WAILING OR WHINING ON WALL STREET??

So, how are you feeling about the "Wall Street Occupiers"??   A little torn, or ambiguous?  It's probably the biggest news out there right now, and perhaps the one with the most potential for important consequences----but nobody seems to know whether to cheer them  on, or wish they'd go away. In fact, it seems un-American to say anything negative about a group of people who are coming up against the behemoth giant of our capitalistic society----like David and Goliath of the Bible. Who doesn't want to root for the little guys, and who doesn't still have a bad taste in their mouth over the behavior of some of Wall Street's finest institutions?  In our hour of desperation, they continued to dole out obscene amounts of money in the form of bonuses, as if we who had bailed them out in their hour of need, wouldn't notice.  And weren't they partly responsible for the current economic meltdown, in the first place?? Yes, some, not all, were complicit and guilty as sin for agreeing to the mandates of the federal govt., namely Fannie and Freddy to supply homes for people who could not afford them, then bundling those unreliable loans, and selling them off to unsuspecting clients. The house of cards came tumbling down when those mortgages could not be met by people who could not afford them in the first place. A well intentioned idea---or a way to line the pockets of those involved in the transactions??

But don't forget the word, complicit---which implies a partnership in wrongdoing or a crime.  A major wrongdoing and huge reason for our economic problems is due to the housing collapse, and was instigated by the government mortgage institutions of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, at that time led by Chris Dodd and Bernie Frank, who insisted, in a moment of excessive left wing entitlement ideology, in which almost everyone deserved to own a home, and mandated it so to the banks.  Ironically, these two gentlemen were the same designers of the new regulatory reforms now crippling many of the financial institutions with their over reaching rules and infringement against a free market flow. The housing collapse and ensuing failure of the banks and auto industry was a crime against all of us, the tax payers who would eventually have to pay for all the wrongdoing, in the form of a stimulation that failed as well.  The sin of greed was certainly committed---but not only by some Wall Street folks, but by those involved in the faulty loans.  Interesting that Fannie and Freddie, who also were bailed out by the tax payers, were never slapped with regulatory reforms----and to this day continue operating without much change.

So, let's be clear here.  Wall Street financial institutions, or huge corps. are not angels, they are in business to make a profit--- they are greedy sometimes, even law breakers sometimes, but they are not all devils, nor the ones who concocted our poisonous brew of economic woes.  To be sure, it's no secret , or shouldn't be that Wall Street and the United States government work together all the time via special interest groups, unions, etc., and the financing of all manner of programs. They have a love/hate relationship at times----- they need each other, and they know it. Big government needs big money, and the corporations, love them or hate them, generate that money.  The Democrats, and especially this administration are fond of  referring to them as  enemies of the people, the "fat cats", when in fact many within the Wall Street businesses supported Obama's candidacy and continue to do so, though their numbers are fading as they see their world crumbling around them. According to N.Y.'s comptrolling office, 20,000. Wall Street jobs have been lost and another 10,000 layoffs are expected by the end of this year.

It would seem an odd thing, even a dangerous thing for the president of the United States to take sides and align himself and his party against Wall Street and encourage the demonstrators---but that is what Obama appears to be doing. For a man who promised to be a president for all of us, to rally against devision, he is looking less and less credible, and more and more the common politician.bent on morphing himself into whatever will garner the most votes in 2012 .  How disappointing.  And how refreshing it would be for him to, instead of cheering on the Wall Street people, many of whom are misinformed, to tell it like it is---that the blame for our financial difficulties are not to be pinned on any one culprit. The government and those who ran it prior to President Obama, and now he and the mis-management of both parties, were partly to blame and continue to bear that burden of overspending and not being vigilant enough to see the wave of crushing debt coming towards us, or courageous enough to stop it.  Even all of us are to be held partially to blame for living beyond our means. Our economic house was a bubble bound to burst, but there were many factors leading up to it, not just one.

