Real Change News | ©Dr. Wes: There goes another $700B

September 24, 2008
Vol: 15 No: 40

Dr. Wes

©Dr. Wes: There goes another $700B

by: Dr. Wes Browning

Adventure in Irony

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I don’t know what to say. I can’t not be sardonic. It’s too fahrfürfrappen easy. Seven hundred billion dollars! The Bushter wants to have seven hundred billion dollars of OUR money, to save the fortunes of very, VERY important rich people, without whom our economy (the machine that cranks out our wealth) would supposedly not be possible.

Well, you know, for the sake of MY wealth and all, I’d just as soon we keep the seven hundred billion dollars, if you don’t mind, bitte, danke schön! Auf wiedersehen, vaya con Dios, amigo! Thank you very frappen much!

Our presidente seems to be under the wildly mistaken assumption that we would all be extremely alarmed if the prices of housing steeply plummeted in this country. Actually, this is far from the case. In fact, I would like very much to be able to buy a house for a dollar. I HAVE a dollar. I would not like to buy a house for $650,000 dollars, because I do not have that many. So if housing prices dropped from what they are now (a zillion per house, on average) to a dollar per house, on average, I’d go so far as propose we change the Constitution to be able to re-elect Bush as presidente, over and over again, until the Rapture.

That won’t happen (the housing price drop), because nothing the presidente, nor the Republicans in general, nor Democrats are talking about doing about all this, involves making the price of housing lower. They’re all about protecting the mortgage industry, and failing that, homeowners. Nobody gives a damn about home non-owners. Nobody’s even TALKING about home non-owners. EXCEPT ME! DO I HAVE TO DO IT ALL?

Home non-owners are Americans, too. Why does no one else ever point this out?

Here’s what’s wrong with the Bush Administration. When they want to seize property from some poor jerk whose land is in the way of an interstate bypass or a Costco, they just say “Eminent domain!” and “This is all you get in compensation,” and transaction completed. But when they want the junk assets of precious failing investment companies, it’s, “Oh please, sirs, tell us how much you might require for your valuable investment properties, that they may be purchased from you by our humble national government, using our peasants’ accumulated pennies.”

George’s plan asks for the same deal he asked for from Congress re: Iraq. He wants his Secretary of the Treasury to be authorized to do anything at all with the $700 billion. No limits. The future is uncertain. There are terrorists among us. This is a post 9/11 world. Constitutional checks and balances are outmoded in this climate of fear and terror. Saddam Hussein must be defeated at all costs. We only ask authorization to do what is necessary in these dangerous times.

The Democrats, whom I am ordinarily fond of associating with, have seized upon this as an issue, and I give them credit for doing so. Yes (big applause), if this screw is inevitable, we MUST HAVE safeguards! Lordy, if this deal is going to go down, please, please, dear government, put on a condom before you do it.

It’s too much to ask either party, apparently, to demand that if we taxpayers spend that much for so-called junk properties, the properties be used for our benefit. Like, you know, ending our homelessness. Neither party seems capable of seeing that this crisis is an opportunity to end U.S. homelessness in a year.

Instead, both parties are talking about these failed mortgage assets as bad investments that must be made good, i.e. must be turned into money, in the short term. Rather than shelter, which could improve lives, which could create human welfare, which could generate national wealth. That would take altogether too long. It would take as long as slow moving human generations and slow growing pink flesh. We don’t have time for the needs of flesh. We have to make a profit this quarter.

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