The headlines have been warning for years now that our economy was in serious trouble. For decades the United States of America has been sending our jobs to other countries, decimating a production and manufacturing economy that was the foundation of our entire economy Since World War I.
Our policy makers and “leaders” traded all our production and manufacturing capacity and jobs for short term profits and Wall Street bonuses. The “real” economy that propelled the worlds largest middle class was sold off and sacrificed so bankers and Wall Street traders could pump up balance sheets and indexes and exchange trades. Everyday Americans have watched their real wages decline dramatically over the last decade and personal income, adjusted for inflation and other factors has fallen into the abyss over the last several years.
Our elected “leaders” in Tallahassee and especially Washington DC opened up your checkbook and wrote blank checks to the very corporations and institutions that caused this collapse. And what did they get in return? Well, campaign cash and contributions from the corporations, especially those in the financial services industries, are running at all time highs. And just remember, while Americans are suffering like never before, Wall Street, the Bankers and Fortune 500 companies were profiting like never before. Forget about prosecutions or even penalties for that matter, they’re dining on an orgy of profits. Paid for with your money.
And just what exactly did you, the American voter get for any of this? Well, if you’ve got the stomach for it, I encourage you to visit the website of the Florida House of Representatives bill website to see the “important” legislation that your elected representatives from this state spent the entire legislative session focused on. With a desperate economic situation staring this state directly in the face, just read through each and every one of the bills that were passed or introduced and ask yourself whether these elected representatives had your interests in mind. Prepare to be disgusted. As you’re reading through that long and frankly disturbing list of state priorities, I really want you to ask whether you think each piece of legislation contributed to an improved economic situation in this state or whether you think each bill was bought and paid for by special interests to benefit those special interests.
The 2008 crash was bad and our response to the crash laid the foundation for the peril we now find ourselves in. If you’re a little fuzzy on the details, I encourage you to watch the movie, “Inside Job“, then read some of the hard hitting reporting from the likes of Gretchen Morgensen from the New York Times. The Banksters and Wall Streeters, with the help of those we elected, gutted us all, every single one of us. And just so we’re clear, each party is to blame….and all of them individually. No, this crash is not like 2008…it’s much, much worse.
Why The Crash of 2011 is Not Like 2008
It is a parallel that is seducing Wall Street bankers and investors: 2011 as a repeat of 2008, the history of financial turmoil playing in one endless loop.
As a big fund manager muttered darkly this past weekend while heading into the office to prepare for a tumultuous Monday, “The sense of déjà vu is almost sickening.”
Those who think of 2011 as “2008””The Sequel” now have their very own “Lehman moment.” Just substitute Friday’s historic downgrade of the U.S. credit rating by Standard & Poor’s for the collapse of the investment bank in September 2008, et voilà , you have a carbon copy of an event that made the unthinkable happen and spooked markets around the globe.
