How gratifying to read that Congress, good Democrats and Republicans alike, are not being swept away by the wave of dire threats issued by Paulson and Bernanke. What's that old saying? The first time the dog bites you, it's the dog's fault; the second time, it's your fault. This dog bit us twice already - the Iraq war and the Patriot Act. It would be inexcusable to let it bite us again.

So kudos to Congress, if they stick to their guns, and kudos even if there are some repercussions, because they can't be expected to take seriously the warnings issued to them by the men who cry wolf whenever their self-interests are at stake, even if the risks may, this time, be real. Too often the medicine dished out by this administration of malfeasance has been worse than the disease it claimed to  treat.

There's just something so rotten about this whole thing, the timing of it, the scope of it, the attempt to make it so pure, it can't be overseen or altered. What kind of fools do they take us for? Let's hope the FBI can turn up some solutions to the many puzzles of this situation.

The longer I think about it - $700+bn! - , the more outraged I feel. If we could not trust welfare moms - whose infrequent and paltry frauds were committed to make bleak lives a little bit less biting for their families - if we could not trust them with a pittance to pay rent and buy food, how can we even think of giving massive welfare to Wall Street, known for its blunders, greed and fraud? We aren't talking about enough to barely live on here; we're talking about enough to buy a country. And to dream that we would do it without oversight! Ludicrous. Nope. We need to check under the beds, in the medicine cabinets, the closets - wherever a golden parachute or an unauthorized war might be hiding. We need to have strings attached. It's our money. We have a right to make conditions on how it is used. If adequate safeguards are not instituted, we need to get active. You wouldn't hesitate to assault a burglar in your home. 

"Now as through this world I ramble
I see lots of funny men
Some will rob you with a Six gun
And some with a fountain pen.
But as through your life you travel
As through your life you roam
You won't never see an outlaw
Drive a family from their home." 

   -Woody Guthrie 

We can't let them do it. Their threats don't scare us. The middle class is already in recession. Wall Street wasn't worried about us until their own boat was imperiled. I say, let us all sink in the same boat, then, if saving them means putting ourselves, for generations, in jeopardy.