Today was the day that the powers that are fought back. As Gandhi told us in the last century; "First they ignore you. Then they ridicule you. Then they fight you. Then you win." We are now fast approaching the end stage. It may not feel like it now, but consider that the Occupy Movement is scarcely two months old. We are now receiving major headlines in the mainstream media, and the frightened pawns of the corporate world are fighting back.
When you reflect on this, it seems totally surrealistic. Many of us had been aware of what the true nature of things was. Many of us watched as that purveyor of propaganda in our living room spewed out its lies and its agenda. Then a funny thing happened as we were just ready to throw a nearby object at the talking head on the screen, a few of us got up and turned the goddamned thing off. That was the start, it may have been a very small thing to do, but almost every historical movement starts with a small act of protest.
People from all political persuasions started to see exactly what was happening. Most of America watched as the politicians forecast a catastrophic economic collapse just days away. Those in Congress that questioned these dire predictions were told that if they didn't shore up our crumbling economic system, martial law would have to be imposed to ward off the impending result of this economic failure.
Still, the people resisted. Phone calls, letters and e-mails went out to members of Congress imploring them not to give those on Wall Street the people's money to stave off failure of the largest banks and brokerages in the financial sector. In one of the biggest flip-flops Congress had ever seen, the politicians saw the anger coming from their constituents. They voted to reject the largest transfer of wealth in history and voted to reject the bi-partisan plan offered up by Ben Bernanke and Hank Paulson. The people breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Then, while most people were breathing that sigh of relief, after the failure in the House, the Senate acted, amending the bill and passing it by a 74 to 25 margin on Wednesday, October 1 2008. The bill was amended to include over $150 billion in tax breaks to individuals and businesses. These additions were designed to help win the twelve additional votes needed to get the bailout plan through the House of Representatives. Other additions included a temporary increase in the amount of bank deposits covered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), to $250,000 from $100,000, and legislation requiring insurers to treat mental health conditions more like general health problems. In fact, it was the Democrats that carried the day, with 173 voting for and only 63 voting against. The GOP voted 91 for and 108 against. The Democrats gave the Republican President what he wanted, while the Presidents own party voted against it.
That was just the beginning. An economic stimulus bill was passed, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Again, the taxpayers were charged billions for an economic stimulus package. While the government was coming up with new and more creative ways to separate the taxpayers from their money, the House Oversight Committee tried to find out exactly who got bailout funds. Just a short time ago, we learned that the U.S. financial market was not the only recipient of the TARP program.
An example: Major French and German banks were among the biggest beneficiaries of the U.S. rescue of American International Group Inc., yet the American government shouldered the entire $70 billion risk of pumping capital into the crippled insurance titan. The report compares that with the $35 billion that France spent on its overall financial rescue program and the $133 billion that Germany spent. (Huffington Post 8/12/10)
So where was the outrage from our elected officials? The answer, unfortunately, was that there was no rage. Our elected officials seem to be either sleeping on the job, or they turned a blind eye to the rape of the American taxpayer.
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