Susie Bright hits some nails on the head
Jan. 27th, 2009 10:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pecuniumThe Hammer and Sickle, or the Shovel
[T]the number one reason we haven't nationalized the hopeless banks already, is because of Cold War Commie-phobia— irrational superstition at its pinkest. The very word "nationalization" is considered risqué. The GOP has palpitations just thinking about it, and so do many Democrats. Alright, fine— but how deep a rat-hole will this country sink into in order to hold onto its Commie Cootie Bugs?
I don't get it. If a nation haunted by colonial slavery can get over its own racism to elect a black President; if gay marriage rights can become as American as apple pie; then what is the big deal about addressing a modicum of public interest? Is class consciousness the last taboo?
Yes, nationalization will hurt a sliver of the American population, our aristocracy. But the 2-Percenters won't go hungry.
Take Arthur Levitt, the former chief of the Securities and Exchange Commission— who was supposed to protect the American people from investment fraud. He says he has no problem sleeping at night, and I bet his health insurance plan is yummy. He was asked how he is changing his spending habits in the current crisis and he said: "I canceled a vacation to the Far East that I had planned for the spring. I don’t feel right about spending large sums of money in this environment."
Which is much like the fired head of Merril Lynch, at a dinner which probably cost more than $100 making a point of drinking tap water; because of the economic environment.
[T]the number one reason we haven't nationalized the hopeless banks already, is because of Cold War Commie-phobia— irrational superstition at its pinkest. The very word "nationalization" is considered risqué. The GOP has palpitations just thinking about it, and so do many Democrats. Alright, fine— but how deep a rat-hole will this country sink into in order to hold onto its Commie Cootie Bugs?
I don't get it. If a nation haunted by colonial slavery can get over its own racism to elect a black President; if gay marriage rights can become as American as apple pie; then what is the big deal about addressing a modicum of public interest? Is class consciousness the last taboo?
Yes, nationalization will hurt a sliver of the American population, our aristocracy. But the 2-Percenters won't go hungry.
Take Arthur Levitt, the former chief of the Securities and Exchange Commission— who was supposed to protect the American people from investment fraud. He says he has no problem sleeping at night, and I bet his health insurance plan is yummy. He was asked how he is changing his spending habits in the current crisis and he said: "I canceled a vacation to the Far East that I had planned for the spring. I don’t feel right about spending large sums of money in this environment."
Which is much like the fired head of Merril Lynch, at a dinner which probably cost more than $100 making a point of drinking tap water; because of the economic environment.
no subject
Date: 2009-01-28 06:23 pm (UTC)I've said similar for years. If execs want their pay to go up, their workers' wages must also go up.
I'd like to see the same for Congress, who keeps voting themselves sneaky late-night payraises. Mandate to be 'X' times the median national wage. You want more money? You have to develop programs and ways that everyone makes more money.
I know it's the thinnest of pipe dreams, but I still wish it.
.