We made the assumption that members of the Bush Administration would deal with us honestly? Really? How could we fall for that line of crap…again…and again…and again? Back in September the Bush Administration offered their version of an economic “mushroom cloud.” Banks absolutely, positively, must get $700 billion right now, or the country and the world would fall into depression.
Fear! Fear! Fear! Fear! Be afraid! Don’t stop to debate, discuss, negotiate, represent your contingencies! There’s no time for reason! No time for logic! We need the money now! Trust us! We, the Bush Administration is your only hope if you wish to be saved from total economic collapse!
Treasury Secretary Paulson promised that money would be spent wisely. It would go through a transparent review process to banks that need it. In exchange, the banks agreed to use taxpayer’s money to syphon more money into the market. Credit would be opened. Loans would be made. The money certainly wouldn’t end up in the pockets of board members in the form of bonuses or salaries. The money certainly won’t go to mergers and acquisitions or securities.
In other words, the money would “trickle down,” to the very taxpayers who will ultimately foot the bill. Yeah! That’s always worked out!
OK. So here it is. Not only did we put our trust in the Bush Administration…THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION!!! The chronically dishonest, diceiptful, secret society, corporate cronies, (yes, that Bush Administration) but we also put our trust in banks. Is there anyone out there who has not been victimized by surprise interest rates, fines, penalties and other deceipts of bankers? What made us so gullible?
Now they have our money…no, rather the money of our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren…and they are doing with it just what they always do–whatever they want to. Fortunately there’s transparency, right. Wrong. Many of the transactions are kept under wraps in order to prevent a run on the banks whose incompetence and corruption would be revealed by such bailouts. In fact, even banks that do not need the bailout money, like Bank of America, are being “forced” by the Treasury Department to take billions of dollars so as not to isolate the banks that do need it.
This, on top of the fact that the Federal Reserve has already vouched a $2 trillion bailout to the very same banks. Wait a minute! Why didn’t we know this? This was done outside of the public sphere and the Fed refuses to reveal who received the money or what purposes the money has been used for. Once again, this is our money, funds that we’ve entrusted to banks that are, in the end, the most untrustworthy of institutions.
Literally trillions of dollars are being thrown around at the highest levels of our society like packets of peanuts. Corporations approach the Treasury Department with their collective hands out. The application for receiving billions in bailout money is only two pages long (maybe it’s front and back to save trees). There’s no accountability and apparently no rational with regard to this process. The money wasn’t there…then it was…now where is it?
The Mad Sociologist Blog 
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