Safety Nets for the Rich

by Bob Herbert Op-Ed Columnist
New York Times - October 20, 2009

The headlines that ran side by side on the front page
of Saturday's New York Times summed up, inadvertently,
the terrible fix that we've allowed our country to fall
into.

The lead headline, in the upper right-hand corner,
said: "U.S. Deficit Rises to $1.4 Trillion; Biggest
Since '45."

The headline next to it said: "Bailout Helps Revive
Banks, And Bonuses."

We've spent the last few decades shoveling money at the
rich like there was no tomorrow. We abandoned the poor,
put an economic stranglehold on the middle class and
all but bankrupted the federal government - while
giving the banks and megacorporations and the rest of
the swells at the top of the economic pyramid just
about everything they've wanted.

Read the entire piece; http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/20/opinion/20herbert.html