Wolf ...  more like in your face a dare to Americans to revolt.  If paulson gets gets cart blanc, what companies do think are going to get bailed out?  Lehman Brothers didn't get it because they donated more the the other bailout companies to the democrats.  The American people should be saved from these morally corrupted politicians. 

The middleclass, AKA consumers, are not consuming.  So how is bailing out wall street going to stimulate the economy?  This tinkle down theory hasn't worked and never will.  Also every Rebulican to take office has paid off their company friends causing market downturns in 87, 92 and currently.  With no consumers how will there be an economy.

I can't figure it out, are they anarchist trying to screw everything up to get the people kneeling so that they can screw up the environment with "drill baby drill" at will, because the populus is at their mercy and will agree to anything.  Or are they trying to crumble American institutions to redistribute the wealth to Texas.

Or are they just so greedy that it makes them stupid?

10 Ways to Bail Out Wall Street (and Main Street) Without Soaking Taxpayers in DebtBy Chuck Collins and Dedrick Muhammad, AlterNet
Posted on September 25, 2008, Printed on September 25, 2008
http://www.alternet.org/story/100223/

As Congress debates the particulars of the Bush-Paulson bailout, one key question has gone largely unexplored: Who will pay for this mess?

Lawmakers in Congress appear to have assumed that the federal government will simply borrow more money to foot the bill for the bailout. The national debt ceiling will rise to a whopping $11.3 trillion, up from $8 trillion a year ago.

But this rush to borrowing merely shifts the bailout burden onto the backs of future taxpayers. Congress needs to change course -- and develop a "pay as we go" plan that makes Wall Street pay.

The lion's share of bailout funding should come from the high-finance gamblers and the wealthy CEOs who have so profited from our casino economy.

Funding the Bailout: Basic Principles

• Wall Street and speculators should pay now for the mess they created.

 

 

• Instead of borrowing from the super-wealthy beneficiaries of the casino economy, we should tax them.

 

 

• Any bailout should stimulate the real economy with investments in Main Street, not just Wall Street.

Broadening the Bailout Dollars

The debate over the bailout has so far concentrated on the $700 billion purchase of "troubled assets" proposed by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. A real "bailout" would also target the troubled households of working American families. A $200 billion "Main Street Stimulus Package" could bolster the real economy and those left vulnerable by the subprime mortgage meltdown. This package should include:

• A $130 billion annual investment in renewable energy to stimulate good jobs anchored in local economies and reduce our dependency on oil.

 

 

• A $50 billion outlay to help keep people in foreclosed homes through refinancing and creating new homeownership and housing opportunities. These funds could also help those locked out of the American Dream to purchase homes through nonspeculative mortgage programs.

 

 

• A $20 billion aid package to states to address the squeeze on state and local government services that declining tax revenues are now forcing.

A Responsible Plan to Pay for Recovery: $900 Billion in New Revenue

Below is our 10-point program to pay for this broader bailout. This plan would generate $900 billion a year until the costs of the bailout and stimulus program are paid for.

1. A Securities Transaction Tax: $100 Billion

A fair plan to pay for the bailout should include a modest financial transaction tax on the buying and selling of stock and other financial products. A penny on every $4 invested would generate $100 billion a year. Other European countries already tax stock transactions, and these transaction taxes effectively discourage speculation.

2. A Wealth Tax Surcharge on Households with $10 Million: $300 billion

Congress should institute a modest wealth tax surcharge on households with a net worth of more than $10 million. These households currently own and control more than 20 percent of the nation's private wealth. They have realized huge gains from the manipulation of capital markets and the asset bubbles that created the current crisis. A modest surcharge -- no more than 3 percent -- could generate more than $300 billion.

3. A Corporate Minimum Income Tax: $60 Billion

In August, the Government Accountability Office reported that two-thirds of U.S. corporations paid no income taxes between 1998 and 2005. These corporations paid nothing toward our shared expenses of defense, environmental protection, public health and education. Ordinary taxpayers should not be left holding this bag. A minimum corporate income tax should contribute toward the bailout.

