By Andrew Hagen
Matt Taibbi's most recent article is exactly why Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Robert Rubin, Phil Gramm, Jack Lew, Hank Paulson, Roger Altman, and many others should make a public apology to the American people. These people, of both political parties, made it possible for the events that Taibbi reports on to happen (repeal of Glass-Steagall, irresponsible tax cuts, bail-outs, etc.). There should be populist anger out there. Not Tea Party anger, but actual common man, middle class populist rage. I don't know if I can in good consiounce vote for Obama in 2012. I obviously can't vote for the Republican opponent based on their anti-science, homophobic, pseudo-religious, affluence protecting party platform, but I really don't know if I can vote for Obama.
As someone who hasn't had a full-time job in over two years (that's not one doctor's appointment of any kind, one paid day off, or one benefit of any kind) I feel completely and utterly depressed. I realize that most of this was laid down in the 20 years before Obama even got elected president, but his spinelessness and inability to put an end to this greed and madness and to simply say enough is offensive and soul-crushing. The amount of greed in America makes me feel ashamed and worthless. Our politicians are pigs -- if they aren't they lose to pigs in the next election. Our CEOs are pigs.
What will happen to my generation? What will happen to our parents' generation? Those that managed to work professional jobs like lawyers, doctors, etc. for the last 40 years, should be fine assuming they saved money like they should have been. But what about the people that work in our grocery stores, our now-defunct automible factories, teachers, janitors, pilots, and laborers of various forms. These people put in a lifetime of work and live on what once was a middle class salary, but now may enter retirement with no pension, no health care, and faced with limited options, all crappy. They can keep working until they die, if they can; or two, live the rest of their life in abject poverty while many of those that have control of the levers of power live in disgusting and gratuitous affluence with their misbegotten wealth.
Republicans and Democrats should both be horrified at this reality. This isn't just one party's fault. This is both parties' fault for believing in some manichean system of Wall Street and government in which many felt they could freely travel between the two sides without consequence to maximize gains for themselves and their cronies. It doesn't matter of it is a liberal CEO of Goldman Sachs or a conservative one. If they believe in our current system which is fundamentally corrupt and exists as a parasite on a trusting and abused public, they are criminals. They are stealing the public's money and clearly have any semblance of morality.
I do not understand why the Republicans are arguing that these people should have lower taxes. They are getting paid with free money from the government. And I do not understand how Democrats can just stand by and let it happen. This defines morally repugnant. This is basically seeding the destruction of a developed countries existence.
The common Americans may not be able to understand the ins and outs of the financial system, but if our leaders can't justify bailouts, free loans, or other corporate handouts in plain english, eventually there will be a revolt of some kind. Maybe not violent, and not the billionaire funded Tea Party, but one where the system breaks down and people refuse to be nothing but grease in the machinery of corporate and political corruption. Telling Americans that it's complicated and leave it to the technocrats in New York and Washington, won't fly. Some of these people should have their property repossessed and accounts frozen. And this isn't un-American to say. If these people got their n-th house, or bonus or whatever by gaming the system, then it's illegally obtained and should be confiscated. They are the ones that are unamerican. They are the ones that couldn't even curb their greed during a crisis they caused while millions of Americans were losing their retirement, benefits, houses, livelihoods.
With all that said, I don't think we are headed toward some apocolyptic ending or means of existence as a nation. I do think, however, that if our current trajectory is not changed, and our politicians don't become accountable and responsible to the public (this includes the Supreme Court which is heavily corporatist), then there will need to be a reset of some kind. Maybe it's just another Great Depression. Or maybe another Teddy Roosevelt gets elected and becomes a 21st-Century "trust buster," but something will need to happen.
The federal debt is not the most important issue right now. It is simply a distraction from the deeply rooted in-breeding and corruption that is sustained by billionaires, millionaires and Wall Street, Ivy League schools and our government. Only when we confront and root out the parasites and abusers of our system, will we be able to responsibly and honestly confront issues like budget deficits, entitlements, and anything else. Until then, it's all a charade being performed by the Great Oz that is the American elite.
