Jerry Brown, Hero, Wields Law to Protect Public

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By Andrew Bard Schmookler (about the author) Page 1 of 1 page(s)

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For OpEdNews: Andrew Bard Schmookler - Writer

I'm thinking about Jerry Brown. In the past few weeks, I've heard a couple of stories about what he's doing as Attorney General of the state of California.

It's impressive enough that this guy, at over 70 years of age, is still working effectively at a high level of public service. Attorney General is no small thing, and 70 isn't a spring chicken.

But I'm more into having heroes with a moral dimension, not just the conquering Mt. Everest sort. And it's where "can" combines with "should" in impressive ways that I get excited about my heroes.

So this is what I've read that Jerry Brown is up to.

One thing is he's taking on the health insurance companies for what a study by the Nurses Association declares is an unconscionably high level of rejection of claims from the citizens of California. Isn't it great when the weight of the state gets employed against an industry whose profits have quintupled during this decade, all the while doubling the premiums they charge the people?

And the second thing is that he's going after the ratings agencies (Standard and Poors, etc.) for their role in the financial crisis. We're talking here about agencies that gave their Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval to bundles of securities that were declared to be rock-solid while in reality they were built from the sand of subprime mortgages. This was the likely willful irresponsibility that led us to a global catastrophe, trillions in public losses (from bailouts and from the loss of economic production in the deepest recession since the Great Depression)

In today's America, how often does someone stand up and use his power against the corporate pirates that have so corrupted and degraded and eroded our society's various dimensions (not only economic, but also political, and cultural as well)?

Jerry Brown is doing it. And, in my book of Great Moral Adventures, that makes him a hero, right up there with St. George and that shepherd boy, David.

Andrew Bard Schmookler's website www.nonesoblind.org is devoted to understanding the roots of America's present moral crisis and the means by which the urgent challenge of this dangerous moment can be met. Dr. (more...)

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