The most important question concerning the federal government involvement in the current economic downturn is who is the bailout helping?

Surely, any federal dollars spent will not be given to the taxpayer. It could be argued that by pouring money into the economy through propping up bad real estate investments that the land owner is helped. More importantly, by propping up real estate values and giving certain banks federal tax dollars to write off bad real estate debt is going to be detrimental to some investors who could be looking for housing prices to drop before shopping for real estate. Banks will be able to hold property until the price goes back up. The premise behind this idea stinks. I don't see the federal government helping people in bankruptcy court with federal tax dollars. Why help the banks and insurance companies who have made bad financial decisions?

The principle behind the idea is the most damning. Giving money to people who have already shown their lack of accountability is preposterous. For people to be making bad economic decision in the midst of a war to destroy our way of life is so irresponsible it makes a joke of the pressures the average American family faces surviving in this economy. The same economy that often required both parents in a family to work to provide the basic essentials of everyday life. The reckless abandon that our current leaders have exhibited in allowing this catastrophe to happen is unforgivable.

Blame cannot just be laid at the feet of any party, but the Republican Party should shoulder most of the blame. Their party was in control of Congress since 1994 until 2006. Although the Democratic Party has a majority in the House, they do not have a veto proof majority. The Senate is evenly split, but all funding measures must have 60 votes in the Senate. Therefore, the President's bully pulpit and the Republican Party really control things at the end of the day. The Republicans have allowed whistle blowing legislation, which is so important in a transparent and open market, to languish with little support. They want little or no regulation of corporations, and fight almost any type of corporate oversight. Now, the Senate Republicans come to us with a bailout of immense proportions, and expect the taxpayer to pay for their bad decisions.

I find it ironic that the two Tennessee U.S. Senators, who claim to be for free and open markets, are heavily in favor of this bailout. This bailout is nothing more than Marxism at its highest pinnacle. Ron Paul, Republican U.S. Representative from Texas has a good idea. The bailout is going to cost the taxpayer roughly $5,000. Why not give each taxpayer this $5,000 and let them spend it instead of giving it to the thieves who have already stole us blind? This whole issue stinks like a good, old fashioned insurance house burning.

Steve Durham
freethinker1963@yahoo.com