Congress stupidly decided not to tear up the horrendous, offensive Bush-McSame-Paulson $1 trillion giveaway to corporate financial fraudsters.  As usual, they failed to create an equitable, common sense, rational approach solution in a rush to get out of town.

 

Instead of taking a week or two and start from scratch to fashion, for the short term, (a more comprehensive 21st century New Deal legislation to be created by a new Congress in January) a bill for the common good with some essential restructuring and regulation of the financial system; strong, effective oversight and a much smaller amount of money distributed and administered not by Bush-McSame-Paulson and their Wall Street cabal feeding at the government trotugh, but by an independent ad hoc entity created and answerable only to Congress; the elected denizens on Capitol Hill cobbled together 'revisied" bailout legislation incorporating the GOP scam plan and gave everything to the Wall Street perpetrators of the financial debacle but nothing to regular Americans except an invoice for $700 billion plus.

 

Off members of Congress went, all smiles as they betrayed the American people and bailed out, with very few strings attached, their big money Wall Street criminal contributors, proving once again, just like with FISA, that Congress provides the best legislation money can buy for government of, by, and for the few, the rich, and the corporations, the hell with the common good and regular Americans.

 

And what has happened since they skedaddled out of Washington on Friday?

 

From the AFP: "World stock markets plummeted on Monday, striking four-year lows, as panic-stricken investors doubted whether a Wall Street bailout package would stem the global financial crisis.

"London, Frankfurt and Paris all tumbled more than six percent before pulling back slightly while a 15-percent dive in Moscow forced yet another halt to Russian trading.

"' There is all-out panic,' said ING senior strategist Adrian van Tiggelen.

" 'Everyone had hoped that after the acceptance of the package in the US and the bailouts in Europe, things would cam down but in effect, there are still strong fears of the domino effect.'

" 'The market is not convinced that the US bailout package can protect the economy from the financial crisis,' said Toyo Securities strategist Ryuta Otsuka."

And, from the NYTimes: "Stocks tumbled Monday in Europe and Asia, and oil fell below $90 for the first time since February as fears grew that the financial crisis is spreading to the world economy.

"European markets slid at the opening, a day after governments were left scrambling to prevent the collapse of two lenders, Hypo Real Estate in Germany, and the Belgian operations of Fortis. The German government also said Sunday that it would guarantee all private bank deposits as it sought to avert the spread of the financial contagion.

"In New York, futures indexes were down sharply, foretelling another volatile day on Wall Street."

Meanwhile, regular, hardwoking Americans, who continue to struggle as jobs and wages are cut and are now on the hook for Congress' bailout of super wealthy Wall Street, must curtail spending except for necessities.

This picture stinks.   Hope Congress enjoys its recess.  Its members have a lot to answer for.