Don’t know about you but since I left college in the 1970’s the nation has seen tough economic times. That’s through the 70’s, 80’s, most of the 90’s, the aughts/naughties and now. There just seems only ever tougher economic times for the working stiff. The only “possible” exception being 1994-1997 and then only for a few of the non-oligarchs. Meanwhile for the “elites” there’s always money. How do you figure?
Do the names Michael Milken and/or Ivan Boesky mean anything to you? They should. The fact that they don’t explains a great deal about why we are in our present financial mess.
How about the 1980’s Savings and Loan meltdown does that ring a bell? The Keating Five? At least one of its players still in the congress instead of prison. These men steal millions upon millions and are still out there. Meanwhile some poor schmuck robs a local “shop and rob” and it is immediately jail, prison and worse.
The American financial industry is a scam. Then again so is the insurance industry and most big business. The three components of the wholly trinity (government, big business and organized religion) are all egregious. Working together they keep us the masses delusionally hopeful, just barely alive and in a condition that has been gamed/fixed to insure it never changes sufficiently to unseat the members of the wholly trinity.
Okay, times have gotten tougher in the past two years---for the average American. That’s a given. But all my adult working life making money has been difficult at best.
I hear much from the compassionate conservative Christians (understand they may be conservative but there is nothing either compassionate or Christian about them they just cloak themselves in that and oh by the way, we’re not a theocracy anyway) about how liberals are trying to redistribute our wealth. Really?
The gopers tell you liberals are turning America into a socialist nation. Does that mean social security, Medicaid, Medicare and the military among others aren’t already? What do you think the founders meant when they spoke of providing for the “general welfare?” Our biggest welfare recipients by the way aren’t the ones old Howdy Doody face (Reagan hero of the not well informed) told you they were---they are the gigantic military-industrial and prison-industrial complexes and their corporate sponsors.
If you fear socialism---you should be terrified of an oligarchy. That’s where a few ultra-rich and powerful run not just the nation but your life as well. Their well-being is paramount over the well-being of our republic. It’s also how the oligarch/corporate elite insure “we the people” stay in our place at the bottom.
These oligarchs and their lapdogs (congress, elected officials and etc) do a great job of making you afraid of the wrong things. They do a great job of making the impecunious feel part of the oligarchy. The poor never have been and never will be. There is however, a smugness to believing---however wrong---that you are a part of a powerful click.
Let’s review. Those in the top one (1%) percent of the wealth in this republic are worth more than those in the bottom ninety-five (95%) percent. By the way, only three (3%) percent of wage earners in America today earn $300,000 or more. Seriously, do the math are you in the latter or former group?
The oligarchs are the ones pushing back against anything that smacks of fairness. How do you suppose there’s any fairness in the wage distribution? There isn’t. It’s all arbitrary and capricious to boot. It is what keeps the boot of the oligarchs at the neck of those not in that club. Do you really think a CEO (Chief Executive Officer) works harder than you? They earn hundred’s of times what you do. Why? How about a “super model?” Most of them earn in an hour twice what you or I make in a month. How does that happen? Demand? From whom? I can go all year without having to see one picture of a super model on a magazine. Most Americans would gladly trade not having glitzy magazine covers for a few extra dollars salary. That’s a promise.
And when one of the minions of the oligarchs f—ks up they get rewarded anyway. Tell me you wouldn’t like a sweetheart deal like that.
This is one of those “status quo” conditions the founders sought to change. Recognize that the world our founders came from was every bit as ugly and arbitrary as what has been made of our republic. The founders didn’t wish more of the same. Yet here we are.
Look around you. Do you really believe that the person in any of the positions you see that you would desire for yourself came by that position by happenstance or because they are so gifted and talented? Please. And who gets blamed for the sour economy? The undocumented worker. What the compassionate conservative religiosities term, “illegal.” How can anyone be illegal? They are of course defenseless. They are of course here only looking for work. They are here because the “leaders” of this republic have raped, pillaged and plundered their native lands leaving those sojourners few other choices if they are to feed their families or make a life. What would you do?
We are manipulated everyday, all day long by those who truly decide what public policy is not necessarily what it should be.
Hasta Siempre,
More:
Michael Milken
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Milken
Ivan Boesky
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Boesky
Keating Five
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keating_Five
John Paulson
Here’s the legal theory to keep in mind. Mr. Paulson only stood to gain on a massive scale (or at all) if the securities in question were mispriced, i.e., because their true nature (that they had been picked by Mr. Paulson) was not disclosed. In other words, the Paulson transactions at this stage of the game only made sense if they involved fraud. The principals involved (Paulson and top Goldman people) are all super smart, with unmatched practical experience in this area; they get this totally.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Paulson
Disgraced HP CEO to get nearly $28 million
In a stunning announcement Friday, HP said it ousted Hurd after an investigation of a sexual harassment complaint found that he had falsified expense reports and other documents to conceal a relationship with a contractor. Hurd also allegedly helped the woman get paid for work she didn't do.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100807/ap_on_hi_te/us_hp_ceo_resigns
San Antonio law makers fight to reevaluate 14th Amendment.
http://www.kens5.com/news/San-Antonio-law-makers-fight-to-reevaluate-14th-Amendment-99999364.html
Bexar County: Public Policy Immigration, the economy and the oligarchs
https://feed.examiner.com/examiner/admin/EntryController.cfm?data=aDlNcUZrVWg1S3l0Ym1pQUlLSVJqYnN6UG1uM0ppWW5sOGFORDJiOXp6UT0%3D&CFID=116378170&CFTOKEN=54737467#
Examining The 14th Amendment: Part of the GOP's Immigration Agenda?
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/08/examining-the-14th-amendment-part-of-the-gops-immigration-agenda/60844/
The man up to his eyeballs in the savings and loan meltdown:
McCain, Coburn Support Review of 14th Amendment
http://washingtonindependent.com/93523/mccain-coburn-support-review-of-14th-amendment
Confessions of a Tea Party Casualty
It was the middle of a tough primary contest, and Rep. Bob Inglis (R-S.C.) had convened a small meeting with donors who had contributed thousands of dollars to his previous campaigns. But this year, as Inglis faced a challenge from tea party-backed Republican candidates claiming Inglis wasn't sufficiently conservative, these donors hadn't ponied up. Inglis' task: Get them back on the team. "They were upset with me," Inglis recalls. "They are all Glenn Beck watchers." About 90 minutes into the meeting, as he remembers it, "They say, 'Bob, what don't you get? Barack Obama is a socialist, communist Marxist who wants to destroy the American economy so he can take over as dictator. Health care is part of that. And he wants to open up the Mexican border and turn [the US] into a Muslim nation.'" Inglis didn't know how to respond.
http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/08/bob-inglis-tea-party-casualty
Ralph Nader: Dubya and Obama are "a Seamless Transition" on the War
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvnQEd-L7O8
Years ago, before I took up teaching, I worked as a writer consultant on Democratic campaigns. The Republican hate machine was just impossible to beat. With monopoly control of the message machine, including the "liberal" media, they had the people so spun around, electioneering was more like a game of pin the tale on the donkey. Only when the oligarchy decides to let the "the good cops," run things do the Democrats stand a chance. But then, we get enablers like Bill Clinton, who permitted the media consolidation and Graham Leach Rudman. Now the Republicans are louder on the "Oligarchy" than we are. But to them, the Oligarchy is us, not the fat cat regressives. And people are listening to them, as usual, because they can yell so much louder and longer. I applaud what you are doing, but why is mine your only comment when Regressive sites have dozens of them?
ReplyDelete