I've watched the current melt down of Wall Street with frustrated sadness. I suppose that's because I have very distinct memories of the Savings and Loan bail outs of the late 80's. At that time I wondered how some of these same conservatives who screamed for deregulation under Ronald Reagan could turn around four years later and ask us normal tax payers to pony up the money necessary to fix the mess generated by their greed. That little tax payer fix has cost the Americans slightly over one trillion dollars. At this level the word 'slightly' is kind of misleading. It actually means another hundred billion.
In the current mess, bailing out AIG alone is pegged at 85 billion. According to one source, that's more money than the entire 8 years of Aid to Families with Dependent Children under GW Bush. That's just AIG, that's not Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, that's not Bear/Stearns, that's not anyone else rumored to be in the same financial straights. How comforting for these CEO's to know they can lobby their way to unregulated greed and then lobby their way to a monster bail out when their policies blow up in their faces.
I understand the ramifications of not bailing out these particular companies. The trickle down effect would resemble a hurricane surge. That's the funny thing about Reaganomics, wealth trickles down---slowly drips is more like it----but stupid bad debt roars down.
At this point I truly do not understand how anyone could consider voting McCain into office. From his involvement with the Keating five of S & L fame, to his consistent voting to deregulate and deregulate and bail out and bail out, and now his idea that there's nothing fundamentally wrong with the economy, the man has shown his stripes. He really seems to want to turn the USA into a corporate socialist state. It seems to me we're awfully damn close.
Here's one thing we avoided though, President Bush didn't get his way with privatization of social security. Given the current decline in the stock market that could have been a disaster of epic proportions for a lot of people. It could have been a disaster for the stock market too. Imagine the chaos with a hundred million small investors all trying to pull their retirement funds out at the same time. Barclay's wouldn't have touched Lehman Brothers. They wouldn't have been able to get a call through.
Here's another thing I've learned in the last couple of days. A couple of the lesser known right wing political groups have been working with Sarah Palin since before her run for governor of Alaska. Seems they saw in her a bright and shining new face on which to pin their hopes for their version of a theocracy. Poor Mike Huckabee, he seems to have been thrown under the bus for a bible reading hockey mom.
These same people are now involved in stopping the investigation of Troopergate. They've even gotten her to do a complete about face on her initial statement to cooperate with the Alaska legislature. They've also gotten her to renege on plan two, which was essentially to investigate herself. Somehow, Troopergate has become democratic posturing, a phony partisan attempt to derail the McCain/Palin ticket. Huh? It's all confusing to Alaskans as well.
There must be a different set of ethics in play in political races, especially presidential political races. I have no idea who this 2008 version of John McCain is, and I probably had a better idea of the real Sarah Palin when I had no idea Sarah Palin existed. On the other hand, Joe BIden is Joe Biden, always has been and will be, and Barak Obama is.......a very good orator!
Hmmm, maybe it really is time for the rapture.
