Fortuna Faveat... may fortune favor us

Contact your reps!
Write Congress!
Call Congress!

Well, Congress seems to have a plan in the works and while it isn’t the Paulson plan anymore, it is still terrible and anathema to the notion of a free market.

I’ve been asking all of you to write to Congress and share your views (particularly) on this subject, but really on any that floats your boat. Remember, these assholes work for you and me. When your employees get out of line in your office, you let them know about it, don’t you? Well, to aid in this effort, I thought I’d pass along The Consumerist’s guide to writing to Congress to make sure you get the most bang for your letter-writing buck.

Every office has its own procedures for tabulating constituent correspondence, but most will produce a report at the end of week breaking down how many letters were received by issue area, separating out form letters from letters sent by individual constituents.

Members treat each type of letter differently, but most look for individual letters as a barometer of their district’s concerns. These are the letters that have the most influence, the ones we will show you how to write.Carey
The Consumerist

As that guide points out, form letters get less attention than individual letters. But that doesn’t mean you still can’t use the forms I link to, such as this one. Just type your text into the appropriate box. Et Voilà! You have an individual letter that will immediately get emailed to your reps. You can also use this link to look up your reps phone numbers to call them directly in DC.

It looks like they are going to try to rush a vote today (Sunday) before the markets open in Asia. Get on the horn, people! It’s go time!

Damn, I hate anonymous sources. But in this case, the quote is simply too staggering and damning of the entire Paulson bailout plan to ignore. Forbes.com asked a Treasury Department spokeswoman on Tuesday about the origin of the (seemingly random) $700 billion figure. The answer:

It’s not based on any particular data point. We just wanted to choose a really large number.Unnamed U.S. Treasury Department Spokeswoman

I wrote a post about common sense last night and it is proving increasingly true. The minute I saw Paulson testifying in front of the Banking committee, I felt like I was back in the financing office when I bought my first car! “Just sign the contract and we’ll figure out the interest rate later,” said the nice man pushing the contract into my face. “I promise to get you the best rate I can.”

If you haven’t registered to vote, do so here or here or here.

I didn’t fall for it then and I’m not going to fall for it now. Neither should you!

If you haven’t actually taken a look at the proposed plan, it is worth seeing even though it is now (fingers crossed) totally impossible to pass. The only purpose for the Paulson plan is now clear: it was a smash and grab job where the loot was the U.S. treasury and the unitary power to control it. It was just like what happened following 9/11 when the PATRIOT act was crammed down the throat of each and every one of us. Look how well that worked out. In fact, just so we are all on the same page, Section 8, anyone?

Sec. 8. Review.

Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.Henry Paulson
U.S. Secretary of the Treasury

The irony is not lost on me that the term “section 8” was/is used to refer to insanity in military parlance. The reports I’ve seen in the msm indicate that the public’s response to Congress has been 200:1 against the bailout. This speaks highly of the public’s ability to smell an obvious, appalling rat, but does not mean you, too, don’t have to write to your representative. Stop the insanity! Do us all a favor and write your congressional representatives!

Do yourself, your children, and your children’s children a huge favor and don’t let Congress fork over more than $1 trillion to Wall St. without getting anything in return. Sign this petition and let the congressional leadership know that you demand we get something for all that money, something like an equity stake in any beneficiary of the bailout (aka “warrants”), something like cancellation of golden parachutes, something like actual regulation. Glass-Steagall, anyone?

If you don’t know what exactly is being proposed, take a look at the New York Times today for a brief primer.

You can also use this form to contact your congressional representatives and Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.

My friend and aspiring film maker, Jack Brungardt, has created a commercial and entered it in the Dibs ice cream film festival, a contest with a lucrative $10,000 prize. What does this have to do with you, loyal reader? Well, the winner is determined by the number of hits his video gets on the dibs site. So…head on over there and watch it and vote! Help this upright young man turn his celluloid dreams into cold, hard cash!

After you head over there and vote, come back here and check out my favorite piece of Jack’s esteemed collection, after the jump… Read more »