We Need Labor's Leadership In This Crisis

Jonathan Tasini over on Working Life has written an excellent brief commentary on the current financial crisis.

Tasini is calling for an immediate meeting of every labor leader in the country. As minimum preconditions for a public bailout of Wall Street, he insists on

1. A repeal of the Bush tax cuts

2. Public ownership of the mortgage bundlers Freddie Mae and Freddie Mac

3. A "serious public, independent investigation," carried out by labor and other organizations, of how the political system, with the help of both parties, allowed the crisis to happen.

He also reprints Dean Baker's "Principles to Guide the Bailout."