This accusation from an engaged reader of this blog, and certainly merits a response.
It is easy to point the finger at the current administration but let's try to remember who got us into this mess to begin with. A quick glance at the National Debt graph, easily shows deficit spending in the 10 years prior to the Clinton White house and the 10 years after. So, the Republicans broke the economy in 1980, the Democrats fixed it under Clinton, and the Republicans broke it again under George W even worse than George Sr.
How did they break it? Rampant deficit spending like there was no tomorrow and gross deregulation and non-regulation of our financial systems.
How did that happen?
The Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999. Admittedly signed by Bill Clinton, but crafted entirely by a republican Congress, which effectively repealed the Glass-Steagle Act of 1933 which regulated banks and financial Institutions which served the public. Banks could now operate across state lines, merge willy nilly, and deal in securities such as insurance, and other financial instruments which ultimately undermined the entire world's financial system.
Don't forget, it was the Bush administration that crafted the first installment of the bailout package with no regulation of how the banks and financial institutions were to spend the money. Only now under Obama, is some accountability built into the bailout.
Curiously, some banks are now refusing bailout money rather than be accountable to the taxpayer.
So to say that The current administration is spending America into bankruptcy, I 'd say, that George W Bush already took care of that. Once again, I encourage discussion. I know many people are upset, about the trillion dollar bailouts of banks and insurance companies that are "too big to fail". I just want to remind everyone to put these events into perspective. There is no single person responsible for the mess we are in today. Rather, the groundwork for our current crisis was laid many years ago.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Is the Bailout fair?
A friend of mine and fan of this blog wrote me and told me she did not feel like the bailout was fair, but could not really tell me why as she did not have enough understanding of how our economy worked to make an informed decision about the bailout. What she DID understand was that she had just lost her job, and was trying hard to find a new one but good paying jobs are scarce now.
Here was my reply to her.
Dear friend,
I think your "personal opinion" is not uncommon. Many Americans do not understand. We are losing our jobs, our health insurance our Homes! Where is the government bailout for us? How can they reward these big corporations that gambled with bad loans and securities and lost? Why can't some of those billions of dollars go to save our, homes, our jobs, our health Insurance.
It doesn't seem fair, and it is not. It is not fair that these corporations were allowed to trade in these unsound securities for so long under an administration that touted "deregulation" and free "market" and tax cuts for the rich. This is capitalism gone amok.
The way our economy works is complicated, but at a very simple level, we "grow" our economy by lending money.
The Federal Reserve loans money to banks, the banks loan money to each other, and then to businesses , you and me etc.
when this Lending stops. the economy stops. No money for the banks, no money for home loans, college loans, and no money for businesses to grow and create jobs.
So something had to be done.
I think the mistake was to think it would work overnight. It has not. The market continues to plunge. The story is not over.
What can we do to see that it does not happen again?
Regulate my friends. Regulate these big corporations, Dump the golden parachutes that basically protect the CEOs from feeling the pain of their companies failures. Make CEOs accountable, regulate corporations to make sure they act as responsibly. And for God's sake, vote Democrat.
Here was my reply to her.
Dear friend,
I think your "personal opinion" is not uncommon. Many Americans do not understand. We are losing our jobs, our health insurance our Homes! Where is the government bailout for us? How can they reward these big corporations that gambled with bad loans and securities and lost? Why can't some of those billions of dollars go to save our, homes, our jobs, our health Insurance.
It doesn't seem fair, and it is not. It is not fair that these corporations were allowed to trade in these unsound securities for so long under an administration that touted "deregulation" and free "market" and tax cuts for the rich. This is capitalism gone amok.
The way our economy works is complicated, but at a very simple level, we "grow" our economy by lending money.
The Federal Reserve loans money to banks, the banks loan money to each other, and then to businesses , you and me etc.
when this Lending stops. the economy stops. No money for the banks, no money for home loans, college loans, and no money for businesses to grow and create jobs.
So something had to be done.
I think the mistake was to think it would work overnight. It has not. The market continues to plunge. The story is not over.
What can we do to see that it does not happen again?
Regulate my friends. Regulate these big corporations, Dump the golden parachutes that basically protect the CEOs from feeling the pain of their companies failures. Make CEOs accountable, regulate corporations to make sure they act as responsibly. And for God's sake, vote Democrat.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
September 11th, Never Forget
Today is September 11th 2008. It was 7 years ago today I stood in front of a TV at work and watched the greatest tragedy of my time take place. Being from Manhattan, I knew several people who could have been in the twin towers that day. None were.
As A boy I watched the towers take shape, slowly rising floor by floor over the Manhattan skyline to finally dominate the Southern tip of the Island.
I had been to the observation deck several times and once, stood on the roof the South Tower and marveled at the 360 degree view of my beloved home town.
