October 25, 2008
Dean Baker
TPM Café (Talking Points Memo), October 25, 2008
See article on original website
The Washington Post reports today that the next round of bailouts will be for the insurance industry. The article tells us that we can expect similar bailout conditions for the insurance industry as were given to the banks that received capital from the government.
In other words, the insurers will be given government funds at far below market rates. This is a direct handout from taxpayers to the shareholders at these institutions, as well as the top executives whose incompetence brought them to the edge of ruin. While the Post tells us that there will be limits on executive pay, these restrictions were put in just to fool children and reporters, serious people know that they are a joke .
Let’s stand up for Joe the Plumber and stop giving tax dollars to the incredibly rich.
Dean Baker is the co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR). He is the author of The Conservative Nanny State: How the Wealthy Use the Government to Stay Rich and Get Richer. He also has a blog on the American Prospect, “Beat the Press,” where he discusses the media’s coverage of economic issues.
