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?
I would like to propose my own bailout plan. My suggestions, listed below, are
predicated on the singular and simple belief that the rich must pull themselves
up by their own platinum bootstraps. Sorry, fellows, but you drilled it into
our heads one too many times: There... is... no... free... lunch. And thank you
for encouraging us to hate people on welfare! So, there will be no handouts
from us to you. The Senate, tonight, is going to try to rush their version of a
"bailout" bill to a vote. They must be stopped. We did it on Monday with the
House, and we can do it again today with the Senate.
It is clear, though, that we cannot simply keep protesting without proposing
exactly what it is we think Congress should do. So, after consulting with a
number of people smarter than Phil Gramm, here is my proposal, now known as
"Mike's Rescue Plan." It has 10 simple, straightforward points. They are:
1. APPOINT A SPECIAL PROSECUTOR TO CRIMINALLY INDICT ANYONE ON WALL STREET WHO
KNOWINGLY CONTRIBUTED TO THIS COLLAPSE. Before any new money is expended,
Congress must commit, by resolution, to criminally prosecute anyone who had
anything to do with the attempted sacking of our economy. This means that
anyone who committed insider trading, securities fraud or any action that
helped bring about this collapse must go to jail. This Congress must call for a
Special Prosecutor who will vigorously go after everyone who created the mess,
and anyone else who attempts to scam the public in the future.
2. THE RICH MUST PAY FOR THEIR OWN BAILOUT. They may have to live in 5 houses
instead of 7. They may have to drive 9 cars instead of 13. The chef for their
mini-terriers may have to be reassigned. But there is no way in hell, after
forcing family incomes to go down more than $2,000 dollars during the Bush
years, that working people and the middle class are going to fork over one dime
to underwrite the next yacht purchase.
If they truly need the $700 billion they say they need, well, here is an easy
way they can raise it:
a) Every couple who makes over a million dollars a year and every single
taxpayer who makes over $500,000 a year will pay a 10% surcharge tax for five
years. (It's the Senator Sanders plan. He's like Colonel Sanders, only he's out
to fry the right chickens.) That means the rich will still be paying less
income tax than when Carter was president. This will raise a total of $300
billion.
b) Like nearly every other democracy, charge a 0.25% tax on every stock
transaction. This will raise more than $200 billion in a year.
c) Because every stockholder is a patriotic American, stockholders will forgo
receiving a dividend check for one quarter and instead this money will go the
treasury to help pay for the bailout.
d) 25% of major U.S. corporations currently pay NO federal income tax. Federal
corporate tax revenues currently amount to 1.7% of the GDP compared to 5% in
the 1950s. If we raise the corporate income tax back to the level of the 1950s,
that gives us an extra $500 billion.
All of this combined should be enough to end the calamity. The rich will get to
keep their mansions and their servants, and our United States government
("COUNTRY FIRST!") will have a little leftover to repair some roads, bridges
and schools.
3. BAIL OUT THE PEOPLE LOSING THEIR HOMES, NOT THE PEOPLE WHO WILL BUILD AN
EIGHTH HOME. There are 1.3 million homes in foreclosure right now. That is what
is at the heart of this problem. So instead of giving the money to the banks as
a gift, pay down each of these mortgages by $100,000. Force the banks to
renegotiate the mortgage so the homeowner can pay on its current value. To
insure that this help does no go to speculators and those who have tried to
make money by flipping houses, this bailout is only for people's primary
residence. And in return for the $100K paydown on the existing mortgage, the
government gets to share in the holding of the mortgage so that it can get some
of its money back. Thus, the total initial cost of fixing the mortgage crisis
at its roots (instead of with the greedy lenders) is $150 billion, not $700
billion.
And let's set the record straight. People who have defaulted on their mortgages
are not "bad risks." They are our fellow Americans, and all they wanted was
what we all want and most of us still get: a home to call their own. But during
the Bush years, millions of them lost the decent paying jobs they had. Six
million fell into poverty. Seven million lost their health insurance. And every
one of them saw their real wages go down by $2,000. Those who dare to look down
on these Americans who got hit with one bad break after another should be
ashamed. We are a better, stronger, safer and happier society when all of our
citizens can afford to live in a home that they own.
4. IF YOUR BANK OR COMPANY GETS ANY OF OUR MONEY IN A "BAILOUT," THEN WE OWN
YOU. Sorry, that's how it's done. If the bank gives me money so I can buy a
house, the bank "owns" that house until I pay it all back -- with interest.
Same deal for Wall Street. Whatever money you need to stay afloat, if our
government considers you a safe risk -- and necessary for the good of the
country -- then you can get a loan, but we will own you. If you default, we
will sell you. This is how the Swedish government did it and it worked.
5. ALL REGULATIONS MUST BE RESTORED. THE REAGAN REVOLUTION IS DEAD. This
catastrophe happened because we let the fox have the keys to the henhouse. In
1999, Phil Gramm authored a bill to remove all the regulations that governed
Wall Street and our banking system. The bill passed and Clinton signed it.
Here's what Sen. Phil Gramm, McCain's chief economic advisor, said at the bill
signing:
"In the 1930s ... it was believed that government was the answer. It was
believed that stability and growth came from government overriding the
functioning of free markets.
"We are here today to repeal [that] because we have learned that government is
not the answer. We have learned that freedom and competition are the answers.
We have learned that we promote economic growth and we promote stability by
having competition and freedom.
"I am proud to be here because this is an important bill; it is a deregulatory
bill. I believe that that is the wave of the future, and I am awfully proud to
have been a part of making it a reality."