4. A "Disgorgement" Recovery From Profligate CEOs: $40 Billion

Until several weeks ago, top CEOs and managers were collecting massive salaries and fees while they told the rest of us that "everything is fine." These CEOs gorged themselves and have taken the money and run. The four biggest investment banks on Wall Street shelled out $30 billion in bonuses last year. One of them, Lehman Brothers, has just gone under. Another, Bear Stearns, was bailed out earlier this year. To help pay for recovery, the new Treasury authority should seek the payback of executive compensation inappropriately extracted in the years before the Wall Street meltdown.

5. An Income Tax Surcharge on Incomes Over $5 Million: $105 Billion

A portion of the bailout cost should be financed with an emergency income tax surcharge on incomes over $5 million. Wealthy investors have been the big winners in the unregulated bubble economy. They have watched their incomes skyrocket over the last 25 years. Meanwhile, President George W. Bush has cut their taxes for seven years. Instituting a 50 percent tax rate on income over $5 million and a 70 percent rate on income over $10 million would generate $105 billion a year until the bailout is paid for.

6. An End to Overseas Corporate Tax Havens: $100 Billion

Congress should close down corporate tax havens that allow corporations to game the system and cut their taxes, sometimes to zero. This step would generate $100 billion from profitable companies that have paid no taxes over the last decade.

7. The Elimination of Subsidies for Excessive CEO Pay: $20 Billion

As taxpayers, we subsidize excessive CEO pay, through a host of tax loopholes, to the tune of $20 billion a year. Congress should close these loopholes, including the accounting gimmicks that permit companies to report one set of earnings to shareholders and a different, lower number to Uncle Sam.

8. The Elimination of the Tax Preference for Capital Gains: $95 Billion

The mega-windfalls that Wall Street executives have pocketed over recent years will be generating additional income, in the form of dividends and capital games, for years to come. Under current tax law, dividend and capital gains income faces a mere 15 percent tax rate, while income from actual work can be taxed at rates up to 35 percent. Taxing wealth and work at the same rates would generate $95 billion a year in revenue.

9. A Progressive Inheritance Tax: $60 Billion

In the near future, the moguls of the past quarter-century will be passing off the scene and leaving behind dynastic-size fortunes. A portion of this wealth should be taxed. A progressive estate tax on estates over $2 million -- $4 million for a couple -- could generate $60 billion a year in the short term and much more in outlying decades.

10. The Elimination of the Mansion Subsidy: $20 Billion

Wealthy taxpayers can currently deduct their mansion mortgage interest off their taxes. The richest 2 percent of U.S. households do not need to be subsidized by American taxpayers. Capping the home mortgage interest deduction on that portion of mortgage payments that exceeds $200,000 per year would generate $20 billion a year.

Chuck Collins is a senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies, where he coordinates the Working Group on Extreme Inequality.

Dedrick Muhammad is a senior organizer and research associate at the Institute for Policy Studies and author of "40 Years Later: The Unrealized American Dream." Muhammad is also the "Racial Wealth Divide" coordinator at United for a Fair Economy and co-author of UFE's report "The State of the Dream: Enduring Disparities in Black and White."

© 2008 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/100223/

Its true, this domestic War we are having is the ellitest "verses" United state Citizens. The same New World Order that brought Germany to its knees is now inside our Goverment.People are humen for the most part and lobbyest buys all takers. No matter who,s party thay come from. To get to the point. Bush has pull. Its Ironic. So I here that 200 Billion my get thrue the cracks. Well Lets make it the best Regulations that Money can buy. Lets bring back effective Regulations that have a bit. And bind the thieves for America,s sake. Make them Legaly Liable with Interest that pays us back three fold. Now Wall Street will work for us.Our Govermental Body will dictate to them. If you can not stop Lobbiest money then make it manditory that all money given to the Canidates that 50% of it goes back to our Judishal Committees and our Social Security System. Lets start with thouse who except any moneys (Bail Out Moneys). DonkCom

this is no longer a bailout. it is an investment by our treasury in mortgages/mortgage securities in order to free up credit in the usa...without credit most people will lose their jobs, homes, vehicles etc. because we all live in debt. we are a cashless society.

