How come the DUers screaming for a bailout are not also screaming for the Bernie Sanders plan?

[brentspeak]

It's impossible to extend credibility to any bailout-wisher who does not also advocate -- demand, really -- that any bailout have the type of provisions Sanders has outlined:

http://sanders.senate.gov/petitions/?petition=Financial_Crisis_1

Any plan to clean up the mess on Wall Street must:

1. Ensure that middle income and working families are not the ones who are paying for this bailout by
* Imposing a five-year, 10 percent surtax on income over $1 million a year for couples and over $500,000 for single taxpayers. That would raise more than $300 billion in revenue over five years;
* Ensuring that assets purchased from banks are realistically discounted so companies are not rewarded for their risky behavior and taxpayers can recover the amount they paid for them; and
* Requiring that taxpayers receive equity stakes in the bailed-out companies so that the taxpayers’ assumption of risk is rewarded when companies’ stock goes up.

Taken together these three provisions will substantially reduce the likelihood that this bailout will end up on the backs of average American taxpayers.

2. Include a major economic recovery package which puts Americans to work at decent wages. Among many other areas, we can create millions of jobs rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure and moving our country from fossil fuels to energy efficiency and sustainable energy. Further, we must protect our must vulnerable families from the very difficult times they are experiencing.

3. Repeal the disastrous de-regulatory legislation that facilitated this crisis.
4. End the danger posed by companies that are “too big to fail,” that is, companies whose failure would cause systemic harm to the U.S. economy. If a company is too big to fail, it is too big to exist. We need to determine which companies fall in this category and then break them up.

Why the hell should anyone accept a corporate-lobbyist-approved Paulson plan -- a plan that's only just a flimsy, temporary band-aid at the very best?

[PVnRT]

1. Most of us "screaming" see very bad things happening

and think that delay is death.

But, whatever, I guess the real reason is I'm an "infiltrator" or "corporate whore," take your pick.

[brentspeak]

8. You're not addressing the point of my OP

Why aren't you advocating for a good bill along the lines of Sanders' plan? What's the point of supporting a Paulson plan when it only provides a temporary band-aid but no fixes??

[RaleighNCDUer]

12. When in doubt,

PANIC!

[Union Thug]

2. Thanks! I've been pointing people to Sanders for several days now n/t

[whistle]

3. I support a surtax on stock trading values of .65% which would go into

...a trust fund collected and maintained by the Dept of Revenue and used to repay the bailouts distributed so far and fund future bailouts. The rest of these measures are necessary as well.

[BuyingThyme]

4. Because the Emperor has spoken.

[LeftishBrit]

5. Sounds like a great idea.

I'm in no position to 'demand' anything, but I'm a great admirer of Sanders.

[Jackpine Radical]

6. K&R

Let's hear it for Bernie.

[HeraldSquare212]

7. It's not your extension of credit we are concerned about.

[John Q. Citizen]

9. This is better than bi-partisan, it's tri-partisan! Put it in!

[Grey]

10. I also think they should add

The Tobin Tax on the transfer of money. (Tobin tax - google)
It won't happen but I would love to hear the screams.......

[Blue Meany]

11. In addition the 10 percent surtax, I would advocate for

a one-time capital gains tax covering the income from the last eight years for those in the same income groups. That should cover the cost of the entire bail out and the cost would be targetted at those who most benifited from deregulation.

[johnaries]

13. Because it would never pass.

2, 3, and 4 need to be done, but in a separate bill not this emergency plan. Those will be more likely to get done under an Obama administration when he can use the bully pulpit.

As for #1, the first bullet-point would never pass. And the last bullet-point is part of the current bill.

It is important to note that the main purpose of the bail-out plan is NOT to save the Stock Market. It is to increase liquidity so that businesses can get the short-term loans they need to do business on a day-to-day business. We are talking about saving our JOBS, not about saving the stock market.

[mrcheerful]

14. Maybe its an age thing? Those of us that has lived in the best of times as well as the

worst aren't reacting we are taking a wait and see attitude. Where as the younger DUer's have only seen Bush I and Clinton years. I remember tough times, even though during the 1960's and 70's dad was a GM worker. I remember the automotive strikes of the 60's when workers had strike benefits that made sure that they would meet the bare minimum payments.

Since 1975 I remember working for 6 months then layed off living on welfare up until 1984 when I finally got disability. I also went through bad times when Reagan shut down the government and my SSDI payments came in late. Do you really think this is the first time we had to live with the stock market crashing? Sure its bad but is it really as bad as we are being lead to believe? I remember the S&L crash, dooms dayers were saying it would lead to another depression, yet that never came.

Is Sanders prop good, sure it is but what I really want to know as well as others is will it stop whats going on and keep things from getting worse? Is there anything in Sanders prop that will bring american jobs back? Part of the problem we are facing is a direct resualt is the loss of jobs, yet no mention I'm hearing on how the governments going to fix that problem. Wall street isn't the only problem america is facing, its the problem that peoople got greedy and gave everything to the top screwing the working class and now we are supposed to give them a hand out?

I'm sorry but I really don't care what happens, I will either survive or I die. To be honest life is a risk and those taking the most risks shouldn't complain when the risk is more then they expected. Cold hearted? Maybe, but then what do you think I live with every day? I get my bills screwed up theres no one there to bail my ass out, why should these fat cats be treated any different?

[Douglas Carpenter]

15. I would prefer the Sanders plan to - but it will not pass

There are other plans too; the Galbraith plan, the Kucinich plan, the Swedish plan; perhaps Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn have plans too. But all those plans, like the Sanders plan have the same thing in common. They will not pass.

If someone is hemorrhaging from an artery, you don't wait until you have sterile gauze to apply pressure. You grab a dirty rag if you have to.

If anyone thinks this is some kind of Bush Administration, "mushroom cloud" hoax they should investigate for themselves the the hard data regarding the credit markets, particularly the international credit markets.

Time is of essence right now. The short term credit market is so imperiled right now, that if one were to buy a short term U.S. Treasury bond, they would be in effect paying the U.S. government to hold their money - given that the yield is lower than the inflation rate. While conversely, banks are not lending to other banks. And when they do they are charging extortion, loan shark level rates - because there is not confidence in their repayment.

Credit, especially in the form of short term loans which are an absolutely necessity is on the verge of evaporation thus grinding the economy to a halt. And it will happen very soon - if something does not pass and pass very, very soon.

Only alternatives that have the support of the Treasury Department, The the Federal Reserve, the House and Senate Republican and Democratic leadership have any hope of passing. This is reality.