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Main Street vs. Wall Street: Americans on the Bailout: We're Pissed!

from Yahoo! Finance:

It's pretty obvious to anyone paying attention: a majority of Americans oppose the bailout plan passed last night by the Senate and heading toward the House.

... Many Americans seem to understand the "real" economy -- i.e., Main Street -- will suffer if the plan fails, but they still oppose it and view it as a bailout for Wall Street "fat cats."

"I've lost my money because of these idiots, now they want me to subsidize their losses too???," Yahoo! Finance user "hoser48" wrote yesterday. "They can go to hell with the common man, we will all live together as equals then. A bailout is not the answer."

Clearly that sentiment isn't universal, and Monday's 778 Dow dive did change many people's view. But it's also true the mood in the country is ugly, and it didn't happen overnight.

Todd Harrison, CEO of Minyanville.com, has been warning about the threat of "societal acrimony" for some time.

The last few years highlighted the chasm between the 'have’s' and 'have not’s,'" he writes. "While the former middle class has struggled for some time, the comeuppance of the upper echelon has arrived. The voluntary thrift that will now manifest as a result of this culture shock will permeate an already fragile socioeconomic structure."

Note the "screensaver" image for the above video: the Peter Finch character in Network (1976), screaming "I'm as mad as hell and I'm not gonna take this anymore!"



How to Fix the Wall Street Mess ... from Michael Moore

Friends,

The richest 400 Americans -- that's right, just four hundred people -- own MORE than the bottom 150 million Americans combined. 400 rich Americans have got more stashed away than half the entire country! Their combined net worth is $1.6 trillion. During the eight years of the Bush Administration, their wealth has increased by nearly $700 billion -- the same amount that they are now demanding we give to them for the "bailout." Why don't they just spend the money they made under Bush to bail themselves out? They'd still have nearly a trillion dollars left over to spread amongst themselves!

Of course, they are not going to do that -- at least not voluntarily. George W. Bush was handed a $127 billion surplus when Bill Clinton left office. Because that money was OUR money and not his, he did what the rich prefer to do -- spend it and never look back. Now we have a $9.5 trillion debt. Why on earth would we even think of giving these robber barons any more of our money?


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