How giving 4 Billion dollars to an industry that is earning record profits will help Joe Six Pack?
Or how continuing to cut taxes for the wealthy has trickled down into anything but CEO"s pockets as they laid off or shipped jobs and even more money off shore?

It doesn't help Joe 6 pack but so many people are conditioned to believe those in "authority" that they never question it. If it's on the news and coming from our government then by golly it must be true and anyone who questions is is either stupid or a traitor

People need to wake up and take a look around them. Things may not be affecting them now but it will eventually and then they'll ***** and moan about how did it all go wrong?

the rich just keep getting richer...while we that are not struggle and the big dogs really don't care...they don't want just a slice of pie...they want the whole darn thing....

I think "we" ordinary people need to start a national discussion about "How Much Is Enough". More than that have a march of greed!!

you kinda see why people colonise..or withdraw from the government...it is suppose to be for the all people but it is not it is for the rich...

I think we are way beyond the point of discussions and marches of protest. At this point, I think the only long-term fix is a complete do-over of our government. Politicians, political parties and lobbyists have corrupted our government so much that I think the only way to move forward is to start over from the ground up.

VIVA LA REVOLUTIONE!

here here I will drink to that...

Suzin, we live close enough to make it happen in VA.

God I wish! Where's Brightwell? I'm about 20 miles west of DC, definitely close enough to stage something

It's actually $400 billion.

Feel better now?

If the economic infrastructure falls apart, there will be nothing left for Joe 6-pack to do except move into a tent. The important thing is to see that we recoup the money over time and regulate going forward to avert another crisis.

OH YEAH, and think before you vote!

BTW, you were correct on the figure if you are referring to Big Oil and not the bail-out package. I may have misunderstood you.

The trickle down theory was first proposed by Ronald Reagan. Any economist worth his salt will tell you that it didn't work. The wealthy didn't reinvest their increased wealth. They just pocketed it. McCain is dead wrong when he says that the middle class will suffer if the wealthy people of the US aren't made even more wealthy. Personally, I think it's obscene for any individual to be able to amass the amount of wealth possessed by Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. If the only alternative is socialism, where do I sign up? Some socialist countries have a higher standard of living and better educational systems than the US. So what's the drawback?

Your worked for it, earned it, built it, made it, and I am going to take it away from you and give it someone else, who did nothing but but show up.

You know, we all want to make money.

I think what is so objectionable about watching these bail-outs for many of us is the whole money for nothing thing.

Bailing out companies that failed based on their own business decisions, on speculation without capital to back up their investments etc. Individuals defaulting on their mortgages were a small part of this. The fat cat house of cards that we are paying for now while we have to pay our own bills I think offends most of us.

The gap between the very rich and all the rest of us is very real.

The info below is somewhat dated but little has changed. Well except that now the rich have cut out the middle man and are taking our money without even pretending to offer a service in exchange.

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Because the American media claims to be the freest in the world, few have reason to suspect that their mass media information is being very carefully controlled and colored. The shocking truth is that the American public is being purposely kept in the dark about many vital realities. For example are you aware that:

THE RICHEST 1 (ONE) PERCENT OF AMERICANS possess more wealth than
THE COMBINED WEALTH OF THE BOTTOM 90 (NINETY) PERCENT.

Despite how incorrect that statistic may first appear, there is definitely no error or misprint involved. Not only that, the full significance of the above statement is rather difficult to instantly appreciate, so we'll take a moment more to consider its implications. The Millionaire Next Door : The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy by Thomas J. Stanley

Because the richest 1% prefer to associate almost exclusively with members of their own social and economic standing, few members of the bottom 90% of Americans have ever even met a millionaire let alone a billionaire.

Consequently if you belong to the bottom 90%, you can think of the wealth of the richest 1% as :
more wealth than the combined assets of every American you have ever met, plus all the assets of every American you would be likely to meet on a trip that took you through every single city and town in the nation!!

If you haven't been thinking of the rich and their wealth in quite that light, I suggest you begin to, because that information is only the tip of the iceberg of information being actively suppressed by the so-called freest media on the planet. Many references will be made throughout the book to the bottom 90%, so it is appropriate that we try to define the group a little more precisely.

Since the average person in the West considers himself or herself a member of the middle class, logic as well as popular opinion would suggest that half or more of the population fits into it. Initially then, let's arbitrarily consider that American society is comprised of 60% middle class, 20% lower class, and 20% upper class. Because the combined middle and lower economic classes only account for 80% of the population, the bottom 90% of society must also include half of the so-called upper class as well!

