Sometimes you don't find out who your friends are until the bear in the woods hits the Pope's fan.
In the last year We, the People have been finding out who our friends are and aren't. (Actually mostly just aren't.) We especially have been finding out what the priorities are and where the power lies. And lies and lies.
Since the financial crisis began we have been seeing as clear a display of raw power being used against the interests of the people as I imagine can be seen. We were given hours to put up all of the money we have to bail out a few large financial institutions because they were "too big to fail," but we did nothing about how big they were -- and still are! We allowed the use of our tax money to pay incredibly fat paychecks and bonuses while more and more of the rest of us have been laid off, lost our retirement, houses, etc. We complained about the use in these bailed out companies of private jets by a select few and their families because it "looked bad" but not because of what it was. Who is this "we" anyway? I didn't want those things to happen, but "we" let them happen.
But, you see, the people who run the big Wall Street companies "work hard" and "provide jobs." We might not understand what exactly they they do that is so important to the economy, because we aren't smart enough and didn't go to Harvard, but it is so important that we have to put all the rest of the money on the line, without asking questions and mostly without any oversight. And we certainly can't ask them to pay reasonable tax rates.
When GM and Chrysler and so many other companies needed help we saw a completely different scenario play out. Those greedy assembly line workers certainly shouldn't be getting pensions and health care -- no wonder those companies are in trouble. The idea that we should actually make things here is just so old fashioned. We don't need manufacturing becauseIit's different this time. It really is better that everything be made in China. Take their word for it.
And now we are trying to get basic health care coverage for ourselves, but it is just too expensive. It might increase the deficit. Can you imagine a worse horror -- that might drum up pressure to raise taxes on the very rich to help cover the massive debt that resulted from cutting taxes on the rich. Yes, the deficit that is so huge because we gave tax cuts to the very rich, and subsidies to the wealthy companies, and especially from the bailouts to the very important financial companies. So it really is a lot to ask if we want to get some money for health care. And never mind finding the money to pay back what was borrowed from Social Security -- to pay for tax cuts for the rich.
When the health care debate started we found out who some of our friends weren't. The idea of a "Medicare-For-All" plan (which some policy wonks insist on calling "single-payer" even though the phrase alienates and confuses people) was not even allowed to be discussed! It was "off the table" before there ever was a table even though a huge number of Americans want to see this as the nation's policy and every other modern country on the planet has learned that this is they way to do health care. Off the table.
So instead we are fighting to allow us to be forced to give a lot of money every month to big insurance companies, and maybe if we are lucky we will instead be forced to pay for a plan from the government that is not allowed to be competitive with the corporate plans because that would be unfair to corporate profits. Yet another clear demonstration of priorities and raw power.
We are supposed to be a representative democracy where We, the People are in charge, but we allow these companies and the government agencies propping them up to continue to operate with secrecy, refusing or even to let our own elected representatives know what is being done with our money!
In a written response, the Treasury again rejected that call. Officials have taken the view that the exact use of the federal aid cannot be tracked because money given to a bank is like water poured into an ocean.
I hope you have seen the clip of Rep. Grayson trying to get answers out Fed Vice Chair Donald Kohn.
Or this one where he is trying to get answers out of the Inspector General of the Federal Reserve
So we know where our friends aren't. But do we know where we can find any friends?
