Senator Bernie Sanders: "If a company is too big to fail, it is too big to exist."

[riverdeep]

Senator Bernie Sanders (self-described socialist from Vermont) has an article up in the Huffington Post. He makes some good points. The major theme running through the piece seems to be, if we're going to bail out these companies, we damn sure better get something for it in return! Here's some of the specifics he wants:

(1) The people who can best afford to pay and the people who have benefited most from Bush's economic policies are the people who should provide the funds for the bailout

a) Impose a five-year, 10 percent surtax on income over $1 million a year for couples and over $500,000 for single taxpayers. That would raise more than $300 billion in revenue;

(2) There must be a major economic recovery package which puts Americans to work at decent wages.

(3) Legislation must be passed which undoes the damage caused by excessive de-regulation.

(4) We must end the danger posed by companies that are "too big too fail,"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-bernie-sanders/billions-for-bailouts-who_b_127882.html

Whether you agree with the specifics or not, the concept of not giving away the store is one that Democrats cannot forget in the next few days.

[WheelWalker]

1. Sounds like a good start to me.

[Enthusiast]

37. Me too! Great start to new regulations. nt

[Joe Bacon]

46. Those who had the party MUST pay for it!

NO more severance packages for CEOs who wreck companies and bail out. If they do that, tax the packages at 100% and put a 10% surcharge on corporate taxes. NO MORE GOLDEN PARACHUTES! MAKE 'EM PAY!

[WheelWalker]

48. If you want to dance, you've got to pay the band.

[Pete2069]

57. We need our d... Jobs Back from Overseas.......

Without Jobs our citizens can do nothing but bitch...   
All these actions where set in Place By Corporate CEO's like
Cheney and the CEO's of the corporations which he created his
policies for.   
All one has to do is look at the record which are not censored
yet and see just who in the h... has profited by Bush/Cheney's
corporate government policies.
Why do you believe Cheney's records are censored ans shredded.
 Do you believe it was just because he wanted to give the
shredding company money or to hide his meeting with
corporations to make our policies.

[Joe Bacon]

59. Which is why GATT and NAFTA should be abrogated!

Tom of Finland Friedman lives in his Laissez Fairyland where Free trade works perfectly to everyone's benefit.

Tommy needs to stop floating in fairyland and come down to earth and see how GATT and SHAFTA really work.

Corporations collude with foreign governments to strip American workers of jobs. What does Bush and his Republic Party stooges do???? TIme and again Bush trades away orchards and American workers get a single apple in return. What remaining workers there are keep getting paid less and less. This has to stop.

It's time to put America first.

[AzDar]

2. Love, love, love Bernie!

[rhett o rick]

4. I agree. nm

[Lorien]

58. Me too, and I sincerely wish there were many more like him!

I think that he and Kucinich are two of the last politicians on the Hill who still give a damn about ALL of the American people!

[elleng]

3. We may already have 'something for it,'

at least insofar as antitrust laws are concerned.

'Too big' is prolly included, and must be enforced by 'enforcers,' interested in the public interest.

[roamer65]

5. C'mon Bernie, get with the socialist program here...

"If it's too big to fail, it's too big to be in the hands of privateers." :evilgrin:

I say this lovingly, of course. Bernie is a great senator and socialist.

[Pete2069]

40. Globalization is just another word for Monopoly of corporations

Corporations want a  globalization group ,  because it means
the elite and corporations rule the planet , and control every
action and policy that would exist in the world...  
Globalization has been sold as a necessity , but it really a
bunch of BS.  Every since Globalization of corporation and
their accumulation of world control and power , there have
been nothing but criminal corruption and steady decline and
destruction to our workforce and citizens.

Americans workers & workers around the world lose with
this type of "Corporate Monopoly Government" control
over all products , businesses and citizens..   
Republicans and corporations like to fool people with their
cute like names they attack to their action or policy they
inflicts on Americans  and the world.  
Like the cute little titles they give to their action in the
Iraq war or the corrupted and illegal actions now taken place
in Iran and Syria.
 
Their phony government agencies they have created in our
government using the titles of HomeLand Security and other BS.

Bush and his administration has divided the citizens in this
nation so bad , that it arrogantly breaks any law or commit
any criminal act they wish , without any concern about the
laws they break or the people lives they destroy..
  
You can take it from the illegal invasion of Iraq and
destruction of their country ,, to the arrogant criminal
crimes and destruction of our country and laws.  
Republicans just don't give a d... about any group of persons
except the of elite and corporations.
  
Just look at the wealth and empire which Bush Sr. and the
Carlyle Group , Halliburton , Blackwater , Exxon , Enron ,
telecoms  and other global corporations have raked in without
paying hardly a cent in taxes.. Halliburton and other Groups
have stole our tax dollars and raped the people of our country
and ran overseas for their own d... welfare and to evade our
laws of the crimes they have committed.
 
