America Is Rapidly Shifting To The Left

by: Chris Bowers

Wed Oct 15, 2008 at 14:45


Now that the bailout has turned into a buyout, I feel the need to say that I am feeling a whole lot better about the legislation. As you have certainly heard by now, the Treasury Department is investing $250 billion in several banks, effectively nationalizing about another 1.75% of the economy of the United States. What hasn't been talked about quite as much is that this $250 billion is actually all Congress gave the Treasury department for now:

The government could get at $250 billion immediately, $100 billion more if the president certified it was necessary, and the last $350 billion with a separate certification - and subject to a congressional resolution of disapproval.

This means that all of the money that the Treasury Department has been granted right now will be spent on nationalization, not on just taking crappy investments off the hands of wealthy investment bankers. I can live with this new plan just fine, and I am glad the other G7 nations helped push us into this action. Had this been the plan from the get-go, I probably would have even supported it. Granted, I think Matt is right that the investments are basically just very favorable loans to the banks without any real control (but there should be some control), but even in that circumstance it is now unlikely the bailout will cost us that much money.

Also, I am struck by just how far left the country is turning, and quickly. It isn't just the banks, and it isn't just the coming election. In the extended entry, I discuss a couple more examples.

Chris Bowers :: America Is Rapidly Shifting To The Left
Check out this poll, showing the country thinks something called socialized medicine would be better than what we have now:


The country doesn't appear particularly opposed to socialism in practice, in the abstract, or even in name anymore. Check out this amazing statement from a 50-something white male in Ohio who voted for Dole, Bush and Kerry:

I won't ever vote for another god-damn Republican. I want the government to take over all of Wall Street and bankers and the car companies and Wal-Mart run this county like we used to when Reagan was President.

Not only is this man advocating mass nationalization of several industries, but he thinks that is what we used to do and why the country used to be better off. So, not only has socialism become the preferred way forward, it is seen as a bright spot in the past, too.

To paraphrase and reverse Hunter S. Thompson, the country is moving so far to the left so fast, it will be difficult to recognize it soon.

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America Is Rapidly Shifting To The Left | 14 comments
Have The Gumbint run Wal-Mart, just like Reagan did! (4.00 / 1)
But does that guy even qualify as a "low-information voter"?
maybe (4.00 / 3)
he's qualified to be VP?
[ Parent ]
Excellent post (4.00 / 2)
This is really dizzying how fast all this has happened. Think about how much has changed not only politically, but also ideologically in this country as to what is "acceptable" just in the past 6 weeks!

I thought that quote was extremely telling. I think it represents what actually a majority of people have felt like in this country for some time. But those sentiments have been ruled out of order by the elite media and washington consensus. This is what Sirota talks about all the time in terms of trade. We were only a "center-right" nation because that's all that was allowed to be proffered to the people for consumption.

This really is a "crisitunity". And I think for the first time in my life I'll be the tiniest bit thankful that Bush was president. Call it disaster socialism?

about the bailout/buyout (0.00 / 0)
I asked my brother the investment adviser/money manager yesterday about the latest developments. He was vehemently opposed to the bailout and said Paulson was the most dangerous man in America.

He thinks the buyout is an improvement, but the biggest problem from his perspective is that these banks will still be able to pay dividends to shareholders. Apparently the way Gordon Brown did it in the UK, the banks that have been recapitalized are not allowed to decrease their capital by paying dividends to shareholders.

By the way, Treasury officials seemed to be under the impression that they could get the whole $700 billion quickly and that the "tranching" controls were meaningless:

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com...

Join the Iowa progressive community at Bleeding Heartland.

But with this deal (4.00 / 1)
aren't the taxpayers at the head of the line to get some of those dividend payments?
[ Parent ]
Get the dividends when they're needed (4.00 / 1)
The most important part is getting lending going again. The British proposal required the banks to maintain lending at last year's rates this year and next year.

I'm not completely sold that that level of lending is sustainable in a downturn, but as a general plan it's pretty sensible - we want the banks to use their newfound capital.

Forgotten Countries - a foreign policy-focused blog

[ Parent ]
I think most will realize too (0.00 / 0)
that they'd better start lending again with this capital otherwise next time, the next terms from an Obama treasury secretary may not be so favorable.  
[ Parent ]
Are we going to take advantage? (4.00 / 1)
HCAN's entire reason for existence is to promote a health care solution that resembles the failed banking and finance policies. In just four months they have been completely outflanked by events and public opinion.

People want single-payer health care. But progressive institutions and activists have generally been slow to embrace it, out of a mix of fear and our own version of "serious" discourse that claims single-payer is just not realistic.

If this is going to be our moment we need to make it happen and not cling to 1990s-era thinking.

Crisis= Opportunity (0.00 / 0)
Rapidly changing conditions combined with failure of usual response pattern means crisis and the opportunity for a new response pattern. New pattern means new perceptual viewpoint of reality. That's how the New Deal came into being.
Great Post (4.00 / 2)
Another downside to the buyout is the lack of voting rights on the preferred stock the taxpayers are buying.  So along with lack of requirement on the usage of the injected capital the stockholders won't get seat(s) on the board of directors and these jokers can still pay themselves gazillions
The potential for a buyout (4.00 / 1)
was one of the main reasons I was reluctantly for the bill.

It's still not being done as well as say, the Brits are doing, I think the taxpayers should be getting the same deal Buffet did. But it's a start.


John McCain: Beacuse lobbyists should have more power

It's Ancestral Memory (0.00 / 0)
and part of our Ghost Dancing.

Yes we did somethings in the past, but repeating them is not necessarily going to be the right medicine.

Getting people used to a smaller impact on the physical environment is a sine qua non of 21st century economic policy: whether The People like it or not.

We also have AI and Robotics arriving soon: labor for wages will be a non-viable social contract.

Next you'll say it's ok to call yourself a liberal (4.00 / 1)
I totally agree, and to pat myself on the back, I've been saying the same thing for a while (go ahead, ask my wife).

Long before the bailout, it seemed (to me) that the tide was turning against deregulation, large tax cuts to the wealthy, and various other articles of faith for the conservative movement.  And it feels like Obama - even though he may not be a purebred "progressive" - has made it ok for people to acknowledge the deficiencies of the GOP philosophy.

Liberal (0.00 / 0)
Right after Hillary conceded and Obama finally, really won the nomination, I heard Andrea Mitchell, Twitty and others all use the word "liberal" to describe Obama and his supporters.  It was the first time I heard the term used on a mainstream show without the slightest hint of irony or spite.

This really isn't "all of a sudden" as it seems.  What we are seeing is an overnight success eight years in the making.

[ Parent ]
America Is Rapidly Shifting To The Left | 14 comments
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