To be honest, Obama, you lost me when you voted for the PATRIOT Act reauthorization in 2006. You lost me again when you voted for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) amendment in 2008. And you lost me every single time you voted for yet more war funding.

Don't even get me started on your vote for the $700 billion Wall Street bailout.

I cast a ballot for you in November, but I just can't share in this moment of collective euphoria over your election.

So, if your transition team really wants feedback on "where President-Elect Obama should lead this country," here's a Top Five list:

Congress will take up the Auto Industry Bailout when they re-convene this week.  There is no better time than this moment to PUSH for concessions from the Auto Industry.  Time is short.  Democrat.com, can you help us act NOW? Here's a copy of a letter I just mailed to Speaker Pelosi:      Dear Madam Speaker,

Please make the FLEXFUEL component a MANDATORY requirement for any Auto Industry bailout.
IT ONLY COSTS $100 to install this component on a vehicle during the manufacturing process.  The only EPA approved retrofit costs $1300.  All cars sold in Brazil are flexfuel ready.  All cars that GM sells in Brazil are flexfuel compatible.  There is no excuse and there should be no delay in making all cars sold in America flexfuel capable.
THIS IS THE QUICKEST CHEAPEST EASIEST WAY to make rapid reductions in our foreign oil imports.

Bloomberg Sues Fed to Force Disclosure of Collateral (Update1)
By Mark Pittman | Bloomberg.com

Bloomberg News asked a U.S. court today to force the Federal Reserve to disclose securities the central bank is accepting on behalf of American taxpayers as collateral for $1.5 trillion of loans to banks.

An Open Letter Regarding the Upcoming G-20 Meeting in Washington, D.C.

To add your name, register, log in, and sign the petition.

By Dave Lindorff

After watching the markets plunge and the credit freeze become
glacial, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson backed away from his scheme
to rescue his investment banking colleagues by spending hundreds of
billions of dollars buying up worthless credit derivatives. His new
strategy: follow Britain’s lead and invest that same money--$250
billion for starters—into the banks as equity—specifically into the
shares of nine of the country’s largest banks.

This might sound a little like socialism—the kind of mandatory
nationalization that the US has devoted decades, and tens of billions
of secret dollars to trying to undermine and attack when practiced by
leaders in countries like Venezuela, Cuba, Chile or post-war Italy. But
Paulson’s no red.

By Medea Benjamin

On Tuesday, October 7, a group of CODEPINK pranksters pranced in front of the New York Stock Exchange. One, wearing an oversized papier maché head of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, grabbed at the purses of the “chickens.” “Give me your money; give me your money,” he cried. “You might need a new house, but my buddies and I need new yachts.” Passersby, reading the sign “Henry ‘The Fox’ Paulson’ in the People’s Henhouse,” heartily agreed.

Congress thought otherwise, entrusting Paulson—the former CEO of Goldman Sachs--with $700 billion of the people’s money. On October 3, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, smiling ear to ear, congratulated Congress for passing a bill that gave Secretary Paulson unprecedented control over our nation’s economic future. An hour later, President Bush and Secretary Paulson appeared on the steps of the Treasury Department signing the bill.

By Dave Lindorff

Critics of government get all worked up when Washington spends money
stupidly, or does something manifestly stupid. There was a even senator
from Wisconsin, William Proxmire, who used to hand out "Golden Fleece"
awards for such things.

The Pentagon's notorious $600 payments for toilet seats that were
$12 in local discount stores, or $434 paments for hammers that were $10
in the local hardware store were good examples of this.

But nobody seems to be screaming about the incredibly wasteful
rescue of AIG, on which the government has spent first $85 billion and
now another $37.5 billion.

EPI debates Cato Institute on Google's Knol

The Economic Policy Institute today began a two-week online debate with the Cato Institute about the $700 billion financial bailout package signed into law by President Bush. This is the first in a series of pre-election debates sponsored by Google using Knol, its new interactive tool that allows readers to suggest edits and leave comments on signed articles. EPI's piece, written by Policy and Research Director John Irons and External Affairs Director Nancy Cleeland, argues that the federal action was imperfect but necessary, and that vigilance is now needed to ensure that taxpayers are protected as much as possible.

Wall Street won 263-171. They used classic "Shock Doctrine" tactics to create a panic so they could steal $700 billion from working families to give to the rich. According to Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), Congress was told the stock market would drop 2-3000 points and there would be martial law.