Main Street DID NOT bail out Wall Street, and here is the Ugly Truth

Main street cannot spell WALL Street, let alone bail it out.  The media sensationalized the news using this ludicrous explanation:  "Main street had to bail out Wall St".  The described 'government bailout' of Wall Street included interviews with the average uninformed person from a "middle of nowhere" state (you pick:  Mississippi, Montana, Missouri, etc)  saying they didn't believe their tax dollars should have been used to bail out investment/banking companies that have global economic impact.  If they cannot spell Wall St, they definitely do not understand "global economic impact."  

The truth is the average ignorant person does not even contribute a little bit (if anything at all) to the government in federal taxes.   In fact, most states (almost all of the "middle ones") received more federal spending than taxes paid  (http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/show/22685.html#ftsbs-timeseries-20071016).  Out of the remainder of states which do pay more in taxes, only a handful actually contribute a substantial dollar amount toward any possible bailout or budget item for that matter.  The top 3 states contributing more than they receive (numbers are net for 2005, most recent year available at tax foundation link) are California with a 47 billion dollar net contribution, New Jersey with a 27.5 billion dollar net contribution, and New York with a 23.9 billion dollar net contribution.  The only other state with a significant net contribution (above 10 billion dollars) was Illinois (thanks to Chicago) with a 19 billion dollar net contribution.  What do these states all have in common?  Major cities that employ many of the people who work at these Wall St banks and investment firms that generate enough income to pay the taxes the government needed to bail out these firms.  Those top 4 states also happened to pay the majority of taxes (644 billion dollars) to the government. 

If your tax dollars are supposedly being used to pay for a bailout, you have to actually pay tax dollars, not receive back more in benefits from the government.  This is the part the media does not tell you because it isn't popular and just doesn't make a compelling story. 

The most ironic part of the bailout is that most of the companies that received bailout money were forced to take it, and did not want it.  These companies' competitors who did need the money would not borrow it unless the majority of the industry did.  Most of the money was used to acquire companies in trouble, and all of it was a LOAN, not a bailout, and a substantial portion of it has been paid back to the government, and at a better return on investment than any of the middle states could contribute in the next ten years.

So who gets the Big F.U. Screw?  The ignorant middle states and their politicians, who couldn't bail water let alone bail out Wall street.

Comments welcome, responses will not be immediate (I do have to work and pay taxes).

Next week-The mortgage meltdown, caused by the government (with help from FNMA and FHLMC), not Wall St, from an insider with over 13 years of experience, and a perspective at the point of sale.  Come back to see the next Big F.U. screw.