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Has anyone read "The Shock Doctrine" by Naomi Klein? She was interviewed on WNYC, her book is quite literally stunning and makes sense of this accelerated economic rape of the US taxpayer for the beneift of the 'corporatists' (her word) in these last 3 months of the Bush administration.
If I had the money I'd send a copy to every US taxpayer and every person on the Obama transition and new administration teams.

Can we be clear about something? In the decisions to focus, whether loan or "bailout," we are making a clear societal value judgment.

We are readily negotiating, behind the scenes, with the long-term incompetent management of financial institutions--without public, verifiable, and penalty-enforcement guaranteess of long-term changing of practices--massive amounts of taxpayer funding.

When it comes to so-called bricks and mortar industries--and not only the auto industry, but have we talked about the troubles in some other concrete, *labor-heavy* industries that are in trouble? restaurants? other manufacturing that has been closing down everywhere because of the prioritization on the financial industry? all the small manufacturing that has left NYC?--we call the auto industry on the carpet and humiliate (deservedly) the incompetent managers--and make demands that they have at least already begun to enact (converting to energy-efficient cars) and insist on enforcable transparency before we will assist in any way.

So the paper-pushing electron-based finances who have gambled with money for years are getting help, but the working-class people who actually produce products and services are left to twist in the wind.

Sad. When did our value system become so distorted?

Why is it that when the government spends money on a bank bailout or projects to stimulate the economy all these business economists get indignant about inflation but if the government quietly spends 500 billion on some military boondoggle like a missile defense shield that doesn't work no one says a peep about inflation.

How come spending on bombs and guns doesn't seem to cause any inflation problems?

You won't see a Bloomberg analyst warning against inflation after 100 billion military bill goes through congress...

Can an Obama administration cancel any of these planned bailouts / loans and just keep it as guarantees? I think short term market ramifications would potentially deepen a recession, but would reduce the amount of money that nearly 2 - 3 generations of US taxpayers will have to spend. In the long run sounds like a plan worth experimenting with in 2010 or 2011.

who cares my kids are going to have to pay it off not me!

$8 trillion? I would buy Hawaii.

What I would do with a Trillion dollars, is create a national network of Television, Radio and mass media that reflects the ideas and experiences and general culture for people of color which is not represented in the present system. And bring media to the twentieth century that reflects modern America!

Can the government get the money back for the naiming rights of the New Mets Ballpark?
I dont think "Tax Payers of the United States Field" has the same ring to it.
Im serious, how can they keep the name CitiField when it costs $20 million a year and the company paying it is taking a huge taxpayer funded loan?
See: Enron Field

are there any equivalents to 'clawback' provisions that are put into the bailout rules, and can any be put into the AIG agreement now that it's been found out that a huge amount of money went into bonuses already. Or will it all fall on Andrew Coumo to really take action? Barney Frank - can he do anything relevant before Jan.20th?