It’s almost time for one of the historic milestones of this nation’s history. I have been looking forward to this date with a combination of anticipation and anxiety for several years. Of course, the main reason for both was my desire to see GW Bush out of the White House. I’m presently reading (again) “George W Bush versus the US Constitution” – The Conyers Report which was compiled by the House Judiciary Committee Democratic Staff. This book was “compiled” in 2005 and it focuses on the deceit that led to the war, torture, the illegal spying on Americans that was known at that time (of course a lot more is known as Bush leaves office), the outing of Valerie Plame – a CIA undercover agent (this is an act of treason!), and the cover-ups that went with all this behavior. I’m reading this book again, mainly because I’m in between books, but I’m not sure if it makes me more unhappy with Bush (who I’m obviously very unhappy with) or the Democrats who knew all along that he was committing “High Crimes and Misdemeanors” along with at the very minimum Dick Cheney – but likely Rumsfeld, Gonzales, and others – yet did nothing about it. The constant refrain from the Democrats was that “We don’t have the votes in the Senate.”

Well, they still don’t have the votes in the Senate and we need a clear change in direction if this nation is to recover from the abuses of the past 30 or so years so can we expect more caving? Today a good friend of mine came to visit, who is a lifelong Republican, and, while it was good to see him, he made reference to Rush Limbaugh as he was preparing to leave. Not in a way that would spark a discussion, we were talking about the Pittsburgh Steelers and, evidently, the Steelers are maybe the only thing that Rush and I can agree on. The thing that bothered me is how bad do things have to get for people like my friend to figure out how toxic Rush and those he represents are and have been since the 80’s? These people care about nothing except their bank accounts. It is for this reason, along with the necessity of REAL CHANGE, that I believe a thorough understanding of the Bush administration and Republican politics is necessary. However, what is motivating my thoughts tonight is the banking crisis.

I’m afraid that many people feel since the government has funnelled $350 Billion into the banking system that all is well. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. And, in fact, where this money has gone is probably one of the more pressing areas that should be investigated once January 20th has come and gone. The reports I’m hearing are a bit disconcerting. I don’t know anyone with the possible exception of Henry Paulson who trusts these bankers as far as they can throw them. They are already clamoring for the second wave of the TARP bailout, where so far none of the original $700 Billion has gone for it’s original intent – to purchase the so-called toxic loans from banks that were in trouble due to the mortgage crisis. Paulson somehow managed to get this bill through with enough flexibility in it for him to do whatever he wanted with the money. And if you look closely at what is known that he did with the money, a lot of his (presumed on my part) buddies got a windfall – with little or no government oversight. In fact, as far as I know, the banks are not even required to tell Congress what they are doing with the funds. In the meantime my friends, and presumably yours, who are losing their homes and need some help from US are still on the sinking ship, so to speak.

What most Americans probably aren’t able to conceptualize is that as these people continue to spiral downward it is taking the rest of us with them. At some point we will have to realize as a society that we are, to a certain extent, in this thing together. Over the last half of my life I have watched as the focus of our society has shifted from the family to the individual. Getting rich quick is the “carrot” that the “free market” impersonators have dangled in front of our noses for the past 30+ years. Based on this thinking they came close to “privatizing” Social Security which they hate (to them it’s socialism) – can you imagine the fallout if Bush had succeeded in doing this? I’m sure they would be saying something like just be patient, that 50% of your stock holdings that are gone will come back over time. Greed has a shelf life and in my view, it has reached the expiration date in this country. Part of the investigations I have been pushing so hard for have to be aimed at Paulson and the banks he “gave” $350 Billion of our tax dollars to. If it is true the banks are hoarding the money, paying off debt, and purchasing assets with it instead of loaning the money to the businesses and consumers who fuel this economy then something needs to be done about it. I’m telling you, the Bush administration has acted for eight years like there are no laws or rules that apply to them. THIS IS A LOT OF MONEY AND WE NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO IT!

I believe one reason Barrack Obama is hesitant to fully investigate Bush et al is that the damage could lead to some real lofty places. In a time when he is going to be valiantly attempting to restore some stability to our system, I’m sure the prospect of some of the largest corporations and most prominent corporate heads being in cahoots with a corrupt government gives pause to Obama and his plans to “right the ship.” But, I will say it again, it doesn’t seem to matter where you look, regarding George W Bush and the people he chose to run our government, there is significant damage to the system that we all rely on. Today, I read an editorial In the New York Times by Thomas Friedman suggesting Obama use the “Shock Therapy” that the United States government has inflicted on one unsuspecting nation after another since the early 70’s and explained superbly by Naomi Klein in “The Shock Doctrine.” This would be more of the same, and I really hope Obama avoids the temptation to allow the people who created this mess to try to get us out of it. I am really concerned that this crisis is exactly what the perpetrators of “Supply Side” economics want, and that they are in the process of circling overhead like a bunch of vultures to pick up the pieces once the crisis is at its peak.

Republicans are operating as if they did not cause this situation and our Congress is just giving them the money necessary to overcome their own greed. Watch the business news on TV one day – it is amazing to me to see a group of people who thrive on gambling on the stock market. You see one “expert” after another predicting where the “bottom” is, awaiting the go signal for when the next “boom” will begin – evidently the challenge is to get in at the absolute low point. These are people who presumably make large sums of money without producing a single thing. Does it make sense that at some point we have to start producing things in order to fuel a healthy economy? These people seem to hate unions, yet they thrive by making what looks to me like unearned income off of the backs of workers. And the more they can squeeze from the workers, the more they can get for themselves by this frenzied trading of shares in the corporations. They have created a false economy and we are going to pay the price for it. I don’t believe we can borrow ourselves out of this – that’s why we need to investigate this whole TARP program – I believe we need to work our way out of this crisis.

It is true that if there is a thorough investigation it is possible for the entire leadership of this nation to change. To me, that would be welcome news. Uncovering the sins of the past, wherever an investigation might lead, would allow us to feel at least somewhat like we were being guided by leaders who had some sense of principal. I’m sure Obama doesn’t want fallout to infiltrate the Democratic party, but the reality is that we all know corruption isn’t controlled by one party. In that sense we truly have a two party system. We have come to a place in our society where political corruption just seems to be accepted. Take for example Tom Delay – I have seen him on several occasions on TV as a guest critic – despite the fact he is one of the more corrupt members of Congress and was forced to resign in disgrace. It’s almost like that doesn’t count. I could go on, but my point (which I’ve been trying to make for days now) is that if we don’t permanently get rid of these people by holding them legally accountable for their misdeeds, they will continue to re-emerge and the “beat will go on.” I, for one, have had enough of the corruption of Washington, DC!