Okay, we all know the argument for bailing out Fannie and Freddie bondholders. If we didn't , then homeowners would be paying much higher interest rates on mortgages for many years to come. But, why are we bailing out the stockholders? After all, aren't stockholders supposed to lose their shirts when they invest in a bankrupt company?

I've heard members of Congress say that the stockholders have already lost 80 percent of their investment. So what? Losing 80 percent is better than losing 100 percent. Furthermore, not all stockholders bought their shares last year. Some bought their shares last month, just before the Fed, Treasury, and Congress came to the rescue.

So, what's the deal? I don't want to think bad things about our political leaders, so what legitimate reason could they have for putting Fannie and Freddie stockholders ahead of children needing child care and health care or seniors who can't afford to pay for heating oil this winter?

Come on TPMers, be creative!

It has become popular among at least some folks in Washington to complain about the growth of inequality over the last three decades. Due to the rise in inequality over this period, the bulk of the workforce has seen little gain from the growth in productivity since the 70s.

The response to the rise in inequality has focused on improving the plight of those at the bottom, for example through increases in the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) or raising the minimum wage. These are good, if limited, policies that can improve the plight of tens of millions of people.

However, if more money goes to those on top, there is less available for those in the middle and bottom. This is simple arithmetic. In the last three decades, a huge amount of money has gone to Wall Street. The Wall Streeters' share of compensation rose by 2 full percentage points from 1976 to 2006. If profits rose accordingly, the growth in this narrow portion of the financial sector is sucking $200 billion a year from the rest of the economy; enough to hand every worker in the bottom 70 percent of the wage distribution a check of $2,000 a year.

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