We protect what we value

"In this country," I heard an economic observer say yesterday, "we privatize profits, but socialize losses."

Which means that the next time pharmaceuticals or energy companies make a killing profit, don't expect our government to step in and say, "Okay, time to share some of that with strapped school districts, with at least a start at fixing health insurance in this country, with services to children of low-income families"—made low-income, in many instances, by governmental accommodation of U.S. businesses moving jobs offshore in order to hike investors' profits.

It's clear what the current administration values, by what it is willing to go into debt to save ($40 billion of debt, for just this recent spate of bail-outs): profits, not people. And don't even start in about how profits trickle down to common working Americans. All that mantra does is incite citizens to vote against their own best interests.