Somehow Paulson has gone from "Our banking system is a safe and a sound one" (See You Know The Banking System Is Unsound When....) to Paulson telling Congress “That we’re literally maybe days away from a complete meltdown of our financial system, with all the implications here at home and globally.”



Inquiring minds may wish to consider a recap of things that have happened since Paulson made his "Our banking system is a safe and a sound one" speech.





Everyone Wants A Bailout

In a change from the original proposal sent to Capitol Hill, foreign-based banks with big U.S. operations could qualify for the Treasury Department’s mortgage bailout, according to the fine print of an administration statement Saturday night.



Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson confirmed the change on ABC's "This Week," telling George Stephanopoulos that coverage of foreign-based banks is "a distinction without a difference to the American people."



On “Fox News Sunday,” Paulson told Chris Wallace that he would resist the Democrats' desired limits on executive compensation.



"If we design it so it's punitive and institutions aren't going to participate, this won't work the way we need it to work," Paulson said. "Let's talk executive salaries: There have been excesses there. I agree with the American people. Pay should be for performance, not for failure. We've got work to do in that regard. We need to do that work. But we need this system to work. And so reforms need to come afterwards.

Participation Not Voluntary

Paulson resists calls for added help in bailout

"The credit markets are still very fragile right now and frozen," Paulson said in an interview on NBC's Meet the Press. "We need to deal with this and deal with it quickly."



Paulson made the rounds of the television talk shows to stress the need for speed in getting the bailout package approved. The administration spent the weekend negotiating the details of the proposal with members of Congress with the expectation that it can be passed in the next week.



Paulson said that "it pains me tremendously to have the American taxpayer put in this position but it is better than the alternative."



Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, said that what Congress was being asked to approve was the "mother of all bailouts" which Shelby said would end up costing more like $1 trillion rather than $700 billion when the costs of the government taking over mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and insurance giant American International Group Inc. were added.

Mother Of All Bailouts Is Correct

What To Do

Contact Your Senator Today!



It's time to contact your senator. Here is contact information for Senators of the 110th Congress.



Phone or Email your Senators today. Tell them in your own words



Urge your senator to Filibuster any bailout legislation.

Emphatically state you do not want a bailout of any kind for anyone.

No Dictatorial power for Paulson or Bernanke



Taxpayers should not have to bail out banks making bad loans

Tell them that "The Fed" and Paulson are systemic risk".

Email AND Phone Senators Shelby, Bunning, Kyle, Ensign, Hagel



Whether Senator Shelby is your Senator or not, flood him with calls and emails asking for a filibuster and to stop the insanity. Senators Shelby, Bunning, Ensign, and Kyle might be sympathetic to the cause, based on past statements. I am taking a stab at Hagel.



Ask For A Filibuster



Please email and phone the following. Specifically ask for a filibuster and tell them to vote no to any bailout.



Tell them that anyone who votes for this bailout will never get your vote again.



Shelby, Richard C.- (R - AL)

110 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510

(202) 224-5744

E-mail: senator@shelby.senate.gov



Bunning, Jim- (R - KY)

316 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510

(202) 224-4343

Web Form: http://bunning.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.ContactForm



Grassley, Chuck- (R - IA)

135 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510

(202) 224-3744

Web Form: grassley.senate.gov/contact.cfm#emailform



Kyl, Jon- (R - AZ)

730 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510

(202) 224-4521

Web Form: kyl.senate.gov/contact.cfm



Ensign, John- (R - NV)

Washington D.C. Office

119 Russell Senate Building

Washington, D.C. 20510

Phone: (202) 224-6244

Fax: (202) 228-2193

Web Form: ensign.senate.gov/forms/email_form.cfm



Hagel, Chuck (R - NE)

248 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510

(202) 224-4224

Web Form: hagel.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home



Please email and phone both of your senators as well.

Once Is Not Enough

Flood the senators with emails and phone calls. Tell them in no uncertain terms that if they vote for this bailout they will not get your vote, ever again.



Send an email or call every day, preferably both.

Put each message in your own words.

Make the phone message sort and sweet.

Use one of the following verbs: concerned, frightened, scared, afraid, mad rush to action



Use one of the following themes: US dollar, unconstitutional, national debt, how do we pay for this?, printing money, lies, etc

Vary each message so they do not all sound alike



Send this post to 5 or 10 of your friends and have them do the same. Do it now, while you are thinking about it.





Addendum

Please read