|
Sub-title: This is just Katrina on steroids, OR... Why Obama may not have a prayer.
Sure, George Bush was a stupid, misguided, rich-kid jerk, but all he did to "create" this economic armageddon was to grease the wheels for the even more evil guys who have been working on it for decades. George simply worked for them,... he did what he was told.
Tax cuts for the wealthy and for corporations? Well of course,... it's what they've ALWAYS wanted. Privatize Social Security to Wall Street? Damned right! They've hated Social Security since 1939, and besides, they saw their liquidity problem on the horizon long ago. War for oil? Well, maybe armies USED to travel on their stomachs, but now they travel on petroleum, get it? Gotta keep those F-16's in the air somehow if we expect to redraw the geopolitical lines of the planet in time for The American Century. The PNAC said so.
And then there's the contractors, sub-contractors, privateers and other well-connected opportunistic bastards hovering like vultures around everything the federal government does. Oh we can politically repair the tax system. We can safeguard Social Security. We can even be more careful about starting wars. But the contractors are gonna get you.
I know,... I know,.... the rip-off artists at Katrina and the Iraq "reconstruction" were probably much deeper into the Bush regime's scheme,.. beginning with Cheney's Energy Task Force,.. through Halliburton and KBR,.. and ending with Blackwater's expulsion. We can even beware of outright thieves.
But rebuilding the infracture requires contractors, right? Lots of them,... big ones, too. They sit in mansions writing their political contribution checks, then go out and gouge us for a bridge.
Improvements in education means printing books and new standardized tests and authorizing studies, etc. Bigtime printers working hand-in-hand with old college drinking buddies.
Environment? That sounds like some high-tech stuff,... those studies and laboratories ain't getting any cheaper. Probably more than another handful of old college drinking buddies, too.
Health care? My hand is shaking, now. Doctors, lawyers, insurance companies and hospital management corporations are not known for discounts when it's "for a good cause."
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I submit that even the best of ideas and intentions still require IMPLEMENTATION, and there's the rub. Call it the good ol' boy network,... call it business-as-usual,.... call it anything you like.
The system is pre-gamed. Everyone in Congress needs campaign money,... and we all have old college drinking buddies. Bush may have greased the wheels,... and while Bush is gone, the wheels are still there. If we can't solve our current problems minus the profit motive, we are doomed.
Good luck Mr. President. Good luck Barack.
|
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(97 posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
