The EXEGETIST: A Library Of Independent Political Thought. By: Jack H. Dawsey

Nothing ain’t worth nothing, but it’s free

By: Jack Dawsey

The year 2010 and the beginning of a new decade are upon us.  Will it bring us the old saying, another year older and deeper in debt?  I hope not.  But with the continuation in the falling value of the dollar, and a possible repeat of the Bush decade, i.e. President Obama using Bush and Clinton retreads in his administration, is cause for concern. 

From a moral point of view, I suggest we call the first decade of this millennium the decade of debauchery, thievery and war.  It was a decade of bobble-heads on TV and their display of rudeness.  It was a decade of lobbyists filling the pockets of politicians in the U.S. Congress.  And it was a decade of being introduced to the adulterous affairs of preachers, governors, lawmakers and athletes. 

From a political point of view, the decade was one of empty promises, and a whole lot of nothing with respect to economic progress and recovery for taxpayers. 

As the new begins, there is a sense (albeit a false sense in my opinion) of economic and political optimism in America.  There is the belief that we Americans, more than anyone else in the world, know what we’re doing.  Let me quote from a speech that Mr. Lawrence Summers, then deputy Treasury Secretary of the United States and now President Obama’s top economist, said. 

According to the New York Times, (and I paraphrase), he said that if you ask why the American financial system is so successful it’s because there is no innovation more important than our audit system.  He further stated that our Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) insures that every investor gets to review corporate information, that our political and economic system has management discipline not found in foreign governments, and that we Americans report “the bottom line” accurately.

Is Mr. Summers saying our current American system is honest and transparent?  Is he saying we taxpayers ought not to be alarmed or to be concerned because our system breeds responsible managers and honest politicians that make sound decisions on our behalf?  If so, I have an Alaskan igloo condominium on Miami Beach to sell. 

But frankly what’s really impressive about this past decade is the nation’s willingness NOT to learn.  It seems the only thing history teaches is: “We don’t learn from history.  Or, we don’t learn from our mistakes.” For example:  even while the George Bush bubble was bursting near the end of the decade, Wall Street bankers were creating another.  Even after major corporations like Enron, WorldCom, Goldman Sachs, AIG, and the Federal Reserve gave us Ponzi-like financial schemes, we didn’t learn, and they moved on to create another.

Even after democrat and republican policies triggered a global economic collapse, (only to be rescued by taxpayers), the U.S. Congress wasted no time getting back to its corrupt culture.  Even now the democrat majorities in Congress, (President Obama included), refuse to give us a full accounting on the failures of Wall Street and the collapse of our financial system. 

By the way, I give no pass to the Republicans in this matter. They are equally culpable.  Have you noticed since the George Bush debacle, that Republican partisans blush when the name, Republican, is mentioned?  Instead, they brag, boast and cloak themselves under the code word: conservative.  What they mean is “they are conservative with their own personal money, but very liberal in the spending of yours.”   Even today, they still insist on playing but three strings on their five string banjo. (a) More tax cuts. (b) Just say no to Obama and (c) politicize the war.

So let’s bid adieu to the decade of corruption, where we achieved nothing and learned nothing, and welcome 2010 where nothing ain’t worth nothing, but it’s free.

Post a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.