great depression

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I’m Mad Again!

July 5, 2009 in Depression, MEDIA, Politics, banks by Mardé | 2 comments

Yes, I’m mad again! Every so often I get into this go getem mad mood where I feel like taking to the streets, pitchfork in hand, ready to go after the bankers and the rich, in other words after the usual right-wing manipulators of American culture for their own ends. But I’ll probably just remain a passive radical…. although mad.

Anyway, Frank Rich lays it on the line this morning in his NYT Op-Ed piece, Bernie Madoff Is No John Dillinger. This should be required reading for everybody.

Bernie Madoff is no John Dillinger because John Dillinger was a widely sympathetic figure during the 1930′s: he went after the bankers who people blamed for ripping us all off during the great depression. Today Bernie Madoff, as portrayed in the corporate controlled media, appears to be the focus of the blame for our great recession while Wall Street and the bankers who have ripped us off to a far greater extent than Bernie Madoff get off practically scot-free. Bernie Madoff is no John Dillinger. Let us wake up!

Frank Rich quotes from Nobel laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz’s Vanity Fair article as follows:

“In the developing world, people look at Washington and see a system of government that allowed Wall Street to write self-serving rules which put at risk the entire global economy — and then, when the day of reckoning came, turned to Wall Street to manage the recovery. They see continued re-distributions of wealth to the top of the pyramid, transparently at the expense of ordinary citizens.”

Joseph Stiglitz is mad.

Frank Rich quotes Barney Frank who told bankers back in February:

“People really hate you, and they’re starting to hate us because we’re hanging out with you.”

Barney Frank is mad.

Here’s Rich’s final paragraph:

In 2009, too many who worked hard and played by the rules are still suffering, while too many who bent or broke the rules with little or no accountability are back reaping a disproportionate share of what scant prosperity there is. The tepid national satisfaction taken in Bernie Madoff’s terminal prison sentence should be a warning to the White House. In the most devastating economic catastrophe since Dillinger’s time, many Americans know all too well that justice has yet to be served.

And I’m one of those. How about you Barack?

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Fiscal Equivalent of War

January 9, 2009 in Crisis, Depression, Economy by Mardé | 2 comments

Many argue that it was really World War II that got us out of the great depression of the 1930′s. Our vast increase in military spending is what reduced the 16.9% unemployment of 1936 to the 4.7% unemployment of 1942, they say.

So, Obama’s plan may not be up to snuff, may not be the fiscal equivalent of war. Paul Krugman is saying it’s only about one-third of what is needed. John Judis suggests an additional $70 billion in high-speed rail plus a new international monetary system.

Are these guys right? Or are our problems to be solved by tax breaks for the rich, Republican style? Me? I’ll take the former.

UPDATE: Obama in his press conference today said that if Paul Krugman is right, they’ll use his ideas, or at least evaluate them seriously. “No pride of authorship.”, said Obama.

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A Distraction

September 2, 2008 in Politics, Speeches by Mardé | 3 comments

I think Bob Herbert of the NYT is right on this morning when he says the whole Sarah Palin thing is meant to be a distraction to draw attention from the success of the Democrat’s convention and Barack Obama’s great speech. Here’s a key paragraph from Herbert’s op-ed:

Here’s the deal: Palin is the latest G.O.P. distraction. She’s meant to shift attention away from the real issue of this campaign — the awful state of the nation after eight years of Republican rule. The Republicans are brilliant at distractions. Willie Horton was a distraction. The chatter about gays, guns and God has been a long-running distraction. And we all remember the Swift-boat campaign.

He goes on to say:

Respectful criticism of Sarah Palin is fine. But the great issues of this campaign loom like giant redwoods over the pathetic weeds of politics as usual and the myriad distractions that have turned one presidential election after another into a national embarrassment.

Herbert also uses pertinent quotes from Bill Clinton’s great speech at the Democratic National Convention, and even Roosevelt’s great depression oratory. Keeping our eyes and hearts on the real problems facing this country without being dragged away into constant discussion of distractions. like Sarah Palin, is the challenge!

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