Don't mourn, organize

Well, they passed the darned thing on Friday, and President Bush signed it. By a vote of 263-171, the House approved the Senate version of a megabillion Wall Street bailout.

As this thing was coming down, I personally did a lot of thinking, reading, and flip-flopping. Was this package a necessary evil that ought to be modified with stricter regulation for Wall Street and more help for homeowners stuck with predatory mortgages? Or was it just a bad idea?

At this point, I think it was just a bad idea. Economist Dean Baker and Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich agree with me. Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson thinks it's evil, but necessary. Either way, it's now the law of the land.

The $700 billion package (which, if you add the $150 worth of tax breaks the Senate added to it, may now cost at least $850 billion) is the most expensive government intervention in history. The war in Iraq, by comparison, has cost $600 billion so far.

So now what? How do we go forward from here? I'm seeing a number of interesting proposals out on the Net.

The Institute for Policy Studies calls for action to implement an unfinished agenda to deal with the Wall Street collapse and the bursting of the real estate bubble.

This bill doesn't do five fundamental things that the American public desperately needs, and we commit to pursuing this unfinished business in the months ahead (see IPS' Sensible Plan for details):
a. Create a stimulus for Main Street that addresses the recession in the real economy.
b. Establish a plan to ensure that the Wall Street speculators pay for the bailout.
c. Enact government regulation to shut down the casino — and rein in the unregulated financial sector of hedge funds, derivatives and other complex financial instruments.
d. Establish effective limits on all CEO pay (not just severance pay) and prohibitions on profiteering from the bailout.
e. Address the needs of poor homeowners who have lost or are facing the likely loss of their homes.

There are also several good articles posted on The Nation's web site. William Greider calls for "Born-Again Democracy," for popular action to force the federal government to re-regulate Wall Street, restructure the banking industry, and provide meaningful economic stimulus to combat the recession. Nicholas von Hoffman offers tax and fee proposals for "How to Break the Money Monopoly." Economist Joseph Stiglitz proposes "A Better Bailout."

Walden Bello's Wall Street Meltdown Primer is still timely.

I'm cautiously optimistic that this economic crisis can inspire a popular movement to change the economy of the United States in a way that restrains unbridled capitalism and helps ordinary people.