He's B-A-A-A-C-K!

Yes, I'm back. And blogging once again. Sorry for the long absence... I get lazy sometimes, I admit it. If anyone is out there reading this, leave a comment now and then -- if I know you're out there, I'll be more inspired to write!

I am not an Oprah watcher, although I have nothing against her -- she's done some good things with her fame, so good on her. This clip from her show came to my attention recently, and I wanted to share it.

It's about the 'tent cities' springing up everywhere, this one is in Sacramento. I rode by it recently on my bike, it's MUCH bigger than these filming angles show. I saw what looked like hundreds of tents. A few months ago, there were only a handful.

Lisa Ling, a former Sacramentan, does this report, and her interviews are heartbreaking, but worth watching, as I think we tend to "other-ize" the homeless -- that is, think of them as a different sort of people. Most of those living in this growing tent city had lost jobs recently, and their homes. They're just like you and me.

http://www.oprah.com/media/20090218_tows_tent-city

GOP got their wish -- Gov't drowned in a bathtub

Conservatives got their wish: over the years since the Reagan administration -- admittedly helped along by Clinton -- they managed to squeeze government down small enough to "drown in a bathtub," as conservative Grover Norquist put it. The financial regulatory function of the government has been moribund for some time now.

Well, staring us in the face is the awesome and terrible result.

And now we're supposed to take John McCain's word for it that, after 26 years of complete and utter allegiance to the philosophy of deregulation -- proudly proclaimed from his own lips many times -- he knows best how to create a just, sane, orderly, fair-to-the-taxpayer structure of regulation out of the pile of rubble and dust that he, his economic guru Phil "You Bunch of Whiners" Gramm, and his team of die-hard deregulation-loving lobbyists have left us? Uh-uh. I don't think so.

The whole conservative philosophy of "getting government out of the way, so that the private sector can do what it wants, because the market will correct and police itself," is today totally bankrupt. It was already proven to be a bankrupt philosophy back in 1929. Back then, it required Roosevelt's New Deal to repair the financial devastation left behind, and it will require an even Newer Deal now.

All along the way, we have seen examples showing us that lack of regulation is disastrous in a capitalist system, but we allowed these clowns to remain in control of the levers of power anyway. So, they continued to make it easy for greedy slimeballs to take advantage of the lack of oversight. And when their behavior caused a major problem? Government bailout to the rescue!

The same government they had been trying to drown in a bathtub the whole time. "Privatize the gains, but socialize the losses." That's their real, unspoken, philosophy. Meaning the government picks up the tab for their high-risk and unethical behavior.

But wait! Who is this benevolent parent that always has enough to save the day? Why it's us -- we're the government, remember -- and it's our pockets these greedy bastards are picking every time their get-rich-as-quick-as-possible schemes implode.

Sure, something has to be done. But does that mean we rush a bill through on the say so of the president, no matter what? (Isn't that the same thing Bush did with the war and then the Patriot Act?) Does it mean we give total control over to his administration to do what they will with obscene piles of cash that are supposed to materialize out of thin air, and without any oversight? That's what Treasury Secretary Paulson demands. Yes, he has the gall to actually DEMAND it!

If this whole scene weren't so outrageously obscene, it would be funny.

But think about it, this whole mess could be an opportunity. Just as the Chinese word weiji, translated as "crisis," is composed of the characters for "danger" and "opportunity," we could, if we were a people worth our salt, use this crisis as an opportunity to completely revamp the financial system. The time is ripe, and if ever the people were ready for effective change, it is now.

But fear and ignorance will likely prevail instead. Fear of change, and general civilian ignorance of the depth and breadth of the problem and its systemic nature. The entire banking system is corrupt to the core, because it is founded on the Federal Reserve system, which is actually unconstitutional, and antithetical to everything the founders stood for.

It is a private central bank, despite the word 'federal' so deviously included in its title, when it was drafted by a group of the world's most powerful bankers on an island of the coast of Georgia in 1913. Later passed when most lawmakers were out of town in the dead of night near the holidays that year, it obliterated Article I, section 8 of the constitution, which gives Congress the power "To coin money [and] regulate the value thereof." Instead, the Federal Reserve Act let the private bankers start printing the money and regulating its value.

That is an enormous power. It has made the banking families stinking rich, and has slowly put our nation into previously undreamt of amounts of debt.

That act needs to be repealed. Call me radical -- this crisis calls for a radical solution, or we become China's property, basically.

After we abolish the Fed, and the government (that's us) regains the power of the purse, we set up a sane financial regulatory system. Then we freeze the assets of those in the financial sector who made off like bandits, and sort out what is ill-gotten gains, and do our best to return that money to where it came from.

