Bernie Sanders on the bailout

[nitroglycol]

Independent Senator Bernie Sanders has some interesting comments on the situation before us (thanks to Atomicat for the link):

First, Sanders proposed a surtax on the very wealthy to pay for bailouts of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and American International Group.

“The wealthiest 400 families in America saw an increase in their wealth of $670 billion since President Bush has been in office. They have seen extraordinary benefits under Bush’s reckless economic policies. The middle class, whose standard of living has declined, should not be paying for these bailouts. Rather, we need an emergency surtax on those at the very top in order to pay for any losses the federal government suffers as a result of necessary efforts to shore up the economy,” Sanders said.

Great idea, though I doubt Congress would have the nerve to pass such legislation.

Second, he called for stronger oversight of financial institutions, “This Congress needs to put an end to the radical deregulation that we have seen under President Bush and even before him. We need to put the safety walls back up in the financial services sector. We need to regulate the electronic energy markets to end speculation in oil futures.”

Pretty straightforward stuff, this, but it had to be said.

Third, he said giant businesses like Bank of America should be broken up so no company in the future could bring the American economy down with it. Said Sanders, “This country can no longer afford companies that are ‘too big to fail.’ If a company is so large that its failure would cause systemic harm to our economy, if it is too big to fail, then it is too big to exist.”

Interesting idea, though it suffers from the same problem as the idea of "too big to fail" itself, namely the question of where to draw the line.

Fourth, he called for an immediate economic stimulus package which would put people back to rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, and moving us to energy efficiency and sustainable energy.

Again, pretty straightforward stuff, and not even all that controversial.

The US needs more politicians like Sanders. So does Canada, for that matter.

[Master Shake]

Re: Bernie Sanders on the bailout

Bernie Sanders is a socialist, not an independent. He's also an asshat and should be considered an inverse barometer: do the opposite of what he suggests.

[we_are_toast]

Re: Bernie Sanders on the bailout

Bernie Sanders is a socialist, not an independent. He's also an asshat and should be considered an inverse barometer: do the opposite of what he suggests.

Lets see; You want to do the opposite of what Bernie Sanders suggest.

1) Give a tax break to the wealthiest 400 families in the United States.
2) Less regulation on the financial institutions that have brought the worlds economies to the brink of collapse.
3) Create more "too big to fail" businesses that get taxpayer bail-outs.
4) Let the U.S. infrastructure crumble into disrepair.

Great Plan! You and the ditto-heads sure got your thinking caps on today.

[Shakespear]

Re: Bernie Sanders on the bailout

Bernie Sanders is a socialist

And the bail out is what?

Capitalism ???

My portfolio burns, I burn. No bailout for me. :-)

[nathanhulick]

Re: Bernie Sanders on the bailout

Bernie Sanders is a socialist.

This is true, unfortunately, so is almost every single other member of congress.

[godraz]

Re: Bernie Sanders on the bailout

There is aboslutely nothing wrong with some degree and right kind of socialism. Using government to steer us and what remains of our capital toward rebuilding our infrastructure and a greener energy way of life is what's needed and would be a good thing. Without it we end up with a kleptocracy plundering us for all we are worth. Kinda like what we are living thru now.