Nothing wrong with being rich except using the power to buy politicians
To the editor,
In his letter, "Bush didn't blame Clinton for the dot.com crash he inherited", Bob Meade complains about politicians making war within our borders. He is right about this being a war but he neglects to remind the public that it is mostly his side of the isle that has come charging in to undo the gains of the 20th century. War? Attacks on long fought for worker rights. Attacks on a woman's right to choose. Ignorant theocratic attacks on gay rights. War? Police brutality against protesters, batons-a-smashing and tear gas canisters striking vets in the head. Pepper spraying seniors, a pregnant woman and kids sitting on the ground. War? Death threats to people collecting recall signatures. War? Challenging a senior in Wisconsin who was collecting signatures — to a fist fight in the woods! War? Pretending to be signing a recall petition, suddenly ripping it up and driving off. War? The destruction of the middle class and its social safety net. People should be careful what they start in America.
Then Mr Meade goes off on the usual Fake News talking point about blaming the rich. If one reads nothing but right wing talking points, one will be completely in the dark. If you listen to CATO, Rush, or Fox Snooze you will be brainwashed by all the orchestrated pathological lying. People are not blaming the rich for being rich. What people are angry about is how wealth is used to influence our political system. It is not that people may be rich but what people and corporations are doing with the power they have with wealth. Money is political power in a corporatocracy; it destroys the "democratic republicanism" of a government for the people by the people. With corporatism, whoever has the most money has the most influence on our government. Republicans worship at this altar. Getting rich is fine but using your wealth to buy lobbyists and politicians is morally wrong and undemocratic.
Mr. Meade then attempts to give us a lesson in history. The dot-com bubble and burst was caused by wild-eyed, avarice filled Wall Street speculators. On top of this, "conservative think-tanks" (oxymoron!) and publications like Forbes urged people to buy without thoughtful restraint. People ignored both time tested investment strategies and the law. This is the power intoxicated whirling-dervish culture of Wall Street when it is unregulated. Conservatives chanted buy, buy, buy, till ya die.
You may be wondering what the Smoot-Hawley Act was? Mr. Meade is using this example of government intervention as an example to prove intervention in economic matters is wrong-headed. Sometimes it is. What he fails to tell you is that this tariff act was Republican, isolationist, protectionist, and "pro-business". Enacted in 1930, it fulfilled a campaign promise by Republican President Herbert Hoover to farms and industries. Like the Fordney-McCumber Tariff Act of 1922, it was opposed by Democrats, progressives, and a few smart industrialists while it was supported by Republicans and conservatives. Not surprisingly, both Smoot and Hawley lost their re-election bids in 1932.
Combining Keynesian priming of the pump and the reduction of tariffs under the FDR administration, factory output returned to mid-1929 levels by 1937. The sudden downturn of 1937-1938 was caused by FDR's caving in to conservatives to enact austerity measures and a more balanced budget. It was too soon and caused a severe recession after unemployment had dropped from 25-percent to 14-percent. With another stimulus package in 1938, the nation emerged from that recession in a little over a year. One can only speculate what would have happened if we weren't deceived by the Republican pro-business tariff acts and the conservative's austerity measures of 1937. If you want to see what irresponsible austerity measures do to economies, look at Greece and Europe. Comparing Keynesian interventions with austerity measures or tariffs simply doesn't work in this story.
The Bush economy was a false bottom, one destined to fail. It is not a coincidence that the two worst crashes since the Great Depression occurred due to Reagan and Bush II economic policies. Invading two countries while at the same time slashing revenue with irresponsible tax cuts, and enacting an unpaid for prescription drug act reaches the pinnacle of economic stupidity. Like the Smoot-Hawley act, the Bush policies were in the end destructive and caused great pain. Now its payback time.
The next thing ya know, Mr. Meade will be telling us that pepper spray is a vegetable in children's school lunch programs.
