"Bailing Out the Yacht Crowd" - Commentary by Tony Seton

Bailing Out the Yacht Crowd

Red flags pop up whenever someone makes a wildly inappropriate power grab. You might remember Alexander Haig declaring himself in charge of the United States when President Reagan had been shot. Um, no.

Early Saturday morning, Henry Paulson put out a proposal that would hand over signing authority for $1,000,000,000,000 to the Treasury Secretary and specifically bar oversight by the Congress and the courts. Um, no.

At least one hopes that the Congress scrounges around deep in the back of its closet of memories and finds an inch of spine to stand up to this nonsense. The courts would probably rule it illegal anyway, but let’s hope the wimps on Capitol Hill find their way forward on this matter.

Most of the country is unhappy with the proposal, as are the two presidential candidates, for different reasons, and the vast majority of newspaper editorial pages, as they all should be. Our "allies" are ready to provide moral support but no money, which underscores the character of the administration’s "solution."

Most of the objections, beyond the seizing of power, are about those responsible for this mess being punished. They want more help for the people losing their homes than executives losing their businesses. They want the eight-figure salaries slashed. They want accountability.

Oh my, doesn’t that go against the grain of the special interests-political power structure. Wall Street thought by slipping government into their pocket, they could own the whole country. That’s what Paulson’s plan indicated.

Why on god’s green earth should the people struggling to put food on their table have to pay for the failure of the private jet crowd? People of middle America who feel a pinch when McDonald’s raises their prices are being expected to bail out people of "Richistan" who might spend $800,000 on a wristwatch. That falls somewhere between immoral and depraved.

Republicans are calling the bailout socialism. Democrats are trying to get some of the money for their own pet projects. Who is looking out for the American people?