The Silence of Lambs by William Greider, Nation magazine
American voters are like the lambs being led to slaughter and at the very height of the presidential campaign. Yet not a peep of protest from John McCain and Barack Obama, not even a hint of the righteous anger injured taxpayers will rightly feel as they figure out the deal for themselves. The rescue of the two giant mortgage firms is another huge expenditure of the public's money--one or two hundred billion dollars this time--to reassure bankers and financiers the government stands by them in their troubles, whatever the costs.
Think about it. Candidates Obama and McCain are wagging their fingers at the governing system in Washington, both warning they intend to make big changes if elected. Meanwhile, business-as-usual doesn't wait for the next president. The financial system needs the capital right now, and so Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has opened up the spigot. Obama and McCain meekly bless the deal. This sequence of events makes them look look the political goats, their grand talk of change pushed aside by what Wall Street demands. The 2008 election may be close, but it looks like the status quo has already won.
There is a lot more pain and embarrassment to come. The nation is in the midst of an historic financial crisis--more bank failures are ahead and probably another bailout of even larger scale. Yet the two major parties act as though this subject is too complicated for ordinary Americans to understand. Neither candidate has found the nerve (or decency) to explain the full dimensions of what the country is facing. Both men are no doubt told to say as little as possible, for fear of touching off more panic among investors. Voters can safely be left in the dark.
Facing the crisis honestly would not fit very well with the flag-waving campaign themes. The United States is financially busted and utterly dependent on lending from foreign powers--both friends and rivals around the world. The government rescue of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could not be put off until after the election, as insiders had hoped, because foreign creditors were beginning to back away from lending any more capital to the two failing US firms. The major creditors are led by China, Japan and other Asian nations, plus oil-rich Arab states and even Russia. The Bank of China has reduced its $376 billion in lending to Fannie and Freddie by 25 percent since July and other nations threaten to do the same.
So the Treasury arranged a deal that throws Fannie and Freddie shareholders over the side, but promises to protect the creditors, foreign and domestic. Bill Gross, chief investment officer of PIMCO, the mammoth bond house in California, issued an ominous warning in advance. If Washington didn't "open up the balance sheet of the US Treasury" and pump lots of public money into the ailing financial firms, the major lenders would sit by and let the great deflation of Wall Street proceed to its ruinous climax. Without the big lenders, credit would dry up through the US economy and the destruction could prove bloody historic for all. The Treasury Secretary heard the message.
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/356921The economy is in terrible shape - historically terrible shape - yet no one, least of all members of our own party, is being honest with the American people. The reason could be simple fear; if we knew how bad things really were, it could hasten a collapse that is inevitable anyway. Or the reason could be as malicious as greed; wealthy politicians may be trying to shore up their own financial positions before the walls come down.
Regardless of the reasons, the fact is this: our failing economy is a winning issue for Democrats. The collapse we are witnessing now is due to massive deregulation, tax cuts for the wealthy, and a culture of greed and debt all brought on by the Neocon Republican policies of the last 3 decades. Obama could be the solution to this problem. Instead, he is downplaying the threat (except to say that
he may not roll back Bush's tax cuts right away). Why is he doing that? Does he really not see the problem? Does he fear that he will be blamed for the inevitable crash should he speak out? Who knows?
Who knows? You know, for one. You know what's happening to your jobs, your paychecks, the value of your houses, and the price of goods. You know how this economy is effecting your friends, your neighbors and your families. And you know, whether or not you have completely admitted it to yourself, that this is only the beginning. There is no way out of the massive personal, corporate, local, state, and national debt we're in. The jobs we are losing at an increasing pace are not coming back. You can feel the death spiral circling around us.
Do you want a Democrat in the White House in 2009? Do you want to control both the House and the Senate? Do you want a more liberal Supreme Court? Then it's time for honesty from ourselves and from our leaders. The U.S. Economy is dying a slow, painful death. Now's not the time to argue that point. Now's the time to make sure that the right people are in place for the rebuilding. WE MUST TALK ABOUT THIS.
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
