Bailout: David Cay Johnston on WXXI’s 1370 Connection Today
Bob Smith was giving a brief preview of the show this morning, and at 1 PM he’s going to have Brightonian David Cay Johnston on, talking about “why the bailout plan that failed yesterday may not have been such a good idea after all” (in Smith’s words, roughly). Here’s the number for the show if you want to call in: 585-263-9994.
Macro-economist Dean Baker on Diane Rehm this morning:
For the last 10 years, we’ve been warning about this bubble forming [due to the degregulation and subsequent Wall St. Gone Wild!], Paulson, Bush, Bernanke all said there’s no bubble. And we’re supposed to trust them? [The failure of the bailout bill] is an example of democracy working.
…
If we’d kept all the rules that were put in place the last time this happened, we would’ve avoided all this.
My wife just called and said excitedly “He says all the same stuff you’ve been saying, but really well!” Gee, thanks.
And how about that not-so-secret conference call where Paulson’s “Treasury Boys” assured Wall St. executives that they were planning on ignoring what feeble safeguards that Congressional Dems had managed to get into the bill.
Even Krugman, tepid supporter of the bailout, wrote today:
What if we turn to a different and better plan…
Whatever form the ultimate plan takes (and it’s sounding like they’re working the next proposal even now), I’d like to see this be part of it:
- Give Paulson $150 billion, with the transparency and oversight of the bailout bill that just got voted down. Better yet, instead of vesting one person with that much power, set up a Reinvestment Finance Corporation like we did during the S&L scandal.
- Include the Blue Dogs’ plan for a financial industry tax, or Bernie Sanders millionaire surtax.
- Pass $50 billion in job-creating infrastructure spending, and $50 billion in aid to struggling homeowners.
- Repeal the repeal of the Glass-Steagall act.
- Include provisions allowing judges to renegotiate the terms of subprime loans, as well as the executive compensation limits and the equity stake language - only make the language much tighter so as to require these things, rather than merely urging them.
The more that comes out the more it’s clear that the plan was a corrupt attempt to throw what’s left of our money at a problem, by giving it to the very people who caused the problem, and leaving the rest of us to clean up. And our grandchildren, as well.
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[...] Cay Johnston weighs in on the bail out folly and we provide a rough transcript followed by the money [...]