February 11, 2007


IMPEACH BUSH


IMPEACH CHENEY

GLOBALIZATION IS GOOD EXCEPT . . .

The barons of Wall Street love globalization and outsourcing of American jobs except when the same thing is happening to them. Then, suddenly, globalization is not such a good thing after all. Shipping our jobs overseas is morally, fiscally, and strategically wrong in the long run. This article by Chris Hayes is linked at www.makethemaccountable.com:

In response to the massive loss of unionzed, relatively well-paid manufacturing jobs in the US, the barons of Wall Street (Bob Rubin, et al) generally respond with thinly veiled contempt for the knee-jerk whining of the protectionst volk. “Don’t you understand?” they say, “this it the global economy and there’s no reason for manufacturers to pay Americans to do the same thing the Chinese can do for 1/50th the price. Besides, what are you a racist? Don’t you believe that Mexicans and Indians and Chinese should have jobs?” I’m paraphrasing here, obviously, but this is pretty standard.

So there’s something deliciously ironic about listening to Wall Street bitch and moan about the fact that Wall Street is losing share of the international financial markets. So grave is the threat of New York losing its prime position, that in January Mayor Mike Bloomberg (along with Chuck Schumer) called a press conference to publicize a report issued by McKinsey consulting (which obviously has no conflict of interest in this sort of thing) that argues that in order to preserve Wall Street’s pre-eminence we must do away with—you guessed it—excess regulation, namely Sarbanes-Oxley.

TIME TO PAY ATTENTION TO CREDIT SQUEEZE

Sometimes I don't know how you can have a conscience and be an executive for a big bank that issues credit cards or makes real estate loans with ticking time bombs for the borrowers. More covertly, big banks have even been involved in payday loan companies that make loan sharks look moral. It's time for some accountability for banks and lenders. Take away the fine print. Limit what lenders can charge for late charges and other fees. Take away universal default provisions. Rescind the onerous bankruptcy bill the Bush administration pushed. This article by Danny Schechter is at www.smirkingchimp.com:

Journalism like this feels sorrier for the banks than the working people who took out so-called "sub prime loans" with higher interest rates to improve their standard of living and ended up losing everything.

Why? Because of unexamined structural economic inequality, out-sourced jobs, tax cuts for the rich, the fraying of the social safety net etc, etc. Americans are losing their homes in droves as foreclosures mount and banks like HSBC are left holding the bag. The plight of the people doesn't get the attention that the problems of the banks do. Their plight is rarely page one. In fact it's the opposite with TV shows like 20/20--which I once worked for--now blaming debtors for mounting debt, i.e. blaming victims for the crime.