I am a libertarian Democrat. As such, I accept the need the for more government intervention than most libertarians. However, I have some basic principles.
I also would rather the government not bail out private companies unless absolutely necessary. I am not competent to determine if the current bailout of all bailouts is necessary. However, I ask that you read the two linked columns below and demand that congress at least consider the consequences of this proposed bailout of all bailouts. The first is from Robert Reich. The second two are from Washington Post columnist Sebastian Mallaby.
On the current bailout of all bailouts, please read the following two columns.
First, Robert Reich from his excellent blog which I recommend:
http://robertreich.blogspot.com/...
"If you think the Bailout of All Bailouts (whose details will be worked out over the coming week) won't saddle American taxpayers with billions, if not trillions, of risky obligations, you don't know politics -- especially in an election year when members of Congress are eager to get home to campaign; when the incumbent lame-duck president (who was he?) has all but vanished, leaving his hapless Treasury Secretary, a former investment banker, to take the lead and the heat; when voters are in high anxiety over the economy and Wall Street is melting down; when the executives of every financial powerhouse in America have staked lots of money on campaigns in both parties and have indundated Washington with lobbyists.
In other words, watch your wallets. The tab here could be very high. If everything goes extremely well, markets move upward, and the risky loans become far less risky, it's possible that taxpayers (that is, the Treasury) might actually make money. But if the bottom falls out, American taxpayers could be on the hook for trillions of dollars. What then? The federal debt soars. What then? Interest rates go out of sight. What then? Foreigners lend us less money. What then? We're cooked."
Second, Sebastian Mallaby on the same thing:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
"With truly extraordinary speed, opinion has swung behind the radical idea that the government should commit hundreds of billions in taxpayer money to purchasing dud loans from banks that aren't actually insolvent. As recently as a week ago, no public official had even mentioned this option. Now the Treasury, the Fed and congressional leaders are promising its enactment within days. The scheme has gone from invisibility to inevitability in the blink of an eye. This is extremely dangerous.
The plan is being marketed under false pretenses."
Finally. on the looming problem of deficit spending and John McCain's tax plans, please read the following by Mallaby called "McCain's Convenient Untruth":
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
"When it comes to fighting wars, John McCain stands up and calls for sacrifice. "We never hide from history; we make history," he declared in his convention speech. But when it comes to taxes, McCain is unwilling to demand even a teensy bit of sacrifice. In a McCain administration, Americans would not have to surrender a dime more of their money to a cause larger than themselves. "
Again,I am not competent to judge this bailout of all bailouts. All I ask is that we, as Democrats, don't surrender our principles in accepting it.