Wall Street Protesters

Many feel the world has gone mad. Several celebrities have reacted to our country’s condition. They’ve had rallies and written books. It seems nothing has changed and no one in politics has taken them or us seriously. With our budget crisis being resolved with only 10 hours left to a meltdown, it led me to believe that politicians are not interested in what an ordinary person feels.

The protesters against Wall Street have the right idea. However, Mitt Romney reportedly called the protests ‘class warfare’ while Herman Cain calls the protesters ‘Un-American’. Let’s take a look at how we got here.

Bill Clinton said that the changes made by Congress when he was President allowed the companies to manipulate loans and he told them then that it would cause a problem. Ann Coulter said suicidal loans and allowing unemployment benefits to be used as collateral for mortgages caused the housing market crash. The big banks bundled the loans, spread them out to the mortgage backed securities and the suicidal loans got into everyone’s portfolio which poisoned the economy.

We all know that the stock market fuels pride, gluttony, envy and greed. Bernie Madoff (sentenced to 150 years for stealing from people) says he was trapped into the greed of others and that Wall Street corruption is an everyday occurrence; says his clients knew he was ripping people off. It said that Madoff has a huge ego, has to feel a sense of importance and shows no remorse for what he’s done. This doesn’t surprise me as I believe it’s greed that is driving most people today. I heard bonuses are an enticement for getting the best and brightest but it used to be that folks got a bonus for a job well done. Today, CEOs take bonuses when the company is in the red. For example, Bank of America paid its CEO $9 million a year while it was losing money and to make up for it they started charging the average American to use their debit card. I say this is wrong – take it from the CEO not the people.

Wall Street speculators bid the price of oil up; based on their opinions of the risk with the Middle East wars they drove gas up 35 cents per gallon and hoarders drove it up more – no supply and demand problem. On top of this, oil companies are threatening to raise gas prices if they don’t get the subsidies or tax credits from the government. They’re making billions in profits annually and they think they need the $4+ billion to survive. And remember those gas explosions in California - they’re saying that Pacific Gas & Electric repeatedly ignored safety concerns. I’m assuming that gas pipe lines cannot be shut down without hurting the customers it supplies. So, I hope the insurance companies went after PG & E on behalf of its customers. And, I do wonder what good it is if the government doesn’t have better control of these types of situations.

If you read Proverbs Chapter 21 verses 13 – 16 it basically means that no country should be great on the backs of slaves. In this country the slave (person victimized by another) is the worker and perhaps the fan or consumer. Because of greed jobs are sent to other countries and second grade materials and workmanship is running rampant.  It appears to me that everything we do is about quantity over quality. Because of wanted profits, pay is reduced and benefits are withheld. Greed has trickled down to the small self-employed businesses also. Plumbers, electricians, heating/air conditioning, septic installers all want $85 an hour or more which is many times what the average worker earns.

Businesses are saying they can’t create jobs without more certainty and people spending. It’s being said that corporate America is sitting on nearly $2 trillion waiting for the American people to spend. The problem is that the average person can’t spend if they don’t have a job so this double edged sword will continue if we do nothing different. And, Herman Cain said that businesses had to cut positions because they have to serve their stockholders by making a profit. This is exactly the problem. Businesses are more concerned with profit then our nation.  I say it’s time for businesses to do their part and either create or bring jobs back here (CEO of Starbucks said same thing).