We are now the United Socialist States of America

(NOTE FROM JOHN: I'm bumping Chris' analysis of the AIG bailout.)

We now own an insurance company that gambled wildly at the casino and lost. They left their mark all over the world and we will be discovering new hidden surprises for some time to come. Can the Republicans who paved the way for this hyper-capitalism (I'm looking at you, top McCain economic adviser Phil Gramm) admit they were horribly wrong? Again, where the hell are those Republicans who voted for this mess? Can the Democrats find the spine to capitalize on this monumental failure - not in six months, but now - and begin changing the way business operates in the US? When the times are good (though in fact, they really weren't) we brag to the world about how wealthy our CEOs are and the hundreds of millions they receive. The second their gambles falter, the taxpayer is expected to jump in and save the day. McCain's Keating Five bailout looks like chump change and it was compared to these nationalizations or whatever they want to call them.

At this point the AIG bailout/nationalization to the tune of $85 billion is a done deal. The American taxpayer is now responsible for the bad business practices of AIG and it's questionable whether we will ever see our money back. The bailout is expecting business to return to normal in the near future and that is pure fantasy. The US (and European) economy will not be anywhere near normal until 2010, if then. This will put much more pressure on the federal government who will either have to drastically cut back spending or raise taxes or both. As a country, we do not have this money to spend, so investing in the US will become much less attractive, driving up inflation just as it was beginning to stabilize. Again, we are propping up the biggest companies and the richest Americans at the expense of everyone else. The average American has watched their standard of living decline since the 1970s while those at the top have profited much like we see in a Third World country. It's embarrassing and against our previous American values. Sure we all should have an opportunity to move ahead and succeed financially, but that means we all should have an opportunity to move ahead and succeed financially, as in "all" and not just a few.

More later on what the Democrats ought to be saying and taking us in the future. There are a lot of lessons that we can learn from this failed Republican experiment but the Democrats must start the debate now.