Tyranny 1, liberty 1: SUDDEN DEATH ELIMINATION MATCH
The senate is now attempting to ram the absurd bailout through the house. How do they figure they’d do that? By adding even more pork to it, of course, in an attempt to appeal to every representative’s pet special interest and pass the cost on to us.
Write or call your representative. Make sure these people are acutely aware that the American people — the people they serve, and the people who will be footing the bill for this excess — are solidly opposed to it. If you want, you can copy the text of my letter, which I’ll post here for public perusal.
Also keep in mind that in a month we can arrange for everybody who supports a trillion-dollar payday for Wall Street and an unreasonable expansion of government power to be out of a job.
Representative SUBJECT_NAME_HERE,
I am writing to you to ask you to vote no on the repackaged bailout deal being sent to the house yet again. I and my wife are blue-collar workers who can ill afford to have thousands of dollars taken from us and given to Wall Street fat cats who made bad investments.
This bailout is not necessary for the survival of the economy; the bubble has burst, and no forced injection of taxpayer money — no matter how large — will reinflate it at this point. That is nothing but throwing good money after bad. Throwing a tremendous amount of good money after bad, in fact; money that does not belong to Washington or to Wall Street, but to the American people.
At the time of this writing, an MSNBC poll indicates that 65% of the people oppose this bailout (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26981897/). A poll taken by cnn.com is 63% opposed — a nearly identical percentage (http://money.cnn.com/POLLSERVER/results/42233.html). The people clearly do not want their money spent in such a reckless fashion, and, as a representative of the people, you have an obligation to respect that.
Congressman, if I were to lose money on a bad investment, would Washington arrange to pay me back out of taxpayer money? No it would not. Wall Street should not be held to a different standard from everyman.
Please, Congressman, vote with and for your constituents and against special interests and government-sponsored paydays for the few. Instead of being given huge amounts of taxpayer money, these people should be held accountable for their inappropriate behaviour — ranging from prosecutions for fraud for those who cooked the books (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41165-2004Sep22.html) to censure of the Federal Reserve for seven years of “easy money” politics and continually lowering interest rates (culminating in interest rates actually going negative: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=599907).
Please stand up for the people against the interests of big business and big government.
Yours in Liberty,
Darien
Just make sure to take out that “I and my wife” line if you don’t, you know, have a wife. Almost missed that myself. :-}
Comment by Ama | 2 October 2008
EPIC FAIL
The bailout passed today. I would just like to note, however, that my rep once again broke with the rest of the Democrats and voted against it. It’s almost enough to make me want to vote for him for the open Senate seat this November.
Also, a loud “OH FUCK YOU” to all the Reps who turned tail and voted for the bailout this time after voting it down before–most especially to the ones who had the unmitigated gall to say something like “I voted it down before, but this is a much better bill, so I voted for it.” IT’S THE SAME GODDAMN BILL, just with MORPORK. So seriously. Fuck you guys.
Comment by Dave | 3 October 2008