The Party's Over

[Joanne98]

Wall Street just doesn't get it. Last week insurance giant AIG announced that it would be paying out $100 million in bonuses—after America’s taxpayers bailed it out to the tune of at least $180 billion! Americans are simmering and ready to brew over.

I'm Ohio Secretary of State and I'm running for the U.S. Senate. Here in Ohio, people are hurting like they haven’t hurt since the great depression of the 1930’s. Last week a gentleman in Cleveland asked me what I thought the difference between a recession and a depression was. I know he saw little difference, and frankly it was hard to draw the line for him in his situation.

Over the course of my campaign, I have listened to heart-wrenching stories about families facing financial ruin who have lost their health insurance and now cannot afford to pay medical bills for their children’s special health needs. And I have seen small business owners struggling—and in some cases having to shut their doors completely, because they cannot get credit to keep their businesses going (even when they have purchase orders in hand).

Jennifer Brunner's diary :: :: Meanwhile, Wall Street and the nation's large financial institutions are picking up right where they left off as if the biggest taxpayer funded bailout of our country’s history was just a "blip" on the radar screen. I’ve got news for them.

The party’s over.

Continued>>>
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/2/8/834956/-The-Partys-Over

[MannyGoldstein]

1. Don't Critcize a Banker Until You've Walked a Mile in Her Shoes

These are America's best and brightest, doing God's work. Like you and us, they're simply trying to pay their mortgages and feed their families.

Sincerely,

Larry, Timmy, and Rahm

[unblock]

2. the difference between a recession and a depression:

a recession is when you lose your job.
a depression is when i lose my job.



as for wall street, what they're doing was eminently predictable. give them money and of course they're going to take it. and it doesn't show that the bailout in and of itself wasn't necessary or wise. what WAS inexcusably irresponsible was for paulsen and bernanke and shrub to ram it all through congress with panicky fear tactics with virtually no strings attached.

the bailout should have been done with
(a) much more balance in terms of helping innocent victims
(b) much more regulation and restrictions on the behavior of those largely responsible for the mess -- meaning getting back to lending, not largely p.r. stuff like ceo compensation and bonuses.

personally, i think regulators ought to have disaster recovery plans ready at all times for as many scenarios as possible, just like the typical corporate tech department has to do.

i mean, really, how hard can it be to contemplate a sudden stock market collapse, or the failure of a few key players, and then have a few *well thought out* solutions to address them. think these things through IN ADVANCE and then no one need panic and throw away more than a trillion dollars without a clue as to what they're doing.

[avaistheone1]

4. Bravo.

You hit it on the mark.

[Berry Cool]

3. K&R. Jennifer Brunner deserves the support of every Dem in America. Not just Ohio.

Why? Because we might not have a Dem president now if not for her. Had she not been secretary of state and in charge of elections in Ohio in 2008--had some character like Ken Blackwell still been there--Ohio might have gone for McCain, and not because the majority of us voted for him, either. Her work to ensure a fair election made a difference.