No Bailing Out the Bad Guys

This week came the news that the Bush administration intends to hand Wall Street a $700 billion Get-Out-of-Jail-Free card, in a move to help alleviate what is being called the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has urged Congress to act quickly on the economic recovery proposal, warning that delays threaten the stability of financial systems both here and abroad.

We advise caution and sober consideration of this proposal and alternatives before Congress acts. The bail out is being pushed down our throats as a necessary measure to keep the wheels of the U.S. economy moving at any sort of pace. It seems to us a knee-jerk reaction, a last grasp after the extraordinary gestures in the past few weeks—taking control of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, giving an $85 billion emergency “loan” to the insurance company American International Group Inc. and temporarily banning short selling of hundreds of financial stocks—have failed to slow this train from running off the tracks.

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We still have yet to hear answers from Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson about how taxpayers will find shelter under this proposal. How will Asian Americans, who have worked so hard for their money, be protected?

We Asian Americans have disproportionately high rates of home ownership; we pay our mortgages on time. We strive to find a good job and a nice home, so we can build our family. This bailout plan does nothing to help the average Asian American. This plan will only increase the tax burden of working families. Why must we Asian American taxpayers have to give our hard-earned and well-saved money to corporations completely removed from our community?

President George W. Bush says it has taken a long time for America to have reached this financial crisis. He doesn’t seem prepared. But many Asian Americans have been preparing for the economic security of their families and their futures. Don’t put this problem on them now.

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