They say there are no atheists in war. I don’t know about that, but if I had any religious fervor, I would have said a little prayer this morning. When I got home today I felt that prayer was answered. It was one of few days of hope I have felt for this sham we call a democracy.
Since I got home this evening I have felt like I am in a rerun of Chicken Little. It seems Democrats (it seems to be mostly Democrats) are screaming the sky is falling, the sky is falling. I say let it fall and come crashing down from the depths it emerged.
I was disappointed Tammy Baldwin betrayed the people of Wisconsin today. While I try not to vote for Democrats, she is one I tend to pull the lever for. She is usually pretty good on these issues. Not this time, there was no gray in this bill. You either stand with the people or against them. I was impressed with Steve Kagen, and will send some money in the near future for his brave vote on behalf of the working stiff. Kagen says it best in his press release.
I was elected to represent the best interests of working families in Wisconsin, not tycoons on Wall Street,” Kagen said. “We have seen so many people lose their jobs and struggle just to keep their heads above water. This bill would have been no help to them.
The fact that the economic patriots in this story line seem to be mostly Republicans is very telling. There is one thing a (economic) socialist and rabid free marketeer can agree on and that is corporate welfare. There was a time when such a bailout would go against Democratic decency. What this bill clearly shows is the essence of the Democratic party no longer is aligned with the working stiff but the bankers, credit card companies and wall street.
This cartoon says it all. This is the classic people against corporate power. I am beyond pretending to be surprised when the Democrats choose power over people time and again.
LA Times: “Where is the line for the 3 million ordinary Americans who face foreclosure? Tell me what line they get in. On behalf of our members, who are livid, I resent this.”
A labor lobbyist working on Capitol Hill said Democrats he talked with were uncertain how to respond, in part, he believes, because they effectively report to two constituencies: labor unions and working households that have “been the backbone of the Democratic Party” and Wall Street firms that have “been providing them campaign contributions.”
In fact, the securities, banking and mortgage industries have been the top category of donors to both political parties in the past decade, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan research organization.
Its seems that banking, credit cards, and Wall Street are to Democrats what oil is to Republicans. As Mal points out the current crisis goes back to the 1999 deregulation bill passed with overwhelming Democratic support. These are the same interests which Biden served when he pushed through the bankruptcy Bill, or Obama served when he voted against a 30% sub prime interest rate cap.
Lucky there is still one Senator who is not bought and paid for by the financial industry.
Bernie has initiated a petition and there is still time to sign it.
Mal was taking McCain to task for NOT supporting a deregulation bill that had overwelming Democratic support in 1999. As Mal rightly states this bill is the cause of the current Wall Street crisis. Here it is in Mal’s own words.
The anti-regulation champion John McCain was the sole Senator not voting on the bill (Conference Report) that passed 90-8-1-1.
Mal in his own demo-rationality sees something to question in McCain’s non-vote, but not in the overwelming Democratic support for this derregulation bill. Feingold was one of the very few Senators who opposed it.
One of the claims Mal contends is that Obama is clean. In either case he has benefitted nicely from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
I think my initial point holds true. There are too many issues that when Democrats try to hold McCain accountable, they look petty, silly, and outright pathetic. I think Mal tops the cake though.
It isn't hard to pick out the Obama supporters. They're the charter-school entrepreneurs as opposed to the public-school teachers. The management consultants rather than the government lawyers. The hot-shot hedge-fund managers, not the blue-collars.
They say there are no atheists in war. I don’t know about that, but if I had any religious fervor, I would have said a little prayer this morning. When I got home today I felt that prayer was answered. It was one of few days of hope I have felt for this sham we call a democracy.
This cartoon says it all. This is the classic people against corporate power. I am beyond pretending to be surprised when the Democrats choose power over people time and again.
