The Washington double standard -- Ron Dzwonkowski, DFP editorial page editor

[Bozita]

You gotta see some of those comments.

http://www.freep.com/article/20081224/BLOG2504/81223053

The Washington double standard
BY RON DZWONKOWSKI • FREE PRESS EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR • DECEMBER 24, 2008
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Don’t even try to tell me there’s not a double standard in Washington for companies in the business of making things and those that are supposed to be in the business of making money, although lately losing tons of it.

The auto industry had to knee-walk across Washington, put up with the scorn of self-serving southern senators, lose a battle in Congress and finally depend on the unexpected pragmatism of President George W. Bush to get $17.4 billion in loans with a stern finger-in-the-face warning: “we’re tracking every dime. You screw this up and we’re through with you! Now go sell your jets and walk home!”

But the financial sector, showered with hundreds of billions more tax dollars in federal “investment” gets a pat on the head and best wishes — and confidentiality.

As reported on freep.com earlier this week, six of the financial firms that received billions in bail-out dollars from you and me — laundered through the U.S. Treasury — still own and operate fleets of jets for their executives. This includes AIG, the insurance giant that held a pricey executive retreat just days after going belly up and getting $150 billion in taxpayer bailout cash. AIG has seven aircraft in its company fleet. (According to The Associated Press, AIG did sell two jets earlier this year and cancelled orders for four others. Poor dears.)

Five other financial companies that got a combined $120 billion in government cash injections - Citigroup Inc., Wells Fargo & Co., Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley - all own aircraft for executive travel, according to regulatory filings earlier this year and interviews.

Oh and this gets even better. The nation’s largest banks also say they cannot track or will not say just how they are spending all that federal money they‘ve been given to lubricate the credit system. The auto execs were required, remember, to very publicly pledge to work for nothing next year. Any bankers doing that? Doesn’t Congress want to know? I certainly do. I don’t want any of my tax money going to seven figure salaries for Wall Street suits. I’m from Michigan. I want it going to car loans.


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[Cobalt-60]

1. They wish to deprive us of the means of production

Which is in this case the auto makers.
They wish to maintain the means of extraction.
Those are the Financial companies.
Big corporations have not only outlived their usefulness,
but have actually become a threat.
They will never return a single job to the United States.

[Doctor_J]

2. The Wall Street robbers need to be sent to real prison

there is no deterrent to them looting again otherwise.