23 Trillion Dollars

A series of bailouts, bank rescues and other economic lifelines could end up costing the federal government as much as $23 trillion, the U.S. government’s watchdog over the effort says – a staggering amount that is nearly double the nation’s entire economic output for a year.

If the feds end up spending that amount, it could be more than the federal government has spent on any single effort in American history.

This 23 trillion dollar bailout, or guarantee of loans, is poised to be paid for with cuts in domestic social programs - those which primarily benefit working class people. Publicly, these cuts will be triggered by 'worries over the deficit', and market threats from bond holders, most of whom are domestic - and the vast majority, wealthy.

The great financial crisis of 2008 will end up being one of the greatest transfers of wealth in recent history, if politics as usual is not challenged or even fundamentally threatened.