Like it or not, we are going to be faced with a heavily meaningful decision this November when we cast our vote for president.
As usual it is very easy to find reasons not to vote for either candidate and hard to find strong reasons to vote for either candidate. As readers know from past columns, I am not exceedingly happy with Obama but his is certainly the more attractive option since John McCain has handed me a very strong and clear reason not to vote for him.
At the end of last week McCain tried to distance himself from a statement his chief economic advisor, ex-Senator Phil Gramm, made about the American being “a nation of whiners” because of the current economic situation. Gramm later said he was talking about the present leaders and not the people, but I’ve never before heard anyone refer to the country’s leadership as the nation.
McCain hopes that the statements he made immediately distancing himself from Gramm will save the votes he might have lost from those citizens insulted by Gramm calling them whiners. That’s the least reason his relationship with Gramm should cost him votes, though. The real reason has nothing to do with that.
The reason no one should vote for John McCain is that he chose Gramm as his economic advisor in the first place.
The strength of the relationship between these two men has been well documented. See: www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110009690 and http://money.cnn.com/2008/02/18/news/newsmakers/tully_gramm.fortune/index.htm.
Did I hear you ask why this should keep you from voting for McCain? After all, you might say, that article in Money Magaxine says that Gramm as Secretary of the Treasury would ensure that the conservative boast of being the party to reduce the size of government would become reality. Gramm, after all, is famous for his dislike of big government.
He may dislike big government, but he has no distaste for making sure that the government doesn’t get in the way of big earnings for his friends, and there lies the rub.
Gramm’s loyalty to his big money buddies far outweighs his loyalty to any party goal including the reduction of government size. In my view, if anybody wants to reduce the size of the government, they could start with Homeland Security. Gramm’s efforts, however have always focused on the banking industry.
His idea of reducing big government is to reduce regulation. So, you ask, what’s so wrong with that? Doesn’t everybody hate the way the government keeps looking over our shoulders?
My answer is that when the government is looking over my shoulder in an attempt to stifle my rights I do hate it, but when the goal is to keep the robber barons at bay, I’m all for it, and Gramm’s whole reason for existence has been to help the barons get their hands deeper into our pockets.
Gramm’s deregulation of the home lending industry is almost single-handedly responsible for the collapse of the American housing market. The evidence is clear that he, more than any other individual, sought and accomplished, through passage of the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, the abolishment of regulations that had, since the great depression, kept the country on an even economic keel – not to mention that his wife was a nicely enriched accomplice while serving as Vice-Chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. (See: http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2008/07/foreclosure-phil.html.) The end result was that the damage to the economy grew exponentially as loans made to borrowers incapable of paying them back were given on over-valued homes then repackaged to be traded back and forth like lottery tickets with each trade adding money to the coffers of the brokers while creating a bubble of unsupported paper wealth.
The article cited above, in an attempt to be fair, notes that Gramm probably didn’t understand how devastating his deregulation efforts would be to the economy so he wasn’t acting malevolently.
To me that is a damned if I do, damned if I don’t situation. If he didn’t know what the effects of his actions would be, he certainly shouldn’t be a prominent economic advisor and probably should be hanged in effigy. If he knew the potential consequences and went ahead anyway because it would make him and his friends richer, he should be hanged in person.
AND THIS IS THE MAN THAT JOHN McCAIN CHOSE AS HIS CHIEF ECONOMIC ADVISOR!!
How much confidence should this kind of decision by John McCain give voters in his potential as a president? NONE. ZERO. ZIP. GOODBYE JOHN.
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By the way, last week when I wrote about my Canadian trip, I failed to mention a terribly important fact and have taken quite a bit of flack for it, so please note that if you want to duplicate the great time we had at Sioux Lookout, you ought to call Tom Cappel first and sign him on as your guide. Tom operates Blue Water Guide Service and Outfitters from his home in Sioux Lookout and is not only an excellent guide and shore lunch cook, but a fine raconteur and well-voiced guitar picker. He is also not only a gentleman and acholar, but his generosity is exceeded only by his good looks, and you could never go wrong by calling Tom at 807-737-4573 and hiring him to ensure that your boat will be filled with walleye, northern pike, smallmouth, and maybe even a mythical lake trout or two before the week is over.
All kidding aside, Tom is fine guide and fine fellow and I'm proud to consider him a friend. If you ever do get up there, you will be doing the best you can if you work with Tom. 807-737-4573.
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“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” – Patrick Henry
Be the change you wish to see in the world. -- M. K. Gandhi
Individually we have little voice. Collectively we cannot be ignored.
But in silence we surrender our power. Yours in Peace -- BR
The reason for going was to keep the crude flowing and raise a false flag abroad. – from a poem by Jack Evans titled 3500 Souls - http://www.myspace.com/paralegal_eagle
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2 comments:
Article is about Phill Gramm, not John McCain. Terrible title, and terrible opinion. McCain was very upset that Gramm made that stupid remark. The same way Obama has been upset at the comments his side has made.
Well Lucy -- er, Bill, lemme splain. The article is about John McCain. The title was stupid enough to get a right winger like you to read it and that was the goal. My point was that McCain's crocodile tears about Gramm's remark were far too little too late. At this point little is more important in assessing a potential president than his capability in handling the economy, and if McCain isn't interested in doing better than Gramm as a financial advisory, he doesn't deserve to be president.
Say goodnight, Gracie -- er, Bill.
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