We couldn't have had a more dramatic demonstration of national political priorities than events of this week. Let us compare the response to Hurricane Ike, affecting more than 5 million citizens, with the (forseen, preventable) finanical collapse of the AIG group, shall we?
Hurricane Ike: Snafu leaves responders hungry, thirsty." Now as a first responder myself, I find this a little disconcerting, seeing as how we all have been trained in the National Incident Management System, a set of response guidelines developed over a period of over 30 years. Some responders waited over 30 hours for food and water while they were in the field.
AIG Bailout: Government steps in again, bails out AIG with $85B In less than 24 hours, the Fed decides to rescue the company that provided the nest egg for the world's richest person and free-market, self-help guru, Warren Buffett.
So, in this instance, we have this administration committing hungry rescue workers to subsidizing the bailout/takeover of one of the worlds largest financial institutions.
UPDATE HERE: My original text stated, "I wouldn't mind the bailout if it led to acquiring a substantial chunk of preferred stock being owned by the feds, combined with the requirement of having a couple feds on the AIG board to vote in the interest of the American public. If we're going to start socializing private investment, let's at least get some benefit from it."
Then I read a little deeper about the deal and realized, in fact, that we DID nationalize AIG. Ha! The Fed as godless commie! Makes me laugh. Maybe we should send troops in to DC to rescue America just like we rescued Chile from Allende in 1973.
Hunter Thompson are you watching?
The fact that the Fed enacted a "fair" bailout doesn't alter my argument: The priorities of this administration are unbelievably corrupt. END UPDATE
I'm long beyond being surprised by anything this administration does, but I think you can't find a more stark picture of the priorities of the federal government than by comparing these two events.
I fully expect no action from the Senate and House authorization and appropriation committees which oversee DHS/FEMA and our banking system, even though these committees contain some of our most competent senators, (I hope Senators Dodd and Tester take up the challenge on banking; and Senators Obama and Tester do the same on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee). But, I despair. There have been ample opportunities for these oversight bodies to act, but we haven't seen it.
Why? I believe it's a combination of a lack of urgency (caused by the incompetence of the national media) and the all too human desire of not to mess with stuff that could easily blow up in your face. It's politically inconvenient for our Senator's and Representatives to rock the boat during an election year, who knows what ammunition for the "other side" could emerge when questioning fundamental assumptions about our banking and homeland security system?
I see the same media complacency about our current state of affairs as I did in early 1994 in the leadup to the Rwandan genocide. Only this time, it's happening here. The facts about our current national priorities are there to see for anyone who asks the questions. Why aren't the questions being asked?
When my sons grow up and ask what happened to our nation in 2008, I'm going to have to say that everyone with responsibility and authority just gave up because the problems were too difficult and inconvenient to address. And our family continued to stock up on staples, attempted to dig ourselves out of debt to the soundtrack of "Everything that happens will happen today."