Thursday, April 22, 2010

Supporting Wall Street Reform

Today I had a letter to the editor published in both the Las Vegas Sun and the Las Vegas Review Journal. The letter had to do with record earnings on Wall Street and my support for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Wall Street reform. Here is the letter:

"On Monday, Citigroup announced it raked in $4.4 billion in the first quarter of this year and its stock went up. Last week, JP Morgan and Bank of America reported it earned $3.3 billion and $3.2 billion, respectively, during the same time.

They’re back in the black after Americans bailed them out (of the worst national economic debacle we’ve seen in decades), but Nevadans aren’t so fortunate. While Wall Street rejoices, thousands of Nevadans like myself are still making hard choices between food or medicine, shelter or education.

I’m proud of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada for having the courage to hold Wall Street accountable for the mess it created and insisting on financial reform. If folks don’t get behind Reid and get this done, Wall Street will still be posting record profits next year and Nevada will still be in the dumps."

Oops. I forgot to include the part about Goldman Sachs, currently under federal investigation and being sued for fraud, also posting earnings of $3.3 billion in the first quarter of 2010.

And let's not forget the bonuses.


Earlier this month,
Goldman Sachs paid $5 billion in bonuses to staff for just three months of work. THREE MONTHS.

Eric Daniels,
CEO of Lloyds, is up for 9.5 million in salary and bonuses this year.

And that's just a sample.


I think it's reasonable to assume that it's not too difficult for a bank to make money. Think about this: they get to borrow from the Federal Reserve a rate of zero and then lend that same money back to the Treasury at an interest rate of 3% through (bond purchases). But if they're not totally profitable, they can fool their customers into thinking they are because we don't require transparent accounting. And while the Obama administration set up programs to help Americans from losing their homes, the banks are not being very compliant and they're getting away with it because there is little if any oversight or enforcement.


Republicans like to tell us that lower taxes and less regulation on business is the key to national economic health and stability.They call it "Supply-side Economics". Others call it "Reaganomics," a term coined in the '80s to describe President Reagan's economic policies while he was in office. Still others call it the "Trickle-Down Effect", claiming that businesses able to put all its resources into their product without impediment will ultimately reward the consumer with lower prices and greater availability.


The problem with the trickle-down effect is twofold: 1) - It requires the poorest of the nation to carry the greatest burden while business and corporations (the richest among us) get all the breaks; and 2) - It doesn't work. Business rarely passes down the benefits, choosing to keep them for their own instead. This is one of the reasons why banks have such record profits.


Although Republicans promote this idea that if business is successful, they will share that success with the consumer, it's simply not true. They do not share the wealth.


Bring in the Tea Party. Patriots are outraged over any suggestion that would ask them to share the wealth. What's theirs is theirs, they worked hard for it, and they're not going to share it with you or me or anyone. A great many Republicans also subscribe to this philosophy, telling us that we've created a nation of people dependent upon government for their very survival. They want government to stop giving handouts to the weak, the lazy, and the illegals. Kick the bums out and make everyone else pay their own way. That's the American way - or so they say.


So it came as some surprise to me today when I saw that the Review Journal changed the title of my letter from "Why We Need Financial Reform" to "Share The Wealth." What a bunch of hooey. I never asked the banks to share anything. Instead, I'm asking them NOT to rip off their customers and NOT to give bonuses to the very same people who nearly bankrupted this country. Call me crazy but I think it's wrong to reward the people who brought us to our knees, who required us to go to China to get loans, and whose greed and fraud forced the very people they screwed to have to rescue them in the largest bank bailout in American history.


While it looks like the recession is turning around for the banks, you'll forgive me if I don't wait around for the infamous trickle-down effect to feel the benefit. I've never seen it work nor have I ever seen a bank willing to share it's good fortune with the common folk. Instead, what we need is meaningful financial reform, the kind the banks are opposed to, the kind that will keep them from screwing over their customers again and again. Without it, it's just business as usual, at the peril of the people.

How To Help The Tea Party

Yes, it's been quite the Tea Party season. We watched history made as humans sunk to new lows with rising amounts of violence, hatred, racism, and modestly clever adaptations of well-known political sayings. But the effort of useless repartee is beginning to take a toll and patriots are showing signs of fatigue. Even Rupert Murdoch and FOX has started going critical of the Tea Party. Could defection be on the horizon?No need to wait to find out. I've created a few new tools to use for deprogramming if (and when) the situation presents itself. Here's a few bumper stickers:
  • Tea: Not Just For Classy People Anymore
  • The Tea Party - Where Imaginary Friends Come to Life
If you sense doubt on their part about the truth of what they're saying, use these:
  • Hey Tea Party - How's that whole Truth-ey Honest-y thing working out for ya?
  • I'll take the Party of Know for $1,000, Alex

You can take the coy route.....

  • Teabag Party: Want To Know What It REALLY Means?
  • I Can See The Moon From Where I Stand. Please Don't Bend Over Again.
or go elitist....
  • Silly Tea Party - Tax Cuts Are For the Middle Class
  • For The First TIme in My Adult Life, I Am Ashamed of my Countrymen
but these last two can be used for just about anything. Put 'em on signs, bumper stickers, hats, or just tape 'em up on front of the outhouse:
  • Tea Just Makes Me Need to Pee Really, REALLY Bad
and
  • TP - No Matter How You Spin It, It's Still Just For Wiping Asses