Peter Dale Scott: War, Martial Law, and the Economic Crisis!

The bailout measures from 2008 may have consequences at least as grave for an open society as the response to 9/11 in 2001. Many members of Congress felt coerced at the time into voting against their inclinations, and the "normal procedures" were then dispensed with. The excuse for bypassing normal legislative procedures was the existence of an emergency, but one of the most reprehensible features of the legislation, that allowed Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to permit bailed-out institutions to use public money for exorbitant salaries and bonuses, was inserted by Paulson after the immediate crisis had passed. According to Congressman Peter Welch (D- Vermont) the bill originally called for a cap on executive salaries, but Paulson changed the requirement at the last minute. Welch and other members of Congress were enraged by "news that banks getting taxpayer-funded bailouts are still paying exorbitant salaries, bonuses, and other benefits." In addition, as the Associated Press reported in October 2008, "Sen.Charles Schumer, D-N.Y . questioned allowing banks that accept bailout money to continue paying dividends on their common stock. There are far better uses of taxpayer dollars than continuing dividend payments to shareholders, he said!