We need more From of our elected officials and we should not
ask but demand it.   Just who in the h... do they think they
are to change and destroy our constitution and laws for the
benefit of the elite and corporations , thinking that they can
do any d... thing they wish.
We should kick this global corporations s... out of our
country.   It has destroy U.S. and our democracy.
  

[HowHasItComeToThis]

42. BINGO, CITIZEN

[TahitiNut]

6. "Too big to fail" is the best definition of an anti-trust target. Break 'em up.

There's two things good business can't tolerate. One is the company that's "too big to fail" and the other is the "indispensable employee/manager/executive." The latter should be fired as soon as they become "indispensable." Immediately.

[lapfog_1]

7. I have an idea as well

Let's bail them out... fine. But we (congress) gets to have board membership of any company that sells us (because that's what they are really doing) their worthless assets (sells them to our RTC company). No company that sells these assets to the RTC (or whatever they call it) can OK any executive payment package without the approval of our board member.

That's just the first thing... here is the second.

Instead of doing $1 Trillion, we borrow $2.2T and do the following.

There are maybe something like 100,000,000 rooftops in the US (private homes, shops, offices, barns, etc).

We use the extra $1.2 T to install 4KW of solar on each of those rooftops, we don't wait for new solar panel technology, we can use the current technology.

A 200 watt solar panel currently goes for about $1000. With us buying in such huge quantity, I expect to drive the price down to $500.

I've done all the math, so 100 million 4KW rooftops would cost around $1 T in materials. It would employ 300,000 workers for 10 years (at $60K a year average each) to install (another $120B or so). Add in another $80B for administrative costs and you have a new TVA (also a New Deal thing). More importantly, we can go directly from oil to solar electric for our vehicles. And we get the money paid back by charging $.10 a kilowatt/hour for 20 years (that not only pays back the initial cost but interest as well. And we would quit sending so many billions every year to the middle east, and we can reduce our military as well (no need since we don't have to fight for oil anywhere). Domestic oil handles our trains and trucking fleet for the moment.

since electric will be the way to go, we offer incentives to GM, Ford, Toyota, whomever to build new generation electric vehicles here in the US for US consumption. Employs a lot more union auto workers.

This does 3 things:

1. Goes a long ways to reduce Greenhouse gases (more will need to be done).
2. Ends our dependence on foreign oil. (and saves us a *lot* of money).
3. Kick starts our economy and makes everyones house more valuable, shortening the mortgage crisis.

[Odin2005]

20. That is a brilliant idea! n/t.

[quakerboy]

51. I like it. N/T

[Historic NY]

8. thats exactly my sentiment what makes them think more money will help..

its like flushing the toilet.

[Eric J in MN]

9. Yes, "break them up."

The US shouldn't have gotten rid of the law meant to prevent another Great Depression in 1999 (repealing Glass-Steagall with Gramm-Leach-Biley.)

Restore Glass-Steagall, which prevented savings banks, investment banks, and insurance companies from owning each other.

Break up any corporation so big that if it goes out of business, the US government will give/lend it money in response. Less consolidation means more jobs.

[RB TexLa]

11. And the government could do that by doing nothing. Let AIG fail and it's profitable parts will be

bought up. Nothing is to big to fail if you let it go on and fail. If AIG had collapsed the sun would have come up the next day, the bell would have still rung on Wall St. The good parts of it would have gone to several different companies.

Politicians make the worst decisions when they think they have to do something.

[rucky]

10. Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!

[truedelphi]

12. This post is going a little bit of a way to restore some of my faith

In our elected officials.

[JCMach1]

13. Finally someone gets it- color me very suspicions that Pelosi and Reid will surrender

to the Chicago School people...

Also, have we heard from Obama on the topic yet?

[truedelphi]

52. O leep wondering if the obama that respobns to this issue

Will be the obama that stood by Rev Wright for several weeks or the Obama that voted for FISA.

I sure hope that Obama does NOT vote for this horrendous disastrous montrosity of a bill.

[struggle4progress]

14. We used to have meaningful antitrust law to protect us from Goliath

[judasdisney]

15. "...but Bernie Sanders is a SOCIALIST... Socialism is for the NYSE, not for peasants"

[JerseygirlCT]

16. Amen to that!

Seems so freaking obvious now, doesn't it?

I also heard a suggestion for a surtax on stock trades - apparently they have this in the UK and it's worked well.

But I fear these ideas will absolutely be forgotten in the rush to look like they're taking decisive action. Now.

