The Bankruptcy of...Bankruptcy

So a wild ride on the stock maket this week. Down 500, up 100. Down 400. Up 700. Down for the week, slightly. I care about these numbers not because I'm a wheeler dealer on the market but because my freelance income doesn't cover my expenses and my mortgage, so my pre-freelance 401K supplements my expenses and THAT paltry sum of money seems to care about the market deeply.

I have a few questions.

How come there is no money for universal health care, for our decaying infrastructure, for our filthy malfunctioning subways, for affordable education, but now there are BILLIONS to bailout a bunch of greedy companies and beyond-rich corporations and their executives?

How come the greedy investment companies and mortgage companies get to have their debts paid off while those of us whose incomes have been declining in the face of increasing expenses do not?

How come executives will walk away from this disaster with millions in their pockets while the rest of will scrounge around to try and meet higher subway fares, higher real estate taxes, higher expenses for food, higher expenses for anything made of or transported by oil?

How come people believe Reaganite/Bushite trickle-down economics when the money always seems to trickle back up to the rich before it ever gets to the rest of us?

This is a moral issue I think. The government exists to make life better for the people, not to make big business richer. What's going on is frightening but it's also disgusting.

My modest proposal: Fuck the corporations. Bailout the PEOPLE. Call all mortgages held by individuals paid in full. Set a maximum interest rate allowable for mortgages AND for credit cards. Eliminate corporate tax shelters. Eliminate profit in the insurance business: insurance should be for protection not for profit. Fund healthcare and education before the military.

The system is completely bankrupt. WAKE UP!