This means that the bottom 90% is comprised of:

1) Every member of the middle class
2) Every member of the lower class
3) Half the members of the wealthy upper class

So now our original statistics can be interpreted to mean that:
THE RICHEST 1 (ONE) PERCENT of Americans own more wealth than:

1) ALL of the wealth of ALL of the MIDDLE class
COMBINED WITH
2) ALL of the wealth of ALL of the LOWER class
AND ADDED TO
3) ALL of the wealth of the bottom HALF of the UPPER class

If you are surprised or shocked, don't feel bad. The elite have gone out of their way to ensure that you didn't know it. Nevertheless, my initial choice of (20%, 60%, and 20%) to represent the upper, middle, and lower class population percentages was arbitrary, so if you think the arbitrary percentage breakdown of society was at fault, I welcome you to run your own idea of the class percentages through the preceding model. No matter what figures you choose, the bottom 90% of society would still have to include ALL of the lower class, plus ALL of the so called middle class, plus a portion of the upper class. The staggering significance of the wealth of the richest 1% will not alter. Go ahead and try it.

Real Estate : The World's Greatest Wealth Builder by Carleton H. Sheets
The Hidden Wealth of the Next Richest 9%

Up to this point, we have referred only to the richest 1% and the bottom 90%. However, sandwiched in between those two groups is another wealthy minority, the next richest 9% . Let's now find out how that group fares economically. You may be stunned to learn that:

THE NEXT RICHEST 9 (NINE) PERCENT also possess more wealth than THE COMBINED WEALTH OF THE BOTTOM 90 (NINETY) PERCENT

As unbelievable as it sounds, there are two minority groups, not just one, that own more assets than the bottom 90%. These two statistics alone should leave little doubt that the bulk of the wealth in America is owned by a very small minority of super rich individuals. This reality contrasts so drastically with the "equal opportunity", "equal prosperity" concepts fed to the bottom 90% and the world at large, that statistics such as these have had to be suppressed. Again, there is no misprint. The only deceit involved is that the bottom 90% have been purposely kept in the dark about wealth distribution realities.

Hidden Permanent Prosperity For The Rich

If you were unaware of the severity of wealth distribution inequities, then you are probably in for an even bigger surprise to learn that the rate, at which the economic elite are getting richer, is simply astounding.

Statistics published in Forbes magazine's annual survey of America's billionaires expose this little known but shocking reality.
In 1982 there were 13 billionaires; in 1983....15; in 1984....12; in 1985....13; in 1986....26; in 1987....49. Note carefully that prior to 1986 the number of American billionaires had averaged around 13. Then the Reagan administration drastically altered the wealth distribution patterns by introducing new tax legislation favoring the top 1%. In 1986 the number of billionaires DOUBLED, and by 1987 the number of billionaires had virtually QUADRUPLED to 49!! By 1988, there were 68 individuals or families that each had net wealth in excess of $1,000,000,000. By 1989, the number had risen precipitously to 82. And by 1990, the Forbes survey reported the staggering total of 99!! With favorable tax laws in place, the super rich can enjoy bonanza years even during recessions!! The tax laws that allowed this to happen are still in place, and will remain in place till enough people get sufficiently concerned to insist that they be changed.

Excerpted from the electronic book:
Feudalism ... Alias American Capitalism

You Got All That Right!!! If The Republicans Keep Up This Rape Of Our Economic Infrastructure We Will Be A Third World Country In No Time At All!!!!

What a very Christian point of view you have.

You Got All That Right!!! If The Republicans Keep Up This Rape Of Our Economic Infrastructure We Will Be A Third World Country In No Time At All!!!!

Not about being a Christian,he asked what the drawback was to Socialist system. If we want religion as government, look to Iran, Afganistan,Saudi Arabia.

Believe me I have thought plenty and the rest of the country needs to think long and hard about it also. This country and most of us in it are going down the tubes more each and everyday.
There are families where both are gainfully or were gainfully employed living their lives pretty damn good. Then someone's job gets depleted, moved to another country.. then they can not pay the mortgage.. the house is foreclosed upon..
Then the have to sell one of two vehicles because they don't have the funds to keep up with both and gas is outrageously priced.
Now they try their hardest to keep up but can't!
I read here somewhere in the thread about soon we will all be living in tents.. well us lower class.. LOWER CLASS what a term that is! Well we will be.. and then the government will want to boot us out of them!
I know where my vote is going and it will NOT be for little Ms.Palin and her buddy! Joe Six Pac needs to stand up damn it and be heard! We want our country back!

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4502673n