Isn’t it shocking that we have to bailout Millionaires of Wall Street, And Our Congress may get a cut in their “payola” Shocking isn’t it! Very depressing, as our Democrats are crying like a wolf setting on a cactus. Trying to spread fear before they know what will happen. People have been burn too many times by our Government to believe them this time. As they cry how bad it will get, not one Senator or Congressperson is willing to wait and see if it is as shocking as Wall Street is saying, and nobody can see into the future of 90 days and give an answer. When I see Wall Street digging into their moldy money and try to work themselves out of their mess, then I will believe them. Our biggest problem here is “we the people” knowing how inbred our Government is with Wall Street and this has split our Country in half, the rich and the poor, they do not ask, but tell us what they are going to do. 

Our Democrats want to reward bad business practice of Wall Street, with taxpayers Dollars, money to the working poor is something that is in short supply. They want $700B; to get it they started cutting of credit to small businesses to make their point and to inject “FEAR” to top it off. “THE GOOD FASHION SQUEEZE PLAY” being played on we the people!

As they keep telling us that employers will have to cut jobs because of the “credit crunch” they won’t be able to pay his employees! My answer is; if they are that financially strapped, how are they going to stay in Business with the bailout?

Sometime in the near future we the people are going to have to say enough is enough, this $700B Dollars will be thrown away and our Government will be right back for anther Bailout! Where is the end!

And said, they are that Greedy, and it does make them “Idiots”, in thinking we are that stupid! 

Bail out! Are you kidding me? These Fortune 500 financial giants have committed mortgage fraud on a unimaginable scale by allowing stated income loans (that’s you telling the lender you make a gazillion dollars and the lender saying great we believe you no documentation required) and accepting people with no or bad credit. Instead of giving out "OUR" money to these banks the FBI should be giving out warrants. I have not read anywhere in the proposed Bail Out that deals with the root cause of bad credit, and stated income lending. So history will eventually repeat itself.

The reason almost EVERY politician is in favor of the bailout is because these financial giants have contributed a lot of money to almost EVERY politician. All the Bail Out stands for is my elected officials turning around and scratching their contributor’s backs.

You must think the American People are stupid and won't realize what's really going on. I for one am not fooled. Not fooled by the Bail Out and definitely not fooled by Moron Bush's "Oh my god the sky is falling" speech. When a group of people and large companies do something bad, bad things happen.

Throwing a first pitch of 700 billion will not solve the problem. It will only slow the inevitable down and oh yeah turn the value of the American dollar into confetti by creating 700 billion dollars worth of inflation. To find your senators and representatives go here. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd and here of course HTTP://DEMOCRATS.COM/STOP-PAULSONS-PLUNDER

This big financial meltdown?  I love it.  At last the Republican-voting, suit-stuffing, briefcase-toting, prematurely balding, almightly-buck-worshipping, strip-club-frequenting, slave-driving, liquid-lunching, law-flouting, politician-greasing, shark-emulating, caffeine-binging, power-abusing, constantly-schmoozing, wheeling, dealing, profit-stealing, coke-snorting yuppies are getting hurt too, just like the rest of us have been for decades.

At the heart of this evil plot for the uber rich to takeover America (and I'm not exagerating in the least) is the employment of Disaster Capitalism.

First  create or abet a huge shock to the society

Then in the panic that ensues use legislative means to enact draconian laws that will achieve an already planned outcome that works for the far right elites and at the same time provides the mechanism to quell (by brutal force) any populist uprising.

Naomi Kleins book the "Shock Doctrine" was like having a veil lifted from my eyes. It eloquently explains the history, past and present; covering every major use of the method from Pinochet's Chile to Iraq, to tsunamis and Katrina.

If you want to fully understand the Wall St. meltdown and the impending destruction of America as a Democratic Republic - Please listen to her on the Tom Hartman Show on Air America TODAY!

Also read her book - We will be back in the streets to take back America from Corporatist pigs  or to live in the gutters forever!

If our government can come up with $700B for a bailout, why not bailout the U. S. taxpayers.  Divide that among the taxpayers, and we can restart/jumpstart our economy overnight.  Why does our government not work FOR the people.