Matt Taibbi's most recent article is exactly why Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Robert Rubin, Phil Gramm, Jack Lew, Hank Paulson, Roger Altman, and many others should make a public apology to the American people. These people, of both political parties, made it possible for the events that Taibbi reports on to happen (repeal of Glass-Steagall, irresponsible tax cuts, bail-outs, etc.). There should be populist anger out there. Not Tea Party anger, but actual common man, middle class populist rage. I don't know if I can in good consiounce vote for Obama in 2012. I obviously can't vote for the Republican opponent based on their anti-science, homophobic, pseudo-religious, affluence protecting party platform, but I really don't know if I can vote for Obama.
As someone who hasn't had a full-time job in over two years (that's not one doctor's appointment of any kind, one paid day off, or one benefit of any kind) I feel completely and utterly depressed. I realize that most of this was laid down in the 20 years before Obama even got elected president, but his spinelessness and inability to put an end to this greed and madness and to simply say enough is offensive and soul-crushing. The amount of greed in America makes me feel ashamed and worthless. Our politicians are pigs -- if they aren't they lose to pigs in the next election. Our CEOs are pigs.
What will happen to my generation? What will happen to our parents' generation? Those that managed to work professional jobs like lawyers, doctors, etc. for the last 40 years, should be fine assuming they saved money like they should have been. But what about the people that work in our grocery stores, our now-defunct automible factories, teachers, janitors, pilots, and laborers of various forms. These people put in a lifetime of work and live on what once was a middle class salary, but now may enter retirement with no pension, no health care, and faced with limited options, all crappy. They can keep working until they die, if they can; or two, live the rest of their life in abject poverty while many of those that have control of the levers of power live in disgusting and gratuitous affluence with their misbegotten wealth.
Republicans and Democrats should both be horrified at this reality. This isn't just one party's fault. This is both parties' fault for believing in some manichean system of Wall Street and government in which many felt they could freely travel between the two sides without consequence to maximize gains for themselves and their cronies. It doesn't matter of it is a liberal CEO of Goldman Sachs or a conservative one. If they believe in our current system which is fundamentally corrupt and exists as a parasite on a trusting and abused public, they are criminals. They are stealing the public's money and clearly have any semblance of morality.
I do not understand why the Republicans are arguing that these people should have lower taxes. They are getting paid with free money from the government. And I do not understand how Democrats can just stand by and let it happen. This defines morally repugnant. This is basically seeding the destruction of a developed countries existence.
The common Americans may not be able to understand the ins and outs of the financial system, but if our leaders can't justify bailouts, free loans, or other corporate handouts in plain english, eventually there will be a revolt of some kind. Maybe not violent, and not the billionaire funded Tea Party, but one where the system breaks down and people refuse to be nothing but grease in the machinery of corporate and political corruption. Telling Americans that it's complicated and leave it to the technocrats in New York and Washington, won't fly. Some of these people should have their property repossessed and accounts frozen. And this isn't un-American to say. If these people got their n-th house, or bonus or whatever by gaming the system, then it's illegally obtained and should be confiscated. They are the ones that are unamerican. They are the ones that couldn't even curb their greed during a crisis they caused while millions of Americans were losing their retirement, benefits, houses, livelihoods.
With all that said, I don't think we are headed toward some apocolyptic ending or means of existence as a nation. I do think, however, that if our current trajectory is not changed, and our politicians don't become accountable and responsible to the public (this includes the Supreme Court which is heavily corporatist), then there will need to be a reset of some kind. Maybe it's just another Great Depression. Or maybe another Teddy Roosevelt gets elected and becomes a 21st-Century "trust buster," but something will need to happen.
The federal debt is not the most important issue right now. It is simply a distraction from the deeply rooted in-breeding and corruption that is sustained by billionaires, millionaires and Wall Street, Ivy League schools and our government. Only when we confront and root out the parasites and abusers of our system, will we be able to responsibly and honestly confront issues like budget deficits, entitlements, and anything else. Until then, it's all a charade being performed by the Great Oz that is the American elite.
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