I know, I know you are probably tearing your hair out and screaming at the insanity of the title of this editorial, but please hear me out. First sit down and take a deep breath. Are you calm yet?
Right now this country due to the economic greed of many CEOs within the financial industry is on death’s door-step where these insurmountable problems will be on the desk of President-elect Barack Obama when he is sworn in along with the customary letter written by the outgoing president. In this case, President George W. Bush. I can only imagine what his letter will say. Most likely it will say, “Good luck, President Obama and should you utter a few bleeps directed at me in private, all I will say is, “So what”
Bush stated, “So what” when he was questioned if by invading Iraq, he created the environment which led to the invasion of terrorist organizations such as Al Qaeda. I still cannot get over that hubris coming from Bush, but I am not in the least surprised especially with the casualty count and the countless Iraqis who have lost their lives.
Gitmo as we all know is where detainees are presently being held suspected of terrorism. Well in all honesty the actions by these nefarious CEOs have created a terrorism where people are losing their jobs, being forced from their homes and where abject hunger is being felt by many of our citizens. Yet, their terrorists live life large. No, they are not huddled in far-away caves between the Afghanistan and Pakistan border, they are sitting in board rooms on Wall Street playing over-and-over the “Greed is good” speech cited by Gordon Gekko in the movie “Wall Street”
It is when Gekko states that “Greed will save that other malfunctioning corporation known as the U.S.A.” is where I do have a problem and I know that others do. Greed in essence has destroyed this country and did it far better than Osama bin Laden.
According to Bloomberg News, AIG “the insurer under fire for paying 168 executives not to quit after a government takeover, is giving retention awards to at least 2,000 more employees, according to a person familiar with the matter.” This as many within Ford, GM, and Chrysler sweat each and every day wondering if they will have a job by the end of the year. White-collar workers and executives billions of dollars, blue-collar auto workers zip.
In his column, David Sirota, included this passage which should infuriate anyone,“Congress wanted to guarantee that the $700 billion financial bailout would limit the eye-popping pay of Wall Street executives, so lawmakers included a mechanism for reviewing executive compensation and penalizing firms that break the rules. But at the last minute, the Bush administration insisted on a one-sentence change to the provision, congressional aides said...The small change looks more like a giant loophole, according to lawmakers and legal experts...Lawmakers and legal experts say the change has effectively repealed the only enforcement mechanism in the law dealing with lavish pay for top executives." Hearing that and reading it, made my blood boil.
A mere pittance compared to the $14 billion dollars two of the three automakers were asking for and were made to beg for it. The end result was they were denied these funds by Republican senators who would rather look out for the bottom line of foreign auto companies.
To add insult to injury, Bloomberg News also ran the story of Bernard Madoff who bilked many notables to the tune of $50 billion dollars. According to Bloomberg, “The 70-year-old Madoff, whom the Securities and Exchange Commission accused of operating a Ponzi scheme,”
Now we come to the newbie, Governor Rod Blagojevich whose corruption is where he was caught on tape allegedly trying to sell President-elect Barack Obama’s vacated senate seat. Judging from the corporate greed what he allegedly did is small in comparison, yet the mainstream-media is focused on him.
Dare I say a round up of these corrupted CEOs is in order where their rights are taken as they have taken the away so much from the American people? Should they have the audacity to ask for lawyers if we have seized their assets as we have done with funds suspected to going towards terrorists: All we have to say is, “Sorry, we can no longer afford for these public defenders to defend you.” Imagine their reaction to that statement.
In place of wearing suits from Barneys, are orange jumpsuits. In place of them feasting on only the finest foods is prison camp food. In place on partaking in the finest of beverages are drinks served in tin-cups. And no, it will not be Dom P. Just think of it, the last plane taken is not a corporate-owned ‘Lear jet’ but a military one where no flight attendant will come to them asking if they want another glass of scotch. To me that would be justice well served.
This is where I can only dream and fantasize about Gitmo being kept open to receive these detainees who terrorized and will continue to terrorize millions of Americans and bankrupted our country. One has to wonder if anyone will bother coming to their aid.
Authors email address is, xmjmac@optonline.net
