I don't want this to be a political forum...just your thoughts on the bailouts that are taking place right now. *********************************************I have been against them from jump street. I was against the mergering of banking and insurance some time back and believe that these mergers are what brought us to the happenings of the failing of AIG and the morgage brokers of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac The CEO's that ran these corporations should not be allowed to keep anything but the shirts off their backs. I think that they should have to repay everycent of the large salaries that they were paid as they knew that this was going to happen and they constantly denied any ill things and proposed that all was well and to keep sending them their business (our Money) The running a business into the ground while all to be known it was failing should be declared a fraudulent act and dealt with on that matter. If one of us was to do such a thing and collect funds for a failing company, you can bet we would be in jail now waiting trial. Paying off this 700 trillion to one of those that allowed it to happen is just pure nonsensible to say the least. But to hear on the news today of what the AIG ceo's were doing just goes to show that we are nothing to them but a ways to their means. As we bailed them out, they were partying down and spending 1.5 million dollars celebrating the results at a spa. The money was spent on "accomadations" and food and "spa services". I guess this is what we have to look forward to from Fannie mae and Freddie Mac CEO's as well! It is the disadvantaged who habitually elect Democrats on the belief of personal change--- yet they remain disadvantaged.

One word... Greed! A500 rockin' at 7MHz!!! Xeon E3110 rockin' at 4GHz

Greed indeed, absolute unadulterated greed. The CEOs and chief officers of all the failing companies and banks on both sides of the Atlantic should be stripped off all their assets to help pay for the bailouts. >> The money was spent on "accomadations" << Thats a term that is often used as a euphemism for a bribe. Stuart

I would like to make a correction. When I first heard of this the news was reporting the 1.5 million dollars. It was later determined that only 440 thousand dollars was used to pay for the accomadations they all had at the resort. But what was astounding to all of this is the FACT that they same jerkoffs ,even after being found out, had another schedualed resort party for the next week and were forced to cancel because of the uproar that was going on! It is the disadvantaged who habitually elect Democrats on the belief of personal change--- yet they remain disadvantaged.

When the bulldust settles and the capitalist 'system' gets back to running again the same people who caused the 'system' to crash will still be in charge and voting themselves overly generous 'performance' benefits for being able to con the taxpayers into the rescue package. Without really strict rules of conduct and really strict enforcement of those rules we'll be back in the same snafu in a few years more. So the 'system' goes round, pity it's not in ever decreasing circles then the perpetrators of this injustice to small investors would vanish up their own....

Valerie, You are right, but I fully believe that your anger is turned toward the wrong people. The following is an article that I think really puts this whole thing into a better perspective. *************************** 545 PEOPLE By Charlie Reese Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them. Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits? Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes? You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does. You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does. You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does. You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does. You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does. One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country. I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank. I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes. Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party. What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it. The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to. It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist. If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair. If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red. If the Army & Marines are in IRAQ , it's because they want them in IRAQ . If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way. They vote their own pay raises for themselves because they want it that way. There are no unsolvable government problems. Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like 'the economy,' 'inflation,' or 'politics' that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do. Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible. They, and they alone, have the power. They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees. We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess! ******************************** It is the disadvantaged who habitually elect Democrats on the belief of personal change--- yet they remain disadvantaged.

lurkswithin, While I agree with the sentiment of what you say, politicians are the same the world over, it would be wrong to appropriate the entire blame to them. Unless you are prepared to institute complete state control over everything, then the same problems will continue to happen. That's democracy for you, it's not perfect. In the words of Sir Winston Churchill: Democracy is the worst form of Government possible with the exception of all those that have been tried before. I am a little surprised at the 545 figure. It seems a little low for a country the size of the USA. In the UK there are 646 members of Parliament plus the House of Lords for a country with around one quarter the population of the USA. Seems a bit of an imbalance somewhere. Stuart