HOUSE VOTE: The Uprising Comes to Wall Street and Washington

Anyone who thinks we should pass the $700 billion bailout bill as is needs to answer a simple question: How does handing over $700 billion to Wall Street help the economy any more than, say, handing over $700 billion to homeowners, or spending $700 billion on a New Deal-style full employment program? In fact, you have to answer an even simpler question: How is handing over $700 billion to Wall Street a BETTER way to save the economy than helping homeowners or investing in the economy?

I've said it before and I'll say it again: If the liquidity problem is being fueled by banks holding worthless mortgage backed assets, and those assets are worthless because homeowners are having trouble paying their mortgage, then those pushing a Wall Street bailout need to explain why giving money to bankers - and not to homeowners to help them pay their mortgages - is the way to address the problem.

In considering this bill, the burden of proof is on those who want to spend 5% of our entire economy on a gift to Wall Street. If you can't answer that simple question, then I would suggest the White House fearmongering - the same kind that we all bewailed during the lead up to the Iraq invasion - is inhibiting your ability to think clearly. And not a single supporter of this bill - not Paul Krugman, not Brad DeLong, not Nancy Pelosi, not Henry Paulson, not ANYONE - has been able to answer this very simple question. The only thing most of the proponents have done is make a substance-free political argument - that this is supposedly the "only thing that can pass," even though DEMOCRATS CONTROL BOTH HOUSES OF CONGRESS.

I'd say being able to answer basic questions should be a prerequisite for spending 5% of our economy.

Contact your member of Congress and ask them to go back to the drawing board and pass a plan that includes re-regulation, New Deal style economic stimulus, bankruptcy reform, homeowner aid and a speculators' tax.

Views expressed on this page are those of the authors and not necessarily those of Campaign for America's Future or Institute for America's Future