Pinko Magazine Hedonism + Activism

The Treasury Secretary went on the morning shows on Sunday to dance around a pretty obvious question: Why are banks getting bailed out for giving subprime mortgages but the people who got the mortgages aren’t getting any help at all? There is also some serious speculation that Republicans are going to force Democrats to take the bailout, then run against them for “bailing out Wall Street,” and some serious grumbling that we have a one week window to get Congress to really adjust it’s economic priorities for the first time in generations; once this bailout goes through it’s business as usual and the window shuts. 

There’s a lot to worry about. 

But I got a very, very helpful action alert from the Working Families Party today. (Very quick on the draw!) They lay out their general thesis — that the bailout must include support for real Americans — and then give a really detailed set of demands for what a progressive economic bailout would look like. I read and signed; I hope all of you will consider it too. I’ll post the full alert after the jump, but here is the link: 

http://action.workingfamiliesparty.org/t/2775/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=2308

Dear WFP Supporter,

The coming bailout of the financial sector - that is, of the executives and shareholders of the big banks and financial institutions - is wildly complex and is beyond the ability of ordinary Americans to understand.

Except it’s not. There’s nothing complicated about the enormous shafting the American people are about to receive if the Democrats in Congress don’t stand up to the Bush Administration and the financiers who caused the mess to begin with.

This is a moment of truth. Tell Congress: The bailout must include working families on Main Street, not just the millionaires on Wall Street:

http://action.workingfamiliesparty.org/t/2775/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=2308

There are a lot of things one could say about why this happened, and what ought to happen. Keeping it brief, we’ll make the following 3 points. And we welcome your views.

1. The whole thing is the fruit of deregulation. The Wall Street crowd has been winning the war to reduce regulation of big business for decades. These guys handle huge amounts of money, and they didn’t want any rules that would prevent them from skimming as much as possible into their own pockets. The old saying is true: “The cops were taken off the beat, and the criminals ran wild.”

2. We must demand that strings be attached to the bailout. Right now, Treasury wants a check for $700 billion to prop up the financial sector.

In other words, the very people who caused the problem - the hedge fund hotshots, the derivative boys, the payday lenders, mortgage securitizers and all of the other so-called “Masters of the Universe” who were the real beneficiaries of deregulation - they are not being held responsible. So what if you took home $80 million over the last decade (and thousands did exactly that) by scamming the system? Under the Bush bailout, they won’t be required to give back a dime of that money. Only the taxpayers have to pony up.

3. There are two conditions that must be attached to the bailout by the Democrats. First, it can’t just be a bail-out for the big guys. It must include:

i. Bankruptcy shelter for homeowners
ii. Restructured mortgages for people in danger of losing their homes.
iii. CRA requirements on investment banks and insurance companies
iv. Outlaw - period! - predatory lending and cap usurious payday lending rates.
v. Expand Unemployment Insurance and Home Heating Oil for people who are about to lose their jobs.

Second, every executive at every firm that accepts the public’s money must ALSO agree to a salary cap. Make it no more than ten times what the lowest paid person in their firm earns, to a maximum of $1 million per year. That’s $20,000 per week. If they can’t live on that, then we’ll find executives who can. If they have to dip into their savings, what on earth do they think the rest of America is about to be forced to do?

So, it’s up to the Democrats. Bush and McCain and Paulson and Bernanke are not about to put conditions on their donors and friends. Remember, they have spent decades worshipping at the church of deregulation and outrageous CEO salaries. Their DNA won’t allow them to stop now.

The Democrats control Congress. They could insist on the conditions (and there are no doubt other, better ideas out there) that go with your normal $700 billion bailout.

Senator Obama has to set the tone, but this is less about the campaign and more about the government. Here in New York, Senators Schumer and Clinton are uniquely positioned to turn this debacle into an opportunity for progress. The NY House Delegation has a huge amount of power. Now is the time to use it. Now is the time for the NY Democrats to tell Rep. Barney Frank, the key House Democrat, that he cannot roll over for the Bushies on this.

Let’s tell Congress: Slow down and get it right.

Send a message to your Senator and member of Congress:

http://action.workingfamiliesparty.org/t/2775/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=2308

We need to get thousands of signatures to every Member of the NY Congressional Delegation, House and Senate alike before they vote on the bailout. With your help, we can do it.

That’s all for now,

Bertha Lewis, Bob Master, Sam Williams
WFP Co-Chairs

Dan Cantor
WFP Executive Director

About The Author - Ben Wyskida is a writer, activist, conscientious hedonist and political communications strategist living in Brooklyn. - Visit Ben's site.