The Best Way to Register Your Opposition to the Big Bank Bailout
September 22, 2008
If you are opposed to a minimal $700 billion bailout of the banks, you had better protest now.
Contact your representative in the House of Representatives. They are more responsive than Senators.
Contact him/her by phone. Do not waste the time of the poor person who answers. Be polite. Just tell the person that you oppose the bank bailout, and that you hope that your representative will vote against it. Do not explain why. He knows why.
Immediately write a snail mail letter saying the same thing. Basic points:
The Federal deficit is too large as it is.
It's a burden that taxpayers cannot afford.
It's a bailout of bankers, not little people.
This is only a down payment; the next Administration will be back for more.
This is not fair to people who saved and played by the rules.
The Administration is treating Congress as if it were a lap dog.
You intend to vote against every politician who votes for it, even if this means voting for a [Democrat/Republican].
Write it in your words.
Do not cite the Constitution, even though it says Congress is supposed to initiate all spending bills. Do not attack Treasury Secretary Paulson or former Federal Reserve Chairman Greenspan or anyone. Just cite economic reasons.
It is true that on Sunday, September 7, Paulson unilaterally nationalized the mortgage market on his own authority, ignoring Congress. When he got away with it, that gave him a blank check. On September 16, late in the evening, the Federal Reserve promised to work with the Treasury to fund AIG to the tune of $85 billion. No one consulted Congress. No protest from Congress. Next!
Then on September 18, Paulson said $700 billion more will be necessary. He wanted it immediately -- no delays. No detailed Congressional hearings -- just enough to make it look good to the voters back home.
He has treated Congress as a lap dog. "Sit. Roll over. Nice doggy. Here is a large bone." He cried "wolf," and we voters are the sheep. Yet up until the day he cried "wolf" he assured everyone that the banking system was in sound shape.
Congress will roll over, I fear. This is a replay of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction in 2003. "Wolf, wolf." Congress buckled. Now the Administration is doing it again. "This time it really is bad. This time, it's different." Congress will probably believe "the experts" once again.
This steamroller will crush us and our children with massive debt. Meanwhile, the heads of Fannie, Freddie, and the investment banks got rich -- fabulously rich.
But don't mention this in your letter. You will be dismissed as a kook. Just point out the obvious: we cannot afford it. Because we can't.
A new poll says that more Americans oppose the bailout than support it. They know this in Congress. But do they care?
If he votes for the bailout, vote for his opponent in November, no matter what. Switch parties if you must. Congress needs to take voters more seriously than they take the ex-CEO of Goldman Sachs.
Send your letter today.
It does far less good to send an email.
Do not bother to contact a politician from another state.
To find out who your representative is, click here:
Senators are listed by state in the drop-down box in the upper right-hand corner: