit.

I'm as disgusted with the Democrats for this move as I am with the Republicans. I think a few of the banks and mortgage companies could stand to go under if their management team is too damned greedy and stupid to run them correctly.

Bill, I certainly can't argue with pulling the rug out -- we can scream, giggle, and cry, okay?

And Bil, "corporate welfare is bullshit," indeed!