March 2009. When George Bush was president, the Democrats routinely objected that the administration was more concerned about the rich than ordinary working Americans. "Tax cuts for the rich." "The White House is a wholely-owned subsidiary of big business." Etc. I'm sure you heard the criticisms.
Now the Democrats have taken over, winning the presidency and strong majorities in both houses of Congress. Finally we would see an end of government that is a lapdog for the rich and big business.
As their first major act, they rushed through a bill to hand out tax money to some of the largest corporations in America.
$3.5 billion to Capital One.
$4.0 billion to Chrysler.
$4.9 billion to SunTrust Banks.
$5.0 billion to GMAC Financial Services.
$6.6 billion to US Bancorp.
$7.6 billion to PNC Financial Services.
$10 billion to Goldman Sachs.
$10 billion to Morgan Stanley.
$14 billion to General Motors.
$25 billion to JP Morgan.
$25 billion to Wells Fargo.
$45 billion to Bank of America.
$50 billion to CitiGroup.
$40 billion to AIG with $30 billion more in the pipeline.
It makes the mere $1.2 billion to Discover Financial Services or the piddling $34 million -- million with an "m" -- to Bank of Kentucky Financial sound tiny.
But they haven't forgotten the little guy! The original plan was to give every working family a $600 tax break. They decided that that was too much and cut it back to $400, but still, the Democrats in Washingtion are now looking out for you!
Source: New York Times, March 24, 2009
© 2009 by Jay Johansen
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