Nextel firemen could teach Congress a thing or two

"A lot of paper here to tell us we need to keep the rich, rich and the poor, poor. Want it guys?" "NO!!!" At least that's how it should have gone this past week. But then again, the firemen are among the working poor now aren't they?

I won't even say I'm surprised that this no-cojones-havin', low-approval-rating gettin', pattin'-themselves-on-the-back-posturin', impotent, poor excuse of a Congress voted for this obvious and blatant sell-out of the American people - because I'm not. For the four years the Democrats have had the majority in Congress, they've continued to do the same things, expecting different results. I know Shrub & Co. are rolling on the floor laughing their asses off in Crawford, TX tonight saying, "We got 'em again boys!"

As I watched the run-up to this "rescue plan," it felt so strangely reminiscent of their "Hurry, hurry, act now or we're doomed!!" run-up to Iraq that for a minute there I thought, "Now I know The Second and Fourth Estates won't even fall for this again!" But I was wrong. I gave them all too much credit for, at the very least, having some damn common sense. It was like Groundhog Day watching the mainstream media stoke the flames with the fears fed them by Paulson and the Bush Administration! Over at Poynter Online, David Cay Johnston wrote, "Ask tough questions about the bailout." It's an interesting piece about how the media really needs to do their job and one with which I totally agree.

I'm no economist, but I don't need to be one to know that if I ran my house the way the powers-that-be have run this country, I'd be on the street or in jail! Those same financial institutions who've lied, manipulated the market and stuffed their proverbial mattresses would be poised to take EVERYTHING I had as punishment for my irresponsibility. I wouldn't be allowed the opportunity to get credit again for a long damn time - no matter what reason I gave. And the government certainly wouldn't be beating a path to my door with boatloads of other people's money to "rescue" me. Oh, I forgot. Only the common people can be labeled irresponsible for borrowing more money than they could pay back.

And don't you just love the condescending way the talking heads make it sound like we just don't understand how this all works? How they know what's best for the rest of us and we, lemmings should just shut up and get on board? And have you noticed who was pushing the hardest for this debacle of a piece of legislation? Not your everyday, average John Q. Public of the population, that's for sure.

Why is it that we, the people, continue to allow those whose hands are the least clean to make such life-changing decisions for us? Every single person in on this hijacking has a personal stake in seeing those government dollars flow into the coffers of these hat-in-hand institutions. Hell, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has intimate knowledge of how this all works! After all, having been with Goldman Sachs for more than 20 years (the last four of which he served as the Chief Operating Officer of Investment Banking), he received a $37 million compensation package in 2005 and more than $16 million in 2006! You be the judge of whose interests he sought to protect. Naked Capitalism's piece, "Mussolini-style Corporatism in Action: Treasury Conference Call on Bailout Bill to Analysts (Updated)" should give you a clue.

Let's be clear, I have no intention of voting for John McCain. But when he announced he was suspending his campaign to head back to The Hill to do the damn job he was elected to do, I said "Bravo!" Obama's sarcasm-laden, "A president has to be able to do more than one thing at a time" bullshit was just more confirmation of his hubris (You're not the damn president yet!!!) and dereliction (You are a U.S. Senator - no matter how you got there - you don't get to delegate your legislative responsibility for your own personal gain!). Sure, it was probably a campaign stunt on McCain's part, but at least it was one that said, "This is a big deal and my constituents are watching. I better act like I know why they sent me to Congress." I noticed Obama didn't suspend, but he ran his happy-ass on back to the White House for that photo-op with Shrub & Co. and later showed up to vote so as not to be bested by McCain's appearance - the effectiveness of which remains debatable.

When the Republicans voted down the first package, I thought looming elections had forced their hand (after all, election time is really the only time the people ever get a fraction of what they want, or need for that matter). But true to form, corporate greed ruled the day and they buckled. Democrats tried to make it look like Obama played a major role in turning some of their votes around and the MSM, rather than asking the tough questions, lapped it up and regurgitated that bullshit.

And once the deal was sealed, Nancy Pelosi had the nerve to say they didn't know how they got to this place! Jesus wept!! Isn't that the reason we put them in Congress? To know what the hell is going on and make laws in the best interest of the people! Then she added insult to injury by saying, "We sent a message to Wall Street -- the party is over." What??? How can the party be over when Congress just gave the "Barbarians at the Gate" not only a pass for knowingly ripping off the American people, but a reward??!! Where are those Nextel firemen when you need them???

At the end of the day, both presidential candidates, knowing on which side their bread is buttered, voted "Aye" on a bill sure to rock the poor and shrinking middle class to their core, all the while telling us they did what was "best" for us. Considering Obama and McCain have together spent over a half-billion dollars - that's BILLION with a "B" (approximately $368 million and $196 million dollars respectively) - on this joke of a presidential campaign, nobody needs to tell me whose "best" they meant. I know my girl Sugar over at Sugar N Spice will not want to hear me say this (she's told me many times before!), but I think Obama will win this thing. Sad part about that is if you close your eyes, an Obama administration will likely look and act like all those that will have preceded it. For all his crowing about McCain not mentioning the middle-class, he's no better - because for me anyway, it's not what you say, it's what you do. And based on his marionette-like actions to date, he's proven he too, is merely talking loud and saying absolutely nothing. The more I think about that sad fact, the more I'm with Maxine on this one.