This bill must be repealed. Bill Clinton can help by leading the effort for the
repeal of the Gramm bill and the reinstating of even tougher regulations
regarding our financial institutions. And when they're done with that, they can
restore the regulations for the airlines, the inspection of our food, the oil
industry, OSHA, and every other entity that affects our daily lives. All
oversight provisions for any "bailout" must have enforcement monies attached to
them and criminal penalties for all offenders.
6. IF IT'S TOO BIG TO FAIL, THEN THAT MEANS IT'S TOO BIG TO EXIST. Allowing the
creation of these mega-mergers and not enforcing the monopoly and anti-trust
laws has allowed a number of financial institutions and corporations to become
so large, the very thought of their collapse means an even bigger collapse
across the entire economy. No one or two companies should have this kind of
power. The so-called "economic Pearl Harbor" can't happen when you have
hundreds -- thousands -- of institutions where people have their money. When
you have a dozen auto companies, if one goes belly-up, we don't face a national
disaster. If you have three separately-owned daily newspapers in your town,
then one media company can't call all the shots (I know... What am I thinking?!
Who reads a paper anymore? Sure glad all those mergers and buyouts left us with
a strong and free press!). Laws must be enacted to prevent companies from being
so large and dominant that with one
slingshot to the eye, the giant falls and dies. And no institution should be
allowed to set up money schemes that no one can understand. If you can't
explain it in two sentences, you shouldn't be taking anyone's money.
7. NO EXECUTIVE SHOULD BE PAID MORE THAN 40 TIMES THEIR AVERAGE EMPLOYEE, AND
NO EXECUTIVE SHOULD RECEIVE ANY KIND OF "PARACHUTE" OTHER THAN THE VERY
GENEROUS SALARY HE OR SHE MADE WHILE WORKING FOR THE COMPANY. In 1980, the
average American CEO made 45 times what their employees made. By 2003, they
were making 254 times what their workers made. After 8 years of Bush, they now
make over 400 times what their average employee makes. How this can happen at
publicly held companies is beyond reason. In Britain, the average CEO makes 28
times what their average employee makes. In Japan, it's only 17 times! The last
I heard, the CEO of Toyota was living the high life in Tokyo. How does he do it
on so little money? Seriously, this is an outrage. We have created the mess
we're in by letting the people at the top become bloated beyond belief with
millions of dollars. This has to stop. Not only should no executive who
receives help out of this mess profit from it,
but any executive who was in charge of running his company into the ground
should be fired before the company receives any help.
8. STRENGTHEN THE FDIC AND MAKE IT A MODEL FOR PROTECTING NOT ONLY PEOPLE'S
SAVINGS, BUT ALSO THEIR PENSIONS AND THEIR HOMES. Obama was correct yesterday
to propose expanding FDIC protection of people's savings in their banks to
$250,000. But this same sort of government insurance must be given to our
nation's pension funds. People should never have to worry about whether or not
the money they've put away for their old age will be there. This will mean
strict government oversight of companies who manage their employees' funds --
or perhaps it means that the companies will have to turn over those funds and
their management to the government. People's private retirement funds must also
be protected, but perhaps it's time to consider not having one's retirement
invested in the casino known as the stock market. Our government should have a
solemn duty to guarantee that no one who grows old in this country has to worry
about ending up destitute.
9. EVERYBODY NEEDS TO TAKE A DEEP BREATH, CALM DOWN, AND NOT LET FEAR RULE THE
DAY. Turn off the TV! We are not in the Second Great Depression. The sky is not
falling. Pundits and politicians are lying to us so fast and furious it's hard
not to be affected by all the fear mongering. Even I, yesterday, wrote to you
and repeated what I heard on the news, that the Dow had the biggest one day
drop in its history. Well, that's true in terms of points, but its 7% drop came
nowhere close to Black Monday in 1987 when the stock market in one day lost 23%
of its value. In the '80s, 3,000 banks closed, but America didn't go out of
business. These institutions have always had their ups and downs and eventually
it works out. It has to, because the rich do not like their wealth being
disrupted! They have a vested interest in calming things down and getting back
into the Jacuzzi.
As crazy as things are right now, tens of thousands of people got a car loan
this week. Thousands went to the bank and got a mortgage to buy a home.
Students just back to college found banks more than happy to put them into hock
for the next 15 years with a student loan. Life has gone on. Not a single
person has lost any of their money if it's in a bank or a treasury note or a
CD. And the most amazing thing is that the American public hasn't bought the
scare campaign. The citizens didn't blink, and instead told Congress to take
that bailout and shove it. THAT was impressive. Why didn't the population
succumb to the fright-filled warnings from their president and his cronies?
Well, you can only say 'Saddam has da bomb' so many times before the people
realize you're a lying sack of shite. After eight long years, the nation is
worn out and simply can't take it any longer.
10. CREATE A NATIONAL BANK, A "PEOPLE'S BANK." If we really are itching to
print up a trillion dollars, instead of giving it to a few rich people, why
don't we give it to ourselves? Now that we own Freddie and Fannie, why not set
up a people's bank? One that can provide low-interest loans for all sorts of
people who want to own a home, start a small business, go to school, come up
with the cure for cancer or create the next great invention. And now that we
own AIG, the country's largest insurance company, let's take the next step and
provide health insurance for everyone. Medicare for all. It will save us so
much money in the long run. And we won't be 12th on the life expectancy list.
We'll be able to have a longer life, enjoying our government-protected pension,
and living to see the day when the corporate criminals who caused so much
misery are let out of prison so that we can help reacclimate them to civilian
life -- a life with one nice home and a
gas-free car that was invented with help from the People's Bank.
Yours,
Michael Moore
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
MichaelMoore.com
P.S. Call your Senators now. Here's a backup link in case we crash that site
again. They are going to attempt their own version of the Looting of America
tonight. And let your reps know if you agree with my 10-point plan.
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