Is the Wall Street bailout actually hurting America?

[Syrinx]

I think that may well be the case.

The stated reason for the Wall Street bailout was to "thaw" lending. That is, to get investment banks to start making loans again.

Instead, we've heard reports that Wall Street firms are using the money to buy up their competitors. That is exactly the kind of thing that got us into this predicament in the first place.

Our economy is in dire straits because we've allowed certain companies to get "too big to fail." And so we attempt to "solve" this problem by throwing money at those very same companies. They, in turn, use that money for further and accelerated consolidation.

:crazy:

This all reminds me of the great stoner comedy album Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me The Pliers, by the Firesign Theatre, in which the US government merged with TMZ General Corp. And how prescient that the fictional company on that record was named TMZ!

I hope very much that soon-to-be President Obama will embark on a policy of corporate de-consolidation. We simply cannot allow our national economy to continue to be held hostage by behemoth corporations, and their associated plutocrats. A nation that caters to the greedy, and neglects the needy, cannot long survive.

[izzie]

1. How can we tell ,when we do not know where the money goes?

Turning the money over to the rich is sort of like giving it to Bush and knowing he will always do the right thing with our money. May as well stack it up at Sing Sing along with keys to get our of jail. Crazy to give the people who did the bad deeds the money to fix what they did wrong with not one small string. Can Congress believe in laissez faire capitalism so much that they did this foolish thing? Or are they just keeping their seats safe? If I was Obama I would stay in the Island for good. Poor man what a job he has in front of him.