Bail Out the People, Now!

If I had a business and failed to keep abreast of the times, didn’t retool to meet customer demand, had poor customer relations, spent too much on perks for myself, and invested badly, then went under, would I get a bail out?
No!
So why is it OK to bail out banks and big corporations, that failed to do what they needed to do to remain fluid, but not the people or small businesses?
Politicians and CEOs will tell you its because bailing out big banks and corporations saves jobs. But does it really? Or does it just save those jobs for a little while, prolonging the inevitable?
Take the auto industry for example. Economists, environmentalists, and everyday people have been calling for more fuel efficient and alternative energy automobiles for decades now. Meanwhile, the industry has ignored the demand, accepted large grants and tax breaks from government, while rewarding their CEOs, moving jobs offshore, and reaping record-breaking profits! Now, in no small part due to their own folly, they’re going under, and government’s are clamouring to help them out.
Yet, no such offer is being made to people, who through no fault of their own, find themselves in dire economic straits. Both governments and big business bristle at the suggestion of bailing out private individuals, helping homeowners pay for defaulted loans, restructuring the EI system so people who paid in are better covered, upping social assistance rates for those on the bottom rungs.
“That’s Socialism” we hear them cry!
Why is Socialism OK for big banks, big auto, big industry, but not for the small guy?
And why is the media not asking this question? (Could it be because they are all owned and operated by the big corporations now at the public trough asking for bail outs?)
How much would it cost us to top up the annual incomes of people living below the poverty line? How much would it cost to cut cheques to people who are having difficulty, due to unemployment, making their mortgages? And what would be the result of putting the billions, were tossing at failed industries who continue to move jobs offshore and lay off workers, into the hands of every day people?
Would they not spend it paying down their mortgages, buying food from the local grocery, rebuilding their savings, education and retirement funds, investing in their local communities?
If anyone is going to be bailed out, it should be the people who have been victimized by big business and the banks, not the big businesses and the banks! And if we’re going to give money away, and go into debt for years doing it, that money should be going to where it can have the most positive effects, in our own communities. It should not be going to the individuals and businesses who, through their own folly and greed, created the meltdown in the first place.
Its time to end corporate welfare and bail out the people, now!