Ramona

If Wall Street hogs are just now facing economic crisis, Main Street has been feeling the crunch for much longer, and My Street has been struggling to survive the soaring cost of living for years. If the government is bailing out Wall Street which will cost the tax payers nearly a trillion dollars, including $150 billion in ear marks known as "pork" fat, who is going to help the average American who is facing out and out devastation from forced foreclosures, credit loss, bankruptcy, and job loss?

As a result of the Bush Administration’s "laissez fair", "anything goes" capitalism, deregulation mandates, irresponsible industrial policies, manufacturing destruction, outsourcing of jobs, "free trade" causing massive trade deficits and enormous dependence on foreign loans, Americans have lost 5.5 million jobs during the last five years.

Today’s reports indicate that unemployment has been highest this year with a total of 760,000 job losses. 59,000 jobs have been lost in the month of September alone; an average of 84,000 jobs lost per month. Arnold Schwartzenneger, governor of California has declared that the state is broke; now he is asking for $7 billion in federal bailout. Otherwise the state cannot make payroll. Teachers, firefighters, the police force and many others may be forced to accept "IOU’s" which don’t pay their bills. Ironically, Warren Buffet who has been advising Goldman Sachs and General Electric, has also been advising Schwartzennerger who has been promising us for years that things will get better!

In California, 30,000 teachers and educators have lost their jobs resulting in further deterioration of our current education crisis. College students are living in constant anxiety of having their student loans turned down and not being able to continue the education they dreamed about in order to create a better life for themselves and their families.

The severe economic downturn has resulted in the worse week on Wall Street in 7 years. Washington Mutual, one of the largest world banks was seized by FDIC for bankruptcy. Unless Wacovia is rescued by Wells Fargo or Citibank, it will face the same dire result. Automobile and retail sales are down. Individual property owners have been receiving letters in the mail announcing that their only lifeline, their equity lines of credit are cut off due to astronomical sudden decrease in property values. Frozen credit markets have caused banks to deny loans to big and small business owners. The average individual is unable to obtain a car loan, mortgage loan or any loan. Instead, we see money disappearing from 401K’s and retirement accounts, cutting our future nest eggs into half in the blink of an eye. Not only are people unable to afford the soaring cost of health insurance. Instead, we’re faced with an entirely broken healthcare system in which hospitals literally leave patients to die in the waiting room while visibly aching for emergency care.

Even though the congress has passed the $700 billion bailout plan for Wall Street, and tacked on $150 billion worth of pork bribes, the President has promised Main Street that we’re not likely to feel any economic respite in the foreseeable future. While our hard earned tax dollars are going to bail out big corporations and giving perks to toy companies, race tracks and Hollywood, the American people are being told to go to hell!

Our congress people and senators have taken an oath to represent our interests. Yet, out of sheer fear and peer pressure, they surrendered to Secretary Paulson, President Bush, banks and lobbyists to pass an $850 billion bill without even reading it! Being told that this bailout was a necessary evil intended to "rescue" the larger society, we just faced a financial coup d’etat without any public hearings or oversight.

Economists assure us that the trillion dollar sellout of the American people is not going to make our financial crisis and uncertainty disappear, but will generate more anxiety and fear. No wonder the stock market declined today even after the Wall Street bailout plan was passed.

Just after signing the new bill into law, our law makers left the capital hill on vacation without passing a stimulus package for tax payers, without allowing for unemployment insurance, or any other benefit to the individuals on main street or my street.

If we think we’re in a serious recession now, we haven’t looked ahead. We’re facing a long and painful domestic and global recession reminiscent of the great depression! This is the beginning of the end. A 90 year old woman who was facing eviction from her home and being thrown to the streets, attempted suicide today because she has nowhere else to go, no one to turn to. Unfortunately this is the tragic beginning of a trend we are likely to see more of in the future.

Enough is enough! The Americans can no longer invest in corporate America because of piggish investments like that of Warren Buffet with General Electric. We’re fed up with our system of governance and the 585 people in Congress, House of Representatives and U.S. Supereme Court (not to mention FDIC) who make all major decisions for the fate of 300 million people whose hard labor keep this country going day in and day out.

Not only do we need fundamental change and reform in our entire socio-political and economic structure, but we need to tighten our belts even further, simplify our lives and curb our expectations. For some of us, this means using bicycles instead of putting expensive gas in our cars, living without health insurance, giving up on our long cherished education, and living in fear of losing our jobs if we haven’t already lost out. Even though the U.S. government is too incompetent, greedy and carelessly irresponsible to take us out of this bottomless hole, our individual faiths in a Higher Power, together with our courage and strength may keep us afloat in these tumultuous waters and chaotic times.