Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Fannie/Freddie Bail-Out: What's Left Is No "Change."


This just pisses me off! Where the fuck is Barack Obama on the FannieMae/FreddieMac bail-out? William Greider, in The Nation's The Notion blog wondered the same thing, although he generously includes McCumstain in his speculations. But actually, we know where he is: CHICAGO (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said on Sunday the U.S. government's takeover of mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie make was necessary to prevent a deeper economic crisis.

"Given the substantial role that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac play in our housing system, I believe that some form of intervention is necessary to prevent a larger and deeper crisis throughout our entire economy," Obama said in a statement.

"I will be reviewing the details of the Treasury plan and monitoring its impact to determine whether it achieves the key benchmarks I believe are necessary to address this crisis."


Surprised?
American voters are like the lambs being led to slaughter and at the very height of the presidential campaign. Yet not a peep of protest from John McCain and Barack Obama, not even a hint of the righteous anger injured taxpayers will rightly feel as they figure out the deal for themselves. The rescue of the two giant mortgage firms is another huge expenditure of the public's money--one or two hundred billion dollars this time--to reassure bankers and financiers the government stands by them in their troubles, whatever the costs.

Think about it. Candidates Obama and McCain are wagging their fingers at the governing system in Washington, both warning they intend to make big changes if elected. Meanwhile, business-as-usual doesn't wait for the next president. The financial system needs the capital right now, and so Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has opened up the spigot. Obama and McCain meekly bless the deal. This sequence of events makes them look look the political goats, their grand talk of change pushed aside by what Wall Street demands. The 2008 election may be close, but it looks like the status quo has already won.

There is a lot more pain and embarrassment to come. The nation is in the midst of an historic financial crisis--more bank failures are ahead and probably another bailout of even larger scale. Yet the two major parties act as though this subject is too complicated for ordinary Americans to understand. Neither candidate has found the nerve (or decency) to explain the full dimensions of what the country is facing. Both men are no doubt told to say as little as possible, for fear of touching off more panic among investors. Voters can safely be left in the dark.
It is not for nothing that the Murkin voters are regarded as 'sheeple.' If you needed any MORE evidence of the synonymy of the ends in view of the two marginally different wings of the Party of Property, let this be a fucking lesson to you...

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