Jamal Bryant's Bail Out Plan: Money For Citizens

My friend just showed me a clip by Jamal Bryant, called "Bail Out". I didn't know what to expect at first, because he's a pastor. But I'm going to include the link and I'll try to transcribe what he says, just because I think it's that important. All American citizens should hear it and start their rally cry. We all need to gather and rise up AGAINST the corporations and insurance companies that are begging for money in their pockets and forgetting about ours.

Bryan advocates giving the bail out money directly to each American citizen over the age of 18 years. My friend was saying the only problem is you don't know everyone will spend it wisely. Iron sharpens iron, and I told him, why can't the government give this money to Americans with the same "stipulations" that they make for corporations, on how to spend it? It could be, 1. buy out your mortgage if you have one, 2. buy out your student loan, 3. and go down a list of priorities. I don't think American's would object because we are directly helping ourselves. Here is the link for the youtube clip. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Keiogxyw8Wo.

I'm going to listen to some music and then transcribe this:

"I wanna preach for a little while today, using as the subject "He Bailed Me Out". "He Bailed Me Out". Look at the person beside you and tell 'em, "I've got a few occasions, that I can talk about right now, that I know without a doubt, it was GOD that bailed me out." If that's your testimony, would you celebrate right now? Come on, you can do better than that. He bailed, he bailed me out.

It took 40 years for the children of Israel to come out of the wilderness and get to the promised land. It took Jesus 40 days to come out of the wilderness from praying and fasting, only to be tempted. Ironically, ladies and gentlemen, we're facing almost 40 days before the election. And looking at close to 40 days before the election, it feels as if America is in a wilderness experience. We have so many promises in front of us, but right now, it feels as if they're far away from us. America is nearing an economic calamity, and a disaster, that will be tantamount to the Great Depression of 1929. We have to, in fact, change from being a Land of the Free and Home of the Brave, to the Land of Foreclosure's and the Home of Debt.

The government is leaning towards bailing out Wall Street to the tune of 700 billion dollars. The 700 billion dollars is not going to arrive out of osmosis, but the 700 billion dollars is going to be squarely taken away from hardworking taxpayers like you and I. That's equating to, in doing the math, every person in America paying, $7,000 a person, to bail out an economy and a stock that you don't have investment in, making us a stone's throw away from being a part of socialism.

But if Congress wants to bail entities out, then they should not start with insurance agencies, they ought to start with individuals. Because there are hardworking people in America who are having to rob Peter to pay Paul to pay back Bartholomew--people who worked and labored their entire lives are getting ready to have their homes snatched away from them. How something is absolutely not just rotten in Denmark, something is wrong in America, that the first line item in dealing with the bailout is making sure that the CEOs of the corporations are paid first, while the workers are, in fact, handled last.

Maybe, my dear friend, 700 billion dollars is too much to wrap your mind around. So let's just look at one slice of the economy that will, in fact, affect all of us. If 700 billion dollars will bail out the entire Wall Street industry, and that's too much to fathom, let's look at just AIG Insurance. AIG Insurance has already been promised 85 billion dollars in bail out. And the question that I must ask Congress and Senate, that is meeting right now while we speak, to come out with an economic plan to save our union and save our citizens, I came humbly to submit to them a suggestion as to what I think will help us in this economy.

Since America, for the last 6 years, have been claiming debt, and have been claiming that we've been living behind the 8-ball,first of all, I need to know, where did you find 85 billion dollars. And if you found 85 billion dollars, please, don't give it to companies, give it to families. Because it is I know you've been wrestling, Congress and Senate, for the last 48 hours, I did the math for you, how to help you understand how it is that you can appropriate the finances of 85 billion dollars. If, in fact,we look at a line item issue, of 85 billion dollars, there are 300 million Americans. Of the 300 million Americans, there are 200 million who are over 18 years of age. If you divide the 200 million Americans who are over 18 which makes them qualified to be tax-paying citizens, every American today ought to be cut a check for $425,000 dollars a person. If you look at $425,000 a person, because we're all over 18, that income is taxable. Because it is taxable, and you're looking at a flat tax, of 30% per person, that means we are able to take home, after taxes, $297,500 that we put in our pocket. That's 25 billion dollars that will go back into the U.S. economy after taxes, because we'd have to pay on the $425,000, $125,000 will have to be paid back to Uncle Sam, leaving every individual $297,500 in your pocket per person. Now if that is a family, a husband and a wife, they then will receive a check for $595,000 per person. The question, Mr. Senator, that you're asking, is what would we do with the money. I'm glad you asked...

1. The first thing we would do, is we would pay off our mortgage. If we pay off our mortgage,that immediately will end the housing crisis, will get everybody out of an apartment and everybody is a homeowner.

2. What is the second thing we would do? The second thing we would do, is repay college loans. If we repay college loans, that will erase the debt of Fannie Mae and it will save the historically black colleges and universities.

3. The third thing that we would do, is that we would make a deposit into our bank account, making it possible so that Bank of America, Wachovia, and Merril Lynch will not go under, and they will not need any subsidized assistance--it will also create a stream of income for entrepreneurs who have an idea but have not had financial assistance to make it possible.

4. The next thing we would do, cause you know we still "negroes", we would go buy a car. And if we go buy a car, that would save the U.S. auto industry so that Ford and General Motors will not have to be sold to the Japanese but that we can keep the jobs at home.

5. The next thing we would do is pay medical insurance so that our mothers and fathers might be able to live a long and a healthy life, and they won't have to choose between food and prescriptions because they have adequate healthcare.

6. The next thing we do, cause we black, we would immediately deduct child support, so that every father that owes, before he gets HIS check, the child support would be taken out, so that every child will have a chance.

So, if that don't make you shout, the first thing we gonna do,is tithe. Is give the 10% back to the house of God, to say thank you because if it had not been that the lord was on my side, where would I be? So Mr. Bush, if you're looking at this, keep your $1,000 stimulus check, GIVE ME MY $425,000, because that's the least you can do for 300 years of slavery, injustice, and oppression. If you can't give me reparation, GIVE ME MY CHECK!

There's gotta be something, where we've got to ask those who work for us, "When will you SPEAK for US, and STAND for us?" Something has got to be ethically wrong if the country can bail out corporations, banks, and insurance agencies, but will not bail out the people who pay their salaries.

We cannot expect George Bush to do it, because he's a lame duck president, who put us in this debt in the first place, by going to an illegal war in Iraq, we cannot expect John McCain to do it, when he's got 20 houses he hasn't even been to..."