Bad news – despite letters from concerned taxpayers, students, and college affordability advocates, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced that he will be moving ahead with his proposal to spend part of the $700 billion dollar bailout to “save” providers of private student loans.

Campus Progress, along with the Project on Student Debt and many others, urged Secretary Paulson against this action, and asked the public to express their concern. We feel that this action is unnecessary, counter productive, and unfair. We should not spend taxpayer dollars to help CEO’s while students are denied the right to discharge their education loans in bankruptcy if they run into financial hardships.

Don’t throw up your arms and walk away - we need to demand that any government bailout for lenders making risky, high-cost loans is accompanied by common sense protections for borrowers.

Write to Secretary Paulson urging him not to sell out students while bailing out lenders.

Bailout Bill Defies Will of the People

Contact for your member of the House or Representatives. Image cc

White House and Congress Suspend Democracy
To Help Wall Street

Michael Collins

(Wash. DC)  The White House and Congressional leaders from both parties announced a tentative bill to bailout failed financial institutions.  The bill is a response to the $700 billion initially request by the White House last week.  The bill allocates $250 billion to start with a total authorized of $700 billion.  The money will cover the losses of distressed Wall Street firms facing bankruptcy due to bad investments, primarily in risky real estate securities known as subprime securities and "derivatives."

There were no provisions announced to bailout citizens facing foreclosure or help with their bad investments.

The Money Party (7):

Bailout Blackmail

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Just Say No

Michael Collins

(Wash. DC)  We're being blackmailed into accepting the responsibility and debt for the worst managed financial institutions in the history of this country.  The starting price, our debt, is $700 billion dollars.

What's really about to happen is that the failed financial institutions will be rewarded for their bad behavior.  As a result, they and others will be encouraged to do it again.  It's just a matter of time.