The Senate Scared Spitless

The Senate passed a sweetened up "rescue" bailout plan by 74-25 with 9 Democrats and 16 Republicans against. After the passage the four principals, Democratic and Republican got up in front of the cameras and engaged in a fairly nauseating orgy of self- congratulation across the aisles. Yes, the Democrats praised vulnerable Mitch McConnell and he in turn had nice things to say about the (D)s. Dodd and Judd both came in for across the aisle kudos. The thing passed the 60 vote threshold with plenty of votes to go. What the heck??

Here's a news flash folks, these people are scared to death of the consequences of doing nothing. There is exactly no time in the past these people have had anything nice to say about each other. Oh some stupid fluff had to be added, mostly for the House, and it'll cost even more. Those in the "let it hit the wall" school of thought might stop to think about this - these are ardent political enemies and, at least on the Republican side, prone to hyperventilating partisan rhetoric. 1/3 of the Senate is up for reelection and this bill is about as popular with the public as corn cob toilet paper with a case of hemorrhoids. Yes, all of the House is up, but the Republicans have to come up with their share of the votes - or the Democrats will try to force through a Democratic Bill if they have to carry the water with the voters. You can bet this has been pointed out to the House (R)s by both their Senate colleagues and their House leadership.

There is no way on Earth that I like this mess of a bill, I don't like the top down thesis, I don't like the taxpayer being on the hook for the greed and crookedness of the lending industry and the securities industry. Securities?? The valuation of the mortgages including good and bad is exceeded by many multiples by the valuation of all the derivatives and securities based on those loans. Do you get it? The real threat is not the mortgages; it is the imaginary money created on top of them. Imaginary? Yes, imaginary - money based on nothing concrete and only in play within that narrow circle generating money on money on paper that is built on paper.

When derivatives were first brought out as an investment vehicle many economists derided them as dangerous and even "financial planners" noted them as risky. No one was advised to put too many eggs into that basket. Well, investment bankers put a pot load of eggs into that basket and the pot has shown itself made of something other than gold - even lead in the today of GeorgeII's fine war adventures is worth more. It's a pot made of bull poop. Nonsense - absolute unmitigated bullshit. That is where your credit has gone, it has not more than tangential relationship to the total of bad mortgages, in fact, most of that derivative covered loan basis is un-audited - nobody knows. Cutting the number of foreclosures would help, at least the people in a house, and somewhat with the investment banks.

Nobody bothered to tell consumers that their housing purchases were happening in a bubble, nobody said housing can go down, everybody at the political and banking level said buy, buy, buy. The BushCo had a huge stake in that market climbing - it alone was mitigating the economic policies of the Republicans. Now I'm damn sorry that you're a Republican and I'm kicking your toy chest apart, but you advocated this mess and elected these tools and your money men profited hugely. Your ideas, your ideology is in play - this is your game and your solution is what? Let financial houses base their assets on whatever they care to call their value today and stop capital gains taxes? That's your fix - oh that and decry greed, your mantra for years, "greed is good," the markets are god.

Damn your eyes, you've crushed blue collar wages with nary a glance for years and now with the middle class getting whacked you talk about trickle down - again. You claim "populist" as a label, that comes of the mantra of god, guns, and gays and lying the voter into believing that at any time in history there has been an example of trickle down working. You told them that there was an issue of fairness in protecting wealth, of coddling it and enabling any greed headed idea it came up with. You, honest to god, told these people that the rich bore an unfair tax burden as they effectively paid a much lower income percentage than those you lied to. You are political garbage, your candidate for President says he'll change the culture of greed and corruption and that is supposed to mean any of you would be left if it were true?

In some alternative universe your points of view might have some relevance, but not in a nation of 300 million with your economic constituency made up of a few thousand. Every political move you make is aimed at plutocrat enabling - every one short of Bible enforcement. You have no, nada, zip connection to the well being of almost the entire nation of citizens. Demonstrably so, by every number that has been published - not one iota. Go out to the woodshed and come up with a political agenda that has something to do with the majority of citizens welfare, not a damn vote total, their welfare - votes will follow. That is why you have to lie and lie and twist the truth to get your votes, give it a damn rest.

I'd love to see the whole rapacious class take it in the shorts, but as usual you've set the game to default to human wreckage for ordinary citizens if you get called to account. Yeah, in the face of disaster I'll back this mess, 60% of you House Republicans haven't stepped up to the political difficulty of holding back the disaster caused by your Party. You expect the House Democrats to take the blame for dealing with your disaster and let you squeal ideological purity and then attack them. This is exactly how your ideology plays out, every damn time from St Ronnie forward. Please, go away.

Democrats and independents, take your heads out of your sit-upons, this is the result of the middle creeping steadily right and plutocratic for three decades plus. You let this happen, you voted consistently farther and farther right pushing the middle into a 1960s right wing loony land. I am astonished to find myself all these years later with the moderation of age to be far left, you've put me there and I'm insulted by it. Get your act together - get me back to a little left of center - but I ain't moving a damn inch for you.