Guards and Inmates

 

In a capitalist system, it is the role of government to rein in the excess of the money-changers. Our government has failed because guards and the inmates are virtually indistinguishable, some are friends, some are bought.

We need an intelligent fix, but it ain’t gonna happen since those doing the fixing have already been corrupted by the system. As noble as are some members of Congress, most of them have been in the tank with the greedy capitalists for so long that they can’t see past their coterie to the needs of the American people.

It’s quite incestuous. Consider that they flipped dozens of House votes between Monday and Friday simply by buying them. A coupla hunnert billion of our tax dollars were spent "persuading", that is, by funding projects supported – demanded – by recalcitrant representatives. Some were legitimate items like solar tax credits that will, in fact, benefit the nation. Others were pure pork designed to win the representatives’ re-elections.

All that bribery but they still wouldn’t allow bankruptcy judges to restructure home mortgage rates although they already mitigate loans on vacation homes, boats, planes and R/Vs, for goodness sakes.

If Congress were serious, they would have recognized that this bailout plan was just a finger in a leaky dike. Wall Street wasn’t impressed.

What they should have done was show their willingness to share the pain for their complicity in getting us into this mess.

They should have cut their own salaries – and the top salary of every government official – to $100,000 a year, eliminated their private pension fund, and done away with their special health care system as well.

They could also trade in their public relations and press staffers. We could do with fewer propagandists and more researchers and watchdogs.

Cough, cough. Don’t hold your breath.

 

Home

©2008 SetonnoteS

.