When the Towers collapsed and the planes crashed on the fateful day, the world seemed to stop for a moment. The horror, the terror of that day, had here to for been unimaginable. We lost our innocence that day and we stand to loose allot more.
The United States gained the world’s sympathy, and received a large amount of good will and political capitol that could have been used to unite the world. Instead the administration and the powers behind it chose to use it to put forward a draconian ideological agenda directly at odds with the interests of the American People.
Iraq had nothing to do with AlKeida. There were no weapons of mass destruction. The Administration used Intelligence “Cherry Picking" to make their case that Saddam Hussein was an immediate threat to the security of the United States, and made it seem, like he was buddies with Bin Laden. Today as Colin Powell himself admited we know that nothing could have been further from the truth. The US went against the UN, NATO and the world when they attacked a sovereign nation with a “preemptive attack”. This is a dangerous concept. It effectively gives us the right to attack any nation we think might be a threat to us in the future. This is a subjective concept. What is really going on here? It all becomes clear when we examine one of the basic tenets of the Neo Conservative foreign policy, that is to enforce their economic policy with military power.
The Administration used 911 to push forward a decisive Neocon agenda that had been waiting on the drawing board for years. The Patriot act was a thinly disguised tool for expanding the powers of the White House and the Neocons so that they might remain in power to fulfill their agenda. Domestic Surveillance, the activation of the Propaganda Machine and the Colored alert system that is used to control the climate of fear in this country. It seems to remain perpetually at orange which is only one step away from the highest level of alert which is red.
If not for the US constitution and the relative independence of our judicial system, we would now be living in a police state. I think the clearest piece of evidence supporting this theory is that The FBI under direct instructions from the administration and acting under the Patriot Act has attempted and succeeded in some cases to subpoena library records of ordinary citizens. For what other reason than to find out what we are thinking. This is akin to the FBI surveillance of Martin Luther King and other Civil rights leaders in the 60s on a much much larger scale. Thank goodness most libraries have refused to comply with these Orwellian subpoenas which clearly violate our 4th amendment rights.
So Today on 911, I am remembering the Victims and the tragedy of that day, but I am also remembering what George Bush and the Neocons have done to us.
BBM
As A boy I watched the towers take shape, slowly rising floor by floor over the Manhattan skyline to finally dominate the Southern tip of the Island.
I had been to the observation deck several times and once, stood on the roof the South Tower and marveled at the 360 degree view of my beloved home town.
When the Towers collapsed and the planes crashed on the fateful day, the world seemed to stop for a moment. The horror, the terror of that day, had here to for been unimaginable. We lost our innocence that day and we stand to loose allot more.
The United States gained the world’s sympathy, and received a large amount of good will and political capitol that could have been used to unite the world. Instead the administration and the powers behind it chose to use it to put forward a draconian ideological agenda directly at odds with the interests of the American People.
Iraq had nothing to do with AlKeida. There were no weapons of mass destruction. The Administration used Intelligence “Cherry Picking" to make their case that Saddam Hussein was an immediate threat to the security of the United States, and made it seem, like he was buddies with Bin Laden. Today as Colin Powell himself admited we know that nothing could have been further from the truth. The US went against the UN, NATO and the world when they attacked a sovereign nation with a “preemptive attack”. This is a dangerous concept. It effectively gives us the right to attack any nation we think might be a threat to us in the future. This is a subjective concept. What is really going on here? It all becomes clear when we examine one of the basic tenets of the Neo Conservative foreign policy, that is to enforce their economic policy with military power.
The Administration used 911 to push forward a decisive Neocon agenda that had been waiting on the drawing board for years. The Patriot act was a thinly disguised tool for expanding the powers of the White House and the Neocons so that they might remain in power to fulfill their agenda. Domestic Surveillance, the activation of the Propaganda Machine and the Colored alert system that is used to control the climate of fear in this country. It seems to remain perpetually at orange which is only one step away from the highest level of alert which is red.
If not for the US constitution and the relative independence of our judicial system, we would now be living in a police state. I think the clearest piece of evidence supporting this theory is that The FBI under direct instructions from the administration and acting under the Patriot Act has attempted and succeeded in some cases to subpoena library records of ordinary citizens. For what other reason than to find out what we are thinking. This is akin to the FBI surveillance of Martin Luther King and other Civil rights leaders in the 60s on a much much larger scale. Thank goodness most libraries have refused to comply with these Orwellian subpoenas which clearly violate our 4th amendment rights.
So Today on 911, I am remembering the Victims and the tragedy of that day, but I am also remembering what George Bush and the Neocons have done to us.
- Limited our freedoms under the constitution.
- Spied on us.
- Involved us in a perpetual War without due cause.
- Lied to us again and again to fulfill their hidden agendas.
BBM
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