We immediately institute a tax on offshored businesses, and steadily increase the rate of that tax, to give a powerful incentive to keep our nation's business at home, and our own people employed.

Then, we forgive all debt. Wipe the slate clean. Everyone gets their houses back, and the economy is instantly back on an even footing. We can all flourish once again.

Socialism? A dose, perhaps, temporarily. As are the bailouts these financial titans want -- only their brand of socialism -- corporate socialism -- is only for them, not the general population.

Insane? Could be. But I'd argue that a continuation of the present system is what's insane. After all, insanity can be defined as doing the same thing over and over again, yet expecting different results.

Sure, some will get hurt worse than others in this scheme. But no one will be in too bad of shape, as they will not be in debt. Some financial "wizards" of the present system may have to find new jobs, but hey -- they didn't mind telling that to all the people put out of work in their globalization schemes.

With the so-called "pillars" of our economy falling like dominoes, what have we got to lose?

We have national pride, and a sane, prosperous society, to gain.

They ruined our economy just to make a few people rich

So I guess we’re back to the old slogan, "It’s the economy, stupid!" used by Bill Clinton in his first run for the presidency. It may not work as well for Hillary though, as Barack Obama seems to be on his way to the nomination. Unless, of course, the rich white guys in the back rooms decide to put all their "super" delegates toward Clinton. They could risk alienating the base of their own party if they do that, however. And of course, she could still pull it out on her own. But Obama pulled off quite a "Super Surprise" on Super Tuesday, and as I write this he has just pulled off a "Sleepy Saturday" sweep of Washington, Louisiana and Nebraska. Either way, it’ll be an historic nomination and, all indications point to that translating into an historic presidency of either a black man or a woman in the oval office.

Meanwhile, everyone thought the Iraq war would be the big issue in the coming election, but the economy has come up front and center, as it teeters on the edge of recession, with many even fearing the "d" word, depression. And that’s pretty bad. How did we get here?

It didn’t happen overnight, but the "decider" certainly accelerated things, with the help of a fat, lazy congress and a sleepy, lap dog press. Still, it’s been decades of irresponsible policies that have caused the long slide of our once-mighty economy into the abyss. Sure, the lack of regulation of the banking industry exasperated things, leading to the subprime crisis. But our decades-long obsession with oil and the terrible policies surrounding it probably has even more to do with the underpinnings of our economy starting to crumble.

The oil industry, with its powerful lobbyists and its near-absolute control of Congress, has been coddled, subsidized and spoiled for so long, it’s just business as usual on Capitol Hill. We could even look as far back as the 1950's and the atomic energy subsidies, if we’re looking for the root causes of our dilemma. Solar power was just being born around that time as well, and if we had put the billions upon billions of dollars of subsidies that went to nuclear into solar instead, we could have a whole different ballgame right now. I’ve always felt such a policy would have resulted in an energy-independent America as early as the 70's or 80's. We could have had solar-powered homes, cars and businesses across the country by then.

Sure, big industry would still have had to use fossil fuels, with the huge amounts of energy they require, but we certainly would have been in much better shape. Even now, the best stimulus for the economy is not to give a few bucks to taxpayers who will spend it in one month, but to create a new "New Deal" program that will begin to build the alternative-energy infrastructure which is so badly needed. We should also include the repair of our existing infrastructures in that program as well. Imagine the economic boost we’d get by putting people to work in such a program, and the confidence it would inspire in our nation, replacing the present "we’re screwed" attitude with the good ol’ "can do" American spirit once again!

Unfortunately, John Edwards seemed to be the only candidate talking seriously about such a back-to-work program, and he has dropped out. (I also loved his tough talk about wresting control of the country back from the lobbyists and big corporations, which I think is essential.) Of course, other candidates are talking about alternative fuels, etc., but just tinkering with it isn’t going to be enough.

Another idea you don't hear much about that might actually do the economy some real good, as well as repair our ailing roads, bridges, railways, dams, sewer systems and electrical grid, is a bipartisan bill introduced last August by Senators Dodd and Hagel. It would create a national bank whose purpose is to gather funds to rebuild the nation's unsafe infrastructure. The bank would promote and finance large public works initiatives with the potential of creating thousands of jobs and investing in our country's future. With increasing unemployment and the country's current economic downturn, the bank could be part of a successful recovery plan. A companion bill was introduced in the House, but both bills have been virtually ignored by the media. Bob Herbert did write this article in the New York Times in January about it, however.

Yes, "it’s the economy, stupid" once again. Will our new president and congress have the cojones to take the drastic steps needed to really turn our country around? Or will we continue our "business as usual" slide into global irrelevance? One thing I know for sure: we need to help prod our representatives in the right direction.