Can We Save Ourselves From The Predators Like Sarah Palin, Rudy Giuliani And Charlie Dent Who Want to Eat Us For Lunch?

Rudy Giuliani- part of the problem

Yesterday Paul Krugman said that the "economy is now hostage to the Treasury Department’s blunders." I think he meant to say the whole financial system is. He talked about the economy being on "the edge of the abyss" and pointed out that "the people who should be steering us away from that abyss are out to lunch." Persuasive, if succinct, analysis. But then he veers off course. He hope the lame excuse for a rescue bill passes "simply because we’re in the middle of a financial panic, and another no vote would make the panic even worse" and then admits that the bill is "a stinker-- and inexcusably so."

The financial system has been under severe stress for more than a year, and there should have been carefully thought-out contingency plans ready to roll out in case the markets melted down. Obviously, there weren’t: the Paulson plan was clearly drawn up in haste and confusion. And Treasury officials have yet to offer any clear explanation of how the plan is supposed to work, probably because they themselves have no idea what they’re doing.

Bill Clinton made operating the federal government look easy enough for anyone to do it-- even a pathetic and proudly ignorant loser some found charming and wanted to have a beer with. This morning I woke up and heard partisan gladiators for the Republican Party, Inc-- Pat Buchanan, Rudy Giuliani and Joe Scarborough-- talking about how Sarah Palin had passed a test and proven she had what it takes to be president. She proved no such thing. She proved she could do a reasonable impression of an ill-tempered mynah bird and the only thing that was proven is that Pat Buchanan, Rudy Giuliani and Joe Scarborough would rather see our country continue down the road to ruin than see Barack Obama as president.

The whole Infotainment/reality show mentality has trivialized American democracy. Why not elect George W. Bush? Why not elect a trained mynah bird? Why not take executive advice from The Donald, the pampered and spoiled son of a crooked real estate developer who tried following in his father's footsteps only to come up against two bankruptcies that the taxpayers bailed him out of. And what's wrong with taking advice from a shameless financial ambulance chaser like Rudy Giuliani? This morning Giuliani assured MSNBC viewers that Palin proved she could be president of the United States and tomorrow he will be in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley trying to use his celebrity to persuade voters that a lockstep, out-of-touch rubber stamp like Republican Congressman Charlie Dent is exactly what the economy needs (more of). But before, after and in between Giuliani is all about profiting from the Wall Street meltdown that his party's philosophy of unrestrained, unregulated Greed and Selfishness has brought to bear on the rest of us. Sure Rudy wants another dunce like Bush in the White House. McCain and Palin almost make Bush look competent and Phil Gramm makes Hank Paulson almost look honest. Giuliani is poised to make a killing if the rescue package passes.

In the midst of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani has begun drumming up business, positioning his law firm to advise corporate clients on how to profit from the government's $700 billion bailout.

Bracewell & Giuliani LLP announced it has formed a corporate task force to advise "financial institutions, private investment funds, institutional investors and other market participants" on the costly package.

"Our team of former government officials and experienced attorneys in the fields of legislation, enforcement and finance are equipped to guide institutions in this quickly evolving and complex environment," Giuliani said.

A firm spokeswoman declined to provide any further details and referred to the announcement.

Dent, like almost all Republican members of Congress-- and too many Democrats-- will also continue to profit from the shenanigans on Wall Street. The authors of the current crisis that Krugman warned us has the economy at the edge of the abyss, have helped finance the political career of Charlie Dent-- to the tune of $643,009 (so far). In return he has made sure they didn't have to pay their fair share of taxes and he has made sure they didn't have to worry about regulations that would protect consumers, workers and Society from their predatory nature. And now Dent, and his pal, Rudy, want you to send him back to Congress... for more of the same?

Sam Bennett- part of the solution

Krugman warns that next January "the next administration’s economic team had better be ready to hit the ground running, because from day one it will find itself dealing with the worst financial and economic crisis since the Great Depression." And there are literally millions of voters across the country, but particularly in religionist-dominated parts of the Old Confederacy and the western Mormon empire-- Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and backward parts of Nevada, California, and Arizona-- who feel that John McCain, Sarah Palin and Phil Gramm are who they want at the helm of the ship of state as it navigates those troubling, shark-infested waters.

In more rational parts of the country, it's crucial that the wingnuts and their enablers, like Charlie Dent (R-PA), Chris Shays (R-CT), Susan Collins (R-ME), Gordon Smith (R-OR), Dave Reichert (R-WA), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), the notorious Diaz-Balart Brothers (R-FL), Randy Kuhl (R-NY), Ric Keller (R-FL), Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), Tim Walberg (R-MI), Mean Jean Schmidt (R-OH), David Dreier (R-CA), Michael McCaul (R-TX), Adam Putnam (R-FL), Dan Lungren (R-CA), Virgil Goode (R-VA), John Cornyn (R-TX), Frank Wolf (R-VA), James Inhofe (R-OK), Scott Garrett (R-NJ), Mike Pence (R-IN), John Shadegg (R-AZ)... are stopped from forcing more of the same down our throats. When the task of electing Barack Obama seems gargantuan and out of your own individual grasp, let me remind you that it is much, much easier to effect the outcome of a congressional race. ActBlue is about the cross the $70 million mark. Our own Blue America page is over $400,000 this year and, in all, we've raised close to a million and a half dollars for progressive Democratic candidates since we started in 2006. We helped elect over a dozen new progressives to Congress, mostly long-shots who were given no chance by the prognosticators. We did that with lots of $5 and $10 and $20 contributions. These problems aren't going to fix themselves and the Rudy Giulianis of the world are not going to steer you towards solutions that do anything but fleece regular working families to benefit the self-entitled crooks and thieves of his own circle. You want a better world? Help make it. Blue America is one way to move in that direction. If we don't have a candidate in your area, let me recommend the woman who is running against Charlie Dent this year, Sam Bennett. You'll find her at the link.

You'll also find Barry Welsh, the progressive running against GOP leader (and out-there extremist) Mike Pence in Indiana. It isn't a race the DCCC is contesting, despite the fact that Pence is one of the single worst members of Congress and a proponent of policies even worse than Bush's. Welsh and his grassroots supporters in Indiana are in a lonely struggle against a well-oiled (literally) machine. And that is just making him fight even harder. Here's what he had to say about why he would be voting NO today on Paulson's Wall Street bailout/giveaway plan:

The failure that is the cause of the economic frenzy on Wall Street is not the homeowners of America nor is it those that wish to own a home. The failure lies with those like Congressman Pence who believe in the myth created by Ronald Reagan that is Top Down Economics, or voodoo economics as it was correctly called. The fact that those at the top of Wall Street have lost 700 Billion Dollars and no one can tell us where it went, and the fact that they now want 700 Billion more and it is to be used at the discretion of the President and Treasury Secretary without the taxpayer knowing in advance the purpose of this bailout? That is not acceptable to me. Congressman Pence did what he does best and that is grandstand. He may have voted no but he cannot run away from the fact that his economic principal of giving more to those at the top is malfunctioning and he must reap what he has helped sow.  
 
I too would have voted no, because the fundamental questions of where did this money go, and where will this new money go, have never been answered. This Nation must return to the sound economic principals under which it expects its citizens to operate, and until then, there will be more economic turmoil. This bill is allowing those that caused the problem the capital to repeat their actions and does little to address the real problem and that is the housing market, foreclosures, and looming poverty for the workers of this nation. My opponent has such little understanding as to still want to put Social Security into the stock market. His no vote will not fool the voters.