The Lightning Without the Thunder
By David Glenn Cox
http://theservantsofpilate.comDo you feel better now? The President has a plan; he’s going to rescue you. He’s going to rescue you with kind, soothing words and a pat on the head. He’s given a great speech, Mark Anthony gave a great speech but Caesar was still dead. Lincoln made a great speech in Gettysburg but it failed to save any lives, a great speech is the wrapping paper not the gift. It may look great and sound great but it is what’s inside that really matters. “Because of this plan, 95% of the working households in America will receive a tax cut – a tax cut that you will see in your paychecks beginning on April 1st.”
Tuesday Ben Bernacke explained the stress test before Congress that will be used to judge failing banks. “The stress test is not a pass or fail test, it is a test by which we will judge the amount of support any given bank may need.” Did you get that? The Federal Reserve will not allow any of the twenty largest banks to fail. But now, as for you, the test used to determine whether you should keep your home is a pass/ fail test. The President condemned the CEO’s for their drapes and jet planes but nods with a knowing eye, “We got your back!”
Those that sold the bad loans and bundled the bad loans and profited from the bad loans will be bailed out, while those who lost their jobs and struggle just to feed themselves will quite literally be thrown out into the cold. Already the President has begun backing up. “Over the next two years, this plan will save or create 3.5 million jobs.” There is a big difference between saving and creating 3.5 million jobs; saving 3.5 million gets us no closer to recovery. It’s a Bushian promise of trust me and it will get no worse!
The media fawn and coo, “It’s like he’s channeling Franklin Roosevelt!”
“I want to speak plainly and candidly about this issue tonight, because every American should know that it directly affects you and your family’s well-being. You should also know that the money you’ve deposited in banks across the country is safe; your insurance is secure; and you can rely on the continued operation of our financial system.” (Barack Obama)
“Plenty is at our doorstep, but a generous use of it languishes in the very sight of the supply. Primarily this is because the rulers of the exchange of mankind's goods have failed, through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure, and abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men.” (Franklin Roosevelt)
“You see, the flow of credit is the lifeblood of our economy. The ability to get a loan is how you finance the purchase of everything from a home to a car to a college education; how stores stock their shelves, farms buy equipment, and businesses make payroll.
"But credit has stopped flowing the way it should. Too many bad loans from the housing crisis have made their way onto the books of too many banks. With so much debt and so little confidence, these banks are now fearful of lending out any more money to households, to businesses, or to each other. When there is no lending, families can’t afford to buy homes or cars. So businesses are forced to make layoffs. Our economy suffers even more, and credit dries up even further.” (Barack Obama)
“True they have tried, but their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn tradition. Faced by failure of credit they have proposed only the lending of more money. Stripped of the lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading tearfully for restored confidence. They know only the rules of a generation of self-seekers. They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish.” (Franklin Roosevelt)
“We will do so in several ways. First, we are creating a new lending fund that represents the largest effort ever to help provide auto loans, college loans, and small business loans to the consumers and entrepreneurs who keep this economy running.
"Second, we have launched a housing plan that will help responsible families facing the threat of foreclosure lower their monthly payments and re-finance their mortgages. It’s a plan that won’t help speculators or that neighbor down the street who bought a house he could never hope to afford, but it will help millions of Americans who are struggling with declining home values – Americans who will now be able to take advantage of the lower interest rates that this plan has already helped bring about. In fact, the average family who re-finances today can save nearly $2000 per year on their mortgage.
"Third, we will act with the full force of the federal government to ensure that the major banks that Americans depend on have enough confidence and enough money to lend even in more difficult times. And when we learn that a major bank has serious problems, we will hold accountable those responsible, force the necessary adjustments, provide the support to clean up their balance sheets, and assure the continuity of a strong, viable institution that can serve our people and our economy.” (Barack Obama)
“Values have shrunken to fantastic levels; taxes have risen; our ability to pay has fallen; government of all kinds is faced by serious curtailment of income; the means of exchange are frozen in the currents of trade; the withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie on every side; farmers find no markets for their produce; the savings of many years in thousands of families are gone. More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence, and an equally great number toil with little return. Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment.” (Franklin Roosevelt)
Obama’s plan is better than nothing, but not by much. To the banks he offers cash, as much as they need. For struggling homeowners there is as much as $40.00 dollars a week in mortgage refinancing.
“But I also know that in a time of crisis, we cannot afford to govern out of anger, or yield to the politics of the moment.” (Barack Obama)
“Recognition of the falsity of material wealth as the standard of success goes hand in hand with the abandonment of the false belief that public office and high political position are to be valued only by the standards of pride of place and personal profit; and there must be an end to a conduct in banking and in business which too often has given to a sacred trust the likeness of callous and selfish wrongdoing. Small wonder that confidence languishes, for it thrives only on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection, on unselfish performance; without them it cannot live. Restoration calls, however, not for changes in ethics alone. This Nation asks for action, and action now.
“That’s what this is about. It’s not about helping banks – it’s about helping people.” (Barack Obama)
“Finally, in our progress toward a resumption of work we require two safeguards against a return of the evils of the old order; there must be a strict supervision of all banking and credits and investments; there must be an end to speculation with other people's money, and there must be provision for an adequate but sound currency.” (Franklin Roosevelt)
“Because when credit is available again, that young family can finally buy a new home. And then some company will hire workers to build it. And then those workers will have money to spend, and if they can get a loan too, maybe they’ll finally buy that car, or open their own business. Investors will return to the market, and American families will see their retirement secured once more. Slowly, but surely, confidence will return, and our economy will recover.” (Barack Obama)
That is what it is about, it is about accommodating the banking industry, pennies for you and billions for the banks. The President talks to us like Mr. Rogers explaining why we need to put on our sweaters. Mortgagees are called to account and banks and insurance companies are given the free pass of a forgiving father. Roosevelt offered the people help and the banks discipline, while Obama offers the nation just the opposite.
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