On Sept. 28, Congress tore President Bush’s fragile heart out of his body and stomped on it in front of America. By that, I mean they denied his $700 billion pay-out to the Wall Street CEOs.

However, on Oct.1, the sun shone again for the Nearly-Forgotten President. The bill, after being backed by John McCain (who needs a reason to go back on his promise to stop campaigning) and Barack Obama (who doesn’t want to appear too likeable?) passed through the Senate with only 25 people saying, “Hey, what a minute, didn’t Congress just deny this heinous proposal?”

Not to worry, concerned Senate members: in true Washington fashion, no political party was complete without goody bags, and y’all added a ton of fun prizes to the bill to which Congress said, “No!”

The new bailout package is forcing banks to pay you back up to $250,000 instead of the previously required $100,000. It requires insurance companies to stop giving mental health patients higher co-pays, and instead treat them on par with those patients who have physical ailments. Plus, it gives income relief to the middle class, and offers aid for rural public schools located on federal property.

But wait, none of the additions have anything to do with helping Wall Street out! Why were they tacked on? I wish I could tell you it’s because the Senate finally realized that their citizens were in need of help from the government and knew that this bill would assist people everywhere. But it’s not. I have a real hunch the only reason these consolation prizes are anywhere near this bill is to prevent the following scenario:

Concerned American Citizens: Oy, Senator? Why did you pass this stupid bill?

Their Senator: George Bush said I’d get invited to the next holiday party if I did.

Concerned American Citizens: Really? Well, we’re not voting for you when you run for Senator next time.

Their Senator: Hey, wait a minute…

With these fun additional benefits, the senator can instead assure his or her people that they weren’t voting for a bailout, they were voting for tax breaks for middle class and aid for rural schools. And then they’ll be re-elected. And everyone is happy.

With that kind of unshakable logic, it was no shock that the bill passed through Congress on the second go-around. In fact, someone was smiling down on our little country because the next day stocks rose moderately. Three cheers for democracy!

Our Presidential candidates were psyched as well, but not psyched enough to stop arguing with each other. The two came together in support of the bailout but disagreed with each other’s individual plans to reshape the economy. So, everyone who we would come together as one big country and bond over this crisis just lost their bets (That’s you, Mrs. Palin).

Barack Obama has managed to use the economy crisis as a springboard for discussion on all of John McCain’s party’s great faults. He has even personalized different ad campaigns for each to the nine states he is trying to convert over to Team Blue. That isn’t to say all of his ads and statements are necessarily true, but they’re not far from it. He has been able to put his never-ending spending into good use, and use the crisis in his favor to push ahead in the polls (as of Oct. 11).

John McCain is instead only focusing on four historically Democratic states. He recently pulled out of Michigan (the automobile hub of the USA) after coming to the realization that the state hurting the most from his party’s energy plans probably wouldn’t want to be his new best friend.

This race, like many others this year, is far from clear-cut. The Republicans, much to their chagrin, are far from cinching the crown of the presidency; in fact, they’re barely up for Miss Congeniality. The entire Republican Party is essentially being pointed at for getting us into this economic catastrophe. In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan famously believed that tax cuts could stimulate growth and, in return, the government more revenue (it was called a Laffer Curve – ha ha). He was famously proved wrong. If you cut taxes without cutting spending, the only thing you end up with is a damaging deficit. That phrase should sound familiar; it’s why experts say Wall Street is below 9,000 [under 8,500 as of Oct. 11 – Ed.].

President Clinton tried to counteract Reagan’s tax cuts by giving increases during his eight year reign, but President W. insisted on returning to the 1980 model, and, using a series of multi-trillion dollar tax cuts, created a deficit that is predicted to be around $438 billion. If that’s true, it will be the biggest deficit in American history.

John McCain has been, as they say in Hollywood, engaged in serious damage control to protect his image as the people’s president. He is admitting his own party’s faults at economic control, and has said that, as president, he will step in and help the American people. During his second debate with Obama, he conceded that the economic crisis “has become so severe that we’re going to have to do something about home values.”

Like all great mavericks, he never brings up a problem unless he has a solution. John McCain’s new plan (Bailout 2.0) would require the Treasury to buy bad mortgages and renegotiate new loans that would try to reflect a home’s true (and probably diminished) value. Because, despite the moderate rise after the passing of the Original Bailout (the first child is normally the most screwed up), the Dow has done nothing but sink since Oct.1. As it drops, so too does the hope of Americans across the nation. It’s Wake Up Signal No. 2,290 that something must change. (Fun fact: On Jan. 19, Bush will have been President for 2,290 days).

We may be slowly losing all the money our families have worked hard to earn, but wealth very often has nothing to do with intelligence (a fact that the Elephants of our country may be wise to remember). For the past eight years, the everyday people of this country have felt like second-class citizens. While the hot-shots in Washington are focusing on the problems of Iraq, Iran and Israel, Americans have been facing issues of their own on the home front. Maybe if Washington had been more in tune to our needs and wants earlier, we could have proposed a bailout like this months ago- and saved ourselves all the trouble we are in now. John McCain promises “Country First”, and Barack Obama demands change, but neither of them have really proved to us that their hearts, and their priorities, lie within the borders of the country they want to lead. And in order to successfully turn this country around, their main concern needs to be us.

When Americans vote for their next leader on Nov. 4 (and, trust me, they will be voting), the number one issue on their minds probably won’t be Iraq. It won’t be gay marriage or abortion. And, unless they can see it from their houses, it won’t be Putin’s Russia. This election will get us back to the basics – back to the true reason all of our ancestors came to this country. The magnetic force that led us all here, was money. Money, and a promise that our children would lead better lives than the lives of our own.

For the past eight years money, and hope, has been leaving citizens. And whether it’s for the good, or the bad, during this election those citizens will demand to know what happened to their American Promise, and vote for the man that they think will give them back that hope for a better life.