Here is a terrific letter from the NY Times website:

2009 8:38 am

The Obama Administration should rightfully be the target of a backlash. While the administration has done much to be commended, the people they hired to fix this mess are sadly some of the same who got us there. Their actions reek of hubris and continued self-interest. Consider:

1) Tim Geithner was the chairman of the NY Fed and an active participant in the fumbled, lurching responses of the Bush administration. Similarly, Larry Summers, although he says he is outraged by the meltdown, was a principle architect of the deregulation fest that got us here.

2) Geithner's initial hires are dominated by investment bankers and especially recent employees of Goldman Sachs, the alma mater of Secretary Paulson. Goldman played a pivotal role in promoting credit default swaps and other sketchy derivatives (although they were nimble enough to sell early and avoid the worst of the tsunami). GS has not only taken billions directly from taxpayers; but they are a Primary Beneficiary of the billions of taxpayers' dollars given by AIG to its "secret" trading partners. (The outrages never cease - we own 80% of AIG, yet even Congress can't find out who is getting billions of dollars of payola.) In other words, Geithner and his team of Goldman alumni are donating billions of our dollars to their friends and former employer under the cloak of secrecy. This is the kind of "deal" for the taxpayers that Boss Tweed would have been proud of.

3) The administration's unwillingness to take forceful and timely action on behalf of the taxpayers by nationalizing the most disabled banks is scandalous. The delays in action only prolong the recession while the steady drip, drip of taxpayer funds continue to bail out the wealthiest of the wealthy. And the reason given for inaction is disturbing - they don't want to hurt the shareholders. Well what about the rest of us - the taxpayers?!

4) And perhaps the most disturbing thing is that these "master of our universe" have no sense of the outrage they are perpetrating. Instead, they take it for granted that they are entitled to be bailed out ad infinitum and keep getting their swollen bonuses. Their outrage at anyone questioning their entitlement is evidenced by the absurd statement, "we need to pay huge bonuses to retain the most talented individuals". Never mind that these "most talented" have brought down our economy, thrust ordinary Americans and the rest of the world into the worst hardship since the Great Depression. They are so completely out of touch, that they actually believe their own self-serving nonsense and argue that they deserve the billions they continue to pillage. And, as friends and colleagues of these people, administration officials will spare no (taxpayer) expense to make the "talented" comfortable. Geithner, Inc. will take care of their own while the rest of us go to hell in a rather cracked teapot.

Also, don't count on Congress to take any meaningful action. They will not bite the hands of their masters - the ones who gave and continue to give millions (of our money) to their campaign funds. One of the most egregious outrages of recent years is that hedge fund managers, who contributed heartily to our economic collapse, continue to be taxed at 15% MAXIMUM. The rest of us chumps pay full freight; but the wealthiest billionaires among us continue to pay the lowest possible rate. How is this possible? Well, when Congress considered taxing hedge funds at a higher rate, Senator Chuck Schumer used his considerable clout to protect the thieves (and yes, wealthy people who pay less than the rest of us are simply thieves) by blocking any legislation. As I said, don't expect Congress to take action anytime soon.

The picture is complete and it's quite clear. The greed-obsessed and heedless crowd who wrecked our economy continue to be in power and not only duck punishment, but continue to be rewarded with billions of dollars in taxpayer funds. These people are criminals in the classic sense of the word - i.e., they knowingly endanger others with their actions and are incapable of remorse. We need to be protected from such and they should be in jail - not for reasons of vengeance - but to protect the community at large.

The officials hired to fix this situation are too enmeshed in this world and therefore will do nothing that might harm their cronies at the expense of the rest of us. And last, our elected officials are utterly compromised by the corrupting influence of campaign donations from said "masters" and will do little, other than spouting fine platitudes, to challenge the status quo.

As some great, unknown philosopher put it, "we are SO screwed".

— DHanig, Olympia