{"id":461,"date":"2011-12-05T00:36:00","date_gmt":"2011-12-05T00:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/litci.org\/en\/2011\/12\/05\/they-got-bailed-out-we-got-sold-out\/"},"modified":"2011-12-05T00:36:00","modified_gmt":"2011-12-05T00:36:00","slug":"they-got-bailed-out-we-got-sold-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/litci.org\/en\/they-got-bailed-out-we-got-sold-out\/","title":{"rendered":"They got bailed out, we got sold out!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\n\tThe world economic meltdown that started in 2008 has cost the American working class a lot of money: a total of $9.2 trillions of public money through the bailouts, of which $4.79 trillion went directly to Wall Street corpora\u00adtions[1].<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the meantime, more than 25 million Americans are unemployed (or cannot find a full time job), 11 million homeowners have been foreclosed and there are still 20 million with under water mortgages, while the govern\u00adment is implementing $4 trillions more in cuts for the 99% and tax breaks for the rich.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe massive bailouts to the financial corporations have left public institutions on the edge of bankruptcy (like it is the case of Greece), as they have generated a massive increase of the public debt of the Federal Reser\u00adve and Treasury.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn order to be able to have money to bailout the corpo\u00adrations, the government needed to “borrow” money from somewhere and also to cut expenses (so they are able to “pay back” to the banks the money that they borrowed).<\/p>\n

\n\tBut the current rhetoric of the “austerity plans” is an hypocrisy: the 1% has recuperated and is making profits, while the 99%, i.e. working people, is suffering the conse\u00adquences of the crisis and of those political choices, that are presented as a “necessity”.<\/p>\n

\n\tWho benefited from the bailouts?<\/b><\/p>\n

\n\tWe can surely call the bailouts “The Big Robbery” of working people, as they constitute the biggest transfer of wealth in history from a public institution to private corporations.<\/p>\n

\n\tEven though Obama tried to make us believe that the bailout will “save America” from a total collapse, it only “saved” a tiny minority of Americans at the expense of the majority.<\/p>\n

\n\tWorking America, the 99% who generates the wealth and profits of the US corporations, was forced to rescue without consultation the “Corporate America”, the 1% who does not work, but owns the corporations and banks and keeps the profits.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe secondary effects of the bailouts are triggered now: they opened the door for a necessary debt crisis and therefore for a second assault: a new round of “justified” cuts to public social services, which the State cannot “afford” anymore.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Budget Control Act of 2011, implemented on August 2nd 2011, besides immediately raising the debt ceiling by an additional $400 million and potentially by $1.4 trillion more to avoid bankruptcy, had a strong deficit reduction component aimed at cutting public expenses and social services.<\/p>\n

\n\tWho is paying for the crisis?<\/b><\/p>\n

\n\tThe Obama’s government and the two big parties share a common understanding on who is supposed to pay for this crisis: working people in the US and abroad, that is to say the 99%. This is why they present the bailouts and the austerity measures as the only and necessary solutions for this crisis.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut the price working people are paying is not limi\u00adted to the bailouts. We have been the ones who are being directly impacted by the economic crisis itself: through massive foreclosures, debt increases, rising unemploy\u00adment and pay and benefits cuts.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd now, on top of that, we are facing an additional blow: the attack to public services and public sector workers, the most highly unionized sector of the working class that has been able to maintain living wages for its members and a relatively high unionization rate (35%) compared with the private sector (8%), which has seen a corresponding decrease in wages and benefits.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe New Austerity Measures of the Obama administration: $4 trillion cuts.<\/b><\/p>\n

\n\t2011: $900 billions in cuts, of which:<\/p>\n

\n\t\u00b7$946 million cuts from construction and repairs of federal buildings.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u00b7$1 billion cuts from prevention of AIDS, tuber\u00adculosis and other diseases.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u00b7$1.6 billion cuts from Environmental Protection Agency for clean and safe drinking water projects.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u00b7$1.5 billion cuts from the high-speed rail grants.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u00b7$350 million cuts from the Labor Department programs.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u00b7$500 millions cuts from food aid to poor mo\u00adthers and their infants.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u00b7$600 million from community health centers.<\/p>\n

\n\t2011-2021: $ 2.8 trillions of additional cuts.<\/p>\n

\n\tHere in California, the Brown administration has announced a new round of cuts (on top of the ones that have been yearly implemented since 2008). The last cuts announced by the Brown administration are going to achieve, among other things, the continued dis\u00admantling of public education system (Pre-K – 16) while simultaneously degrading a health care system and social safety net that is already one of the worst in the country. We must stop them now!<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Bipartisan cuts to social services in California 2008-2012:<\/b><\/p>\n

\n\t• $18.4 billions in cuts to public education.<\/p>\n

\n\t• $4.6 billions in cuts to SSI\/SSP programs (for assistance to seniors and people with disabilities).<\/p>\n

\n\t• $3.5 billions in cuts to CALWORKS (assistance to low-income families with children).<\/p>\n

\n\t• $2.7 billions cuts to Medi-Cal.<\/p>\n

\n\t• $1.6 billions cuts to subsidized childcare.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated articles:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\t– The “arguments” and strategy of the 1%<\/strong>:\u00a0http:\/\/www.litci.org\/en\/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1918:the-arguments-and-strategy-of-the-1&catid=19:usa<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t– What next for the Occupy Movement?:\u00a0<\/strong>http:\/\/www.litci.org\/en\/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1921:what-next-for-the-occupy-movement&catid=19:usa<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t– The growth of the Occupy movement in California:\u00a0<\/strong>http:\/\/www.litci.org\/en\/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1922:the-growth-of-the-occupy-movement-in-california&catid=19:usa<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t_________________<\/p>\n

\n\t[1].\u00a0http:\/\/www.nomiprins.com\/reports\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The world economic meltdown that started in 2008 has cost the American working class a lot of money: a total of $9.2 trillions of public money through the bailouts, of which $4.79 trillion went directly to Wall Street corpora\u00adtions[1].<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1999,"menu_order":2609,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"litci_post_political_author":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3498],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-usa"],"yoast_head":"\nThey got bailed out, we got sold out! - International Worker's League<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/litci.org\/en\/they-got-bailed-out-we-got-sold-out\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"They got bailed out, we got sold out! 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