This is what happens when the top 1% control 95% of the wealth....The economy becomes a game to be played and controlled by the rich, as they try to figure out how to take more and more and more and more...while giving less and less and less and less.
I saw the writing on the wall during the first days of the bail-out. Everyone agreed that something needed to be done. Yet, the top economists and analysts didn't think what WAS done would be any help. In fact, many wrote that it could make things worse. I spent three days reading every article and news source trying to piece together what was happening. And, I listed to the best of our democratic voices. Dennis Kucinich and Congresswoman Kaptaur were right out in front. They spoke feverently on the people's behalf. This video was the cry against the coming financial bloodbath...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7hekxOMliwAnd, I watched our democratic Presidential candidate silently acquiesce. Yes, he made a few tepid statements stating his support was contigent upon the meaningless window dressing that did nothing more then give Americans' a false sense of protection. The day before the vote in the Senate, I called Obama's Senate office and pleaded with his office to please not support the bail-out in the current form. And, the staffer told me (verbatim) - I hate to ruin your day but Obama is going to vote for it. He was rude, he offered no counter of substance to any of the objective factual concerns I noted. It was a done deal. Now, if Obama truly faced a electoral threat from not supporting the bailout, I probably could have stomached his vote. I know political reality can be harsh, and I am not one for cutting one's nose off to spite their face. HOWEVER, the people were pretty much united against the bail-out. Dems, Repubs, Independents, Greens...whomever. People saw this for what it was - a mass theft of taxpayer money (it turns out the money hasn't been used for loans, but for the larger banks to purchase smaller banks, big fish eat little fish, they grew their company and didn't help the American people at all with OUR money. They simply took more power & now we have less choice and we are more subject to unethical fees and lending practices then ever). The American people knew they were being screwed, and I would bet a arm and a leg that if Obama had come out forcefully and decried this bill, in the same passionate way as Congresswoman Kaptaur, the American people would have stood up and given him a standing ovation. But, he didn't oppose it or demand TRUE oversight and conditions for its passage (other then the window dressing). And, to me, that spoke volumes about where the true power really lies. Not with the people, but with the very few who control the wealth. This bill wasn't for us at all. It was for them. And, Obama damn well knew it.
There are times of true test of leadership. The times that reveal where a person's loyalty and committment truly lie. This was one of those moments. Obama did have a choice. Change and leadership is not about going along with the establishment in times of great crisis. It is about challenging it and fighting back.
And, now, the people face a similiar challenge because Obama and the center right group of DLC cabinet choices are not going to do the work for us...We have to do it for ourselves. Obama is not a celebrity. He is a politician with a terribly tough job in front of him. And, he has massive pressure from powerful forces to appease corrupt forces that will do nothing but take and take and take until they have completely destroyed the country (in fact, we may already be there - Obama's chance to really help the financial crisis came as I described above. His acquiesence most likely has denied him the funds to implement much of what he wants to do. The huge elephant in the room is the one that no one ever speaks of - foreign countries refusing to finance our debt). I respect Obama's intent to govern in a bi-partisan manner, but this really is not the issue. This isn't about bringing dems and republicans together under one happy tent. This is about fighting corruption on a global scale, and excising the bought and sold politicians who work against ALL the American people. This is about stomping out propoganda that obfuscates the facts and stops real debate to find solutions before it even begins. It is about taking responsibility for our misdeeds and healing the wounds of the globe through accountability and honesty. It is a outrage beyond outrage that the criminal behavior of the Bush adminstration stands a very large chance of being absolved under an Obama administration.
The work hasn't stopped with Obama. It has just begun. Are we committed to standing up and showing up? Or, are we going to just hope Obama can fix this disaster and be given unquestioned leeway because of the D after his name?
We need to honestly examine what role we want our government to play and how best we can go about empowering ourselves and our fellow citizens of America and the globe. We need to speak out EVERY time our leaders fail to represent us. We need to show up at their offices and give mass campaign contributions to unseat every politician who fails us. We need to be relentless.
This is way past party loyalty. This is about stopping this nation's further descent into the status of a third world nation.