 Like so many mobs, the mentality gets focused and warped by a sort of group-think---without logic or the desire to look at the whole picture. In this case, it seems a good excuse to go after the popular demon of the left wing, big business----or sometimes just an invitation to party at a park. Burn the evil witch of  corporations, or at least make them the scapegoat----but then what?  Will that create more jobs?  Will it make us all well again?  No, but it could be another step towards the dismantlement of  capitalism.  But what will take its place?? Is this another "Arab Spring", American style? If so, perhaps it should be called, as someone suggested,  "The American Fall"---at least, as we have known her to be. Keep a leery, careful eye on those who scream for "justice" ----is their target a just one, and what do they offer as a better solution?

The state of our union is in deep trouble.  The people are angry and scared, and have a right to be.  They also have a right to object, to try to change things, even to demonstrate against that which they feel are counter to their way of thinking. Large groups of activists can often shine a spotlight on areas needing attention.  But unruly mobs in general, are not the best way to effect good change. They are emotionally charged,  fueled by artificial numbers, sometimes populated by those who do not necessarily have any agenda, save being against whatever.  If we are to change the direction of this country, we must do it in an orderly, wise fashion, as we always have--- or leave ourselves vulnerable to the whims of a noisy few, not the majority, otherwise known as anarchy.

 Some have likened the Wall Street Occupiers to the Tea Party  folks.  There are stark dissimilarities, but they are alike, in that they are both grass roots movements and are exercising a very American right to free speech---but there is one very huge difference. The Tea Party target is big government.  The Wall Street group's target is big business.  Pick your poison.  Big business will always have a few bad apples, but they can be routed out, and they are the cornerstone of our financial system.  Big government can get so big that even the bad apples get to stay in way beyond their welcome, and they live off of the financial success of business and those who work in the private sector.

 Memo to the Wall Street Occupiers----careful what you ask for, and that you are not being exploited.  The same people who uphold you now, could also ridicule and possibly shut you down, if your agenda doesn't fit theirs.  Accountability regulations are already in place, perhaps to the extreme.  Less profit and fewer bonuses? Those may be opinions, but not  the peoples' right to govern such things in a free market.  Ah, but wait--- higher taxes would  seem to be a way to soothe the disparities between those who enjoy the haves and the have- nots.  Life just isn't fair, and class warfare is so tempting--- and for some, so much easier to whine, than to work.   It has stirred many a revolution, but--- in reality, our corporations already pay a much higher tax rate, at 35%, second highest in the world.  And the top 1% of top wage earners in this country pay 38% of all federal taxes, while the bottom 50% of wage earners pay only 3% of all federal taxes, and 49% of our population pay no federal taxes at all..  That sounds pretty progressive already. How much is enough,  and why should we punish those who are successful? Don't we all want to be successful?   One young man at the Wall Street gathering said he thought he was entitled to free education health benefits, and even free housing and a car if possible---he knew that probably wasn't going to happen, but he said he could ask for it anyway.  Entitlement gone awry?  Success at the expense of others' hard work?  Here's the fear---that young man may get what he wants, or close to it---a short cut to "success", or at least a free distribution of the perks, but at whose expense, and at what detriment to our democratic soul?  In  the meantime, however, we are losing more and more of our businesses to other countries  with fewer stringent laws and harsh regulations. Business thrives on profit, and a free  country thrives on hard work and a people willing to pull themselves through the hard times, without dragging everyone down to a common denominator.

 Occupy and shame the bogey men of Wall Street, many of whom are hard working employees?  Take over public parks and make the public pay for the mess left behind?  Exercise our right to voice our opinions, even in a disorderly way that prompts police/tax paid action?  You bet'cha----this is America!!  And that's just the way we roll.  Love it, or leave it---just don't kill the golden goose that lays the golden eggs, that fuels the whole engine called-----  capitalism..  Listen to it roar---or is it whimpering the last sighs of a system beseiged by too many who would burn it down, rather than find a way to rebuild it?




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