There is very little difference between the present economic situation and the mess the country faced in 1929. Jobs are disappearing. Banks are failing. Even insurance companies are going under, and the little guys like you and me are finding that the little money they have doesn’t buy very much any more and the home they live in isn’t worth the mortgage.
So how did we get here? By the exact same means that took us over the edge in the great depression – once again we are on the losing end of a long Republican reign – just as in 1929. Once again, our so-called conservative party has deregulated the financial markets so that the “free” market could wheel and deal with no one looking over their shoulders – just as in 1929.
The truth is that the market is not and has never been free. It costs us little folks dearly every time conservatism, whose definition of small government is not small government at all but only the removal of government’s regulatory function, takes us down this garden path. The only thing free about the marketplace is the freedom the traders gain from Republican administrations to make terrible investments without risk to themselves.
Why, you ask, do I say free of risk? Not because there is no risk for you and me, but because the traders have no risk. If they fail, you and I are asked by this conservative government to bail them out. If we don’t, we are told, and here the Republicans are finally telling the truth, we all go down together. What it boils down to is that the Republicans offer their big-time wheeler-dealer friends privatized profits and socialized losses.
The government (i.e. you and I) now own 79% of AIG’s value. In other words, AIG has been nationalized, but hide and watch. If the company recovers, it will refund its reserve then start paying its stockholders back as the company regains its footing after paying back the government loan. (At 11%!) If the company doesn’t recover, you and I will lose the $85,000,000,000 our government has invested in it.
That’s right. The Republicans, those right wingers who scream about socialism every time a Democrat wants to use government money to give the little guy a leg up actually practice socialism in the way they bail out their big money buddies. What is socialism, after all, if it is not the use of public moneys to create the means by which the society can function? Isn’t that what the Bush administration is doing right now?
And how did we get into this mess? Thanks in great measure to Phil Gramm, John Mclame’s chief economic advisor – I know, I know. They fired him. Well then why does he still appear at Mclame’s side at rallies? -- who as a Senator engineered the deregulation that allowed banks to make home loans to unqualified borrowers and then to “insure” that risk through “credit swaps” so that when housing prices fell the whole house of cards went down with it.
Now McLame is running for president saying he is the reform candidate!! He actually said today that there was a need for more regulation and he’s the man to do it. For god’s sake this guy has made his reputation by being against regulation and now he’s telling us that he is the best chance the country has to recover by installing regulations?!? If you believe that, I have a bridge in Alaska to sell you.
The bottom line is that if in November the voters fail to oust the Republicans, we will have to try and live through a depression that will make the thirties look like a picnic. Even Sarah Palin ought to look McLame in the eye and say, “Thanks, but no thanks.”
And you and I had better batten down our hatches. This may be the beginning of a very long and very dangerous economic storm.
“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
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
Individually we have little voice. Collectively we cannot be ignored.
But in silence we surrender our power. Yours in Peace -- BR
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2 comments:
Do you see any way for this crisis to be avoided or lessen, Bob? Is there an answer or are we on a irreversible course no matter who gets elected?
Val -
I think that if Obama is elected and we are lucky, he may be another FDR. His community organizing experience and his experiences growing up could give him an understanding of what we face here on the streets. It will still be a terrible uphill climb, and if he can do it he will be a miracle worker.
If McCain is elected, I think it will be worse than Bush and you and I can kiss our comfort level goodbye.
Thanks for reading and especially commenting.
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