Washington only bails out wealthy

I don't profess to be a student of economics, but I do know one thing: I played no role in the failure of AIG and therefore, I should not be expected to help fund its $85 billion bailout.

Republicans criticize Democrats for reaching into their pockets and taking money to give to the poor, whom they believe are just too lazy to work.

I find it far more offensive that the government is robbing the middle class and mortgaging our children and grandchildren's futures to prop up the wealthiest among us.

AIG's CEO, who's been on the job only a few months, will likely receive a $7 million severance package. The previous CEO took his piece of the pie in June, leaving with a $47 million golden parachute.

This comes at a time when more than six percent of Americans are without jobs and mortgage foreclosures are at an all-time high and climbing.

Who is offering to bail out the little guy who, like so many of the financial giants, gambled, assumed too much risk and lost?

And why hasn't the government thrown life preservers to the small family businesses driven from our landscape by the big box stores?

While the Bush administration has kept us on high alert for foreign terrorists planning another attack on our soil, it appears our worst enemies come from within.

Sheryl Jedlinski

Palatine