Welfare for the Rich

¡Hola! Everybody…

A bipartisan group of lawmakers voted unanimously (14 to zip) to launch an investigation on whether Gov. Palin abused her executive power. At that time, she said she welcomed any investigation. Yesterday, she's saying she will not cooperate with investigators because the investigation has been, “politically tainted.” LOL!

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-=[ The Scam ]=-

“You’ve heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession… We have sort of become a nation of whiners... You just hear this constant whining, complaining about a loss of competitiveness, America in decline.”

-- Phil Gramm, McCain’s chief financial advisor, on the U.S. economy

“I am fundamentally a deregulator. I’d like to see a lot of the unnecessary government regulations eliminated, not just a moratorium.”

-- John McCain, Wall St. Journal, Spring, 2008

In the aftermath of the recent financial news, there has been a lot of finger pointing regarding who’s to blame for the biggest financial catastrophe of our time. To be sure, there’s enough blame to go around, but one individual who stands head and shoulders above the rest has to be former Senator and chief McCain financial advisor Phil Gramm.

As part of a decades-long anti-regulatory conservative crusade, Gramm pulled a legislative sleight-of-hand that opened the way to the multibillion-dollar subprime fawkfest. Yet, have you heard Gramm’s name in the mainstream media? Is anyone calling for his head on a platter?

Nope.

Gramm, famous for uttering lines such as, “We’re the only nation in the world where all our poor people are fat,” is now a well-paid executive at a Swiss bank. He also co-chairs Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign and advises the Republican candidate on economic matters. He’s been mentioned as a possible Treasury secretary should McCain win. Yeppers: the same scam artist who helped screw up the global financial system could end up in charge of US economic policy.

::blank stare::

I wish I could write fiction like that!

As investigative reporter, David Corn wrote in the July/ August 2008 issue of Mother Jones:

“Credit default swaps are essentially insurance policies covering the losses on securities in the event of a default. Financial institutions buy them to protect themselves if an investment they hold goes south. It’s like bookies trading bets, with banks and hedge funds gambling on whether an investment (say, a pile of subprime mortgages bundled into a security) will succeed or fail. Because of the swap-related provisions of Gramm’s bill—which were supported by Fed chairman Alan Greenspan and Treasury secretary Larry Summers—a $62 trillion market (nearly four times the size of the entire US stock market) remained utterly unregulated, meaning no one made sure the banks and hedge funds had the assets to cover the losses they guaranteed.” [emphasis added]

McCain now is calling for more government transparency stating, “My administration will set a new standard for transparency and accountability.”

Huh?

Is this the same McCain who has fought against government oversight of the same crooks who are now going home with truckloads of “golden Parachute” money while the rank and file faces a bleak future wondering if they will be able to pay their mortgage?

This whole sorry incident (and you’re literally paying for this blunder, believe me) serves to McCain as the radical conservative that he is. He’s no maverick, he never was, never will be. This is the same corrupt politician whose involvement in the S&L debacle almost ruined his career. The same McCain abandoned his horribly disfigured wife in favor of a billionaire beauty queen heiress.

Today, McCain blasts the Wall Street meltdown, but he neglects to mention his adviser helped cause it!

Love,

Eddie