Reason #57: Paving Wall Street with Taxpayer Gold

Politicians like to talk a good game about “individual responsibility.” But when it comes to the housing crash and other bubbles, that’s just code talk for “the little guy is on his own.” Thanks to greedy banks and their too-good-to-be-true loans, millions of Americans are literally being thrown into the streets. Yet for months - even years - Washington acted like that wasn’t its problem. But as soon as all those defaults and foreclosures started to put a dent in Wall Street’s bottom line, politicians were eager to act.

Wall Street gets to swim in more money, but we pay the tab. Again.

Even though the dollar is in free fall and inflation is on the rise, the Federal Reserve gift-wrapped more rate cuts to the bankers and investment funds in late 2007 and early 2008. That sent another tsunami of dollars and “liquidity” into the system, but it isn’t going to save anyone’s house. It may have lowered a few adjustable rate mortgages a couple bucks every month, but for homeowners already drowning in debt, a piss-ant discount hardly means a thing.

For the big financial firms, however, it’s the equivalent of a taxpayer bailout. After all, that new flood of liquidity is going to hammer the dollar’s value even more. But that hasn’t stopped the Fed from giving their friends in New York another helping hand. In other words, Wall Street gets to swim in more money, but we pay the tab. Again.

NEXT: Reason #58: The Corporate Pension Scam