Posted by
Mike Silverman on Wednesday, September 24, 2008 10:10:02 AM
Hey,...Secretary Paulson, Mr. President, and all you pundits and critics out there who are wringing your hands and declaring that this is the END OF DAYS for the US economy and so we need to have the 700+ billion dollar debacle created to bail out the big financial players on Wall Street. One thing to keep in mind, don't under estimate "us" , the people who really make this country work. Don't under estimate the power of the constituency out here screaming at thier senators, thier representatives, "don't you dare do this!". This is can be seen in one sense as a basic, back pocket issue that is not above the understanding of the masses. Regular working class citizens look at this and see giant corporations possibly getting massive bailouts, while individuals who had to pay into that gargantuan pool of tax money are not getting bailed out of thier own personal financial problems at home. There is a visible disparity in this debate that is not lost on the average consumer. Talk of massive infusions of tax money to save companies from thier own bad business practices is something that festers in the public mind. Why should the individual at home, have to take responsibility for thier own bad financial decisions, but the big banks and insurance companies get off the hook? And of course, gall of Paulson and , sadly, of our sitting President in this matter, to insist that this is not a matter that can wait for open debate and to demand that our tax money go to this boondoggle this week to be overseen by one man like an Emperor on a golden throne, is simply outrageous. This is a clear imbalance, and definitely not the American way. If you believe, as our founding fathers did, that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are moral issues, then you have to believe that tax is a moral issue as well since the level of taxation is a measure of the oppressive burden working against those founding moral principles. Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen of our congress, if you want to be on the side of "the people" , send that 700+ billion back to the public in the form of an income tax rebate for individuals and small businesses all across the country. Then "We The People" will decide whether to bail out the banks by continuing to do business with them or not.
- Mike Silverman, Milford MA