Get some tradeoff for bailout money

Taxpayers don't realize it, but they are in the driver's seat, and the window of opportunity is short. Wall Street is in a mess and needs money to pay for the mistakes made by incompetent management.

My suggestion is for every taxpayer to send a message or phone his congressional representatives telling him that, in exchange for our tax dollars to pay for these socialized losses, we need some collateral.

This collateral should be in the form of demanding that they keep their hands off both Social Security and Medicare unless they have plans to make them safer, more secure and improved. Privatization should be off the table in any form and the trust fund should be absolutely off limits for inclusion in the general fund balance in exchange for our tax dollar bail out.

Congress, with the help of the Treasury secretary, will be trying to fast track legislation and we need to make them stop and think before they act. Let's not turn this into another Patriot Act vote where nobody is aware of what is in the bill.

Congress needs to be challenged and asked why, when this country has been losing our manufacturing base, was there no similar outcry. I guess that, if you wear an expensive suit instead of work clothes and punch a clock, your job is more valuable.

It's time for taxpayers to reclaim the power they have long since relinquished.