It's time to take some shots at a lot of people on the Right, conservatives, Republicans, etc. Many people in this country, including yours truly, are getting sick and tired of coddling corporate America (e.g., G.M ignition lock travesty, ,lowering tax bills by by moving their legal address overseas, sweetheart/crony massive cost-overrun contracts, tolerating consumer ripoffs, etc.), Wall Street (too many slaps on the wrist, not enough serious sanctions) and special interests in general. I'm not opposed to corporations having certain constitutional rights, but, when the rights and strong legitimate interests of others are trampled, it is a travesty. Consumers need to be protected from dangerous and addictive products and activities. The "big tobacco scandal" of hiding the known addictive effects of tobacco, GM's ignition lock outrage, and the Bhopal incident are examples.
.Both parties are guilty but the Republicans seem to be the most flagrant and unapologetic. I do applaud some of the efforts that Obama has made or tried to make in this direction.
With regard to the economic inequality issue, lines need to be drawn Some economic inequality is justifiable. However, when government discriminates it's time to take a closer look. One of the most obvious examples is the agricultural worker exclusion from overtime pay. This is unjust and an obvious violation of equal protection. However, the courts have upheld this as the Supreme Court uses minimal (pseudo) scrutiny for economic regulations when challenged under equal protection. This is an injustice, among many that should not be tolerated.
I must disagree with much of what is said. First, one minor part: The grassroots of the Tea Party is solely about too high tax rates, too much wasteful spending and too much Big Nanny. Anything beyond that is add-on by politicos with additional or other agendas.
ReplyDeleteSome 26% of US GDP involves financial transactions by the Big Money folks. Much of it was enabled when Clinton signed off on repeal of Glass Steagall. When you then factor in the bubbles engendered by the monetary policies of the FRB and the executive branch through these several recent presidencies, you wind up with the "Too Big To Fail" nonsense. Note that this is not at all what capitalism is all about. Failure of businesses whose decision-making was erroneous is a necessary part of capitalism.
While I don't agree with everything that Paul Craig Roberts says, this two-part lengthy interview is a very good overview of "who done what" and why we're in our present economic mess.
Art
Art: You are right, I should not have included the Tea Party. There is much that I like about the Tea Party. The post will be edited. Thanks for your critique.
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