[Strelnikov_]

17. Mother *ucking K and a mother *ucking R n/t

[Kitty Herder]

18. Let's bring back trust-busting.

It would make this guy proud.

[Odin2005]

21. If Teddy were around today he would be a Democrat.

In the early 20th century the GOP had conservative and progressive factions, as did the Dems. Ironically, Hoover was on the progressive side of the party, the government under Hoover spent more money then ant time before in US history, Hoover only failed because he just didn't do enough. Had Hoover been more open-minded less stubborn one could easily see how the GOP could of became the progressive party and the Dems the conservative one in reaction.

[Krashkopf]

26. Every President on Mount Rushmore was a PROGRESSIVE!

[TankLV]

44. umm - LIBERAL - don't mince words...not the time...

[NoName Left]

56. So true...hadn't thought of it that way, Thnx Krashkopf.

[Odin2005]

19. Give 'em Hell Bernie!!!

:yourock:

[moondust]

22. Bernie spoke on the Senate floor a couple days ago.

He had a lot to say. Worth watching if you can find it.

[Miss Chybil]

23. That's what I'm saying - TOO big, is TOO big.

No company should be allowed to get too big to fail. No company should have it's hands on so many different parts of our, and the world's, economy that should they fail would cause a countrywide, or global, financial meltdown. That A company should be so big is ludicrous. Regulations need to be put back into place. The conglomeration of our financial institutions into one giant helium balloon is not safe for any of us. Restrictions need to be put back into the banking and financial services industry that keep everybody's hands to themselves.

The same goes for the media!

[Nia Zuri]

24. Break 'em up, break 'em up!!!!!!!!!

[Krashkopf]

25. Bernie Sanders is AMERICA'S Senator!

Bernie said pretty much the same thing on Thom Hartmann's program, yesterday.

[eppur_se_muova]

27. EXACTLY!!! nt

[bluesmail]

28. Truth To Power

WAKE UP AMERICA

[Jackpine Radical]

29. Hell

YES!

[johnnyrocket]

30. Exactly!!! How can a private entity be a cornerstone of an entire society!!!

That's the fundamental problem with the whole privatization push...there no reason for a private entity to have public good...and it rarely does.

[Bjorn Against]

31. This should go without saying...

It is sad that so few politicians are making such an obviously true point. Thank you Vermont for electing a man who will speak these truths.

[Shardik]

32. "From Bernies mouth to God's ears."

After reading the article, I didn't see anything I couldn't stand behind. Unfortunately, there would need to be a bigger disaster than this to make his suggestions happen. And, if McClain/Palin are elected, that disaster will be just around the corner.

[RoccoR5955]

33. Bernie is THE MAN! He speaks the truth all the time.

WTG for a former Brooklyn boy. Makes him more of a 'maverick' than Grandpa, and Caribou Barbie combined.

[LaStrega]

34. From one Socialist to the other ...

Bernie ... you da man.

K&R baby!

[kmdemqueen]

35. That sounds about right

[KoKo]

36. Hello OBAMA! This is a SoundByte you CAN USE! USE IT! full caps apology...n/t

[riverdeep]

41. It does make instant sense, doesn't it?

But it's a catch-22. When 85% of the news people hear is controlled by four corporations, I don't imagine this is a message they will be too eager to let out. If it does manage to get out, then they send out the 'experts' on why this is a bad idea. Propaganda spread, idea quashed.

[KoKo]

54. Good Point...I've noticed the M$M is turning around everything Obama says on him with experts

and "so-called fact checkers" to change or distort his message. Busy Beavers they are...

[anitar1]

38. A big K@R n/t

[ulysses]

39. good thing he's not the most liberal Senator

or there'd be hell to pay.

;-)

[TankLV]

43. umm - the "elephant in the room" anyone?!?!

BREAK 'EM ALL UP - NOW!!!

Don't let this BLACKMAIL continue another DAY!!!

[burrowowl]

45. You RocK, Bernie!

Right On!

[JEB]

47. Thank You Bernie

Bernie Sanders deserves a cabinet position. Very few politicians make as much sense as Bernie.

[DrZeeLit]

49. He's my Senator, and at least he's willing to talk tough on the bail out.

Bernie is a great guy.

I'm proud to call him my Senator.

[colsohlibgal]

50. Bernie!

Bernie Sanders is awesome, I try to listen to Hartmann's "Brunch With Bernie" on Fridays as often as I can. He is one very smart man.

Love his plan too, the middle class should not be stuck with this enormous bail out bill.

[scarface2004]

53. too easy...100% tax on any salary over $1m!!

it s time to impose a salary cap on obscene ceo comp! they are shiteating greedheads!!

[mdmc]

55. nice

:patriot:

[Douglas Carpenter]

60. KICK AND RECOMMENDED ---