I received an email from Juliana Smoot from the Obama for America 2012 campaign this morning. The email starts like this: "We just launched our full 2012 campaign online store, where you can pick up new shirts, stickers, signs, mugs, water bottles, and all sorts of other gear."
Because these Wall Street firms could make exorbitant amounts of money in the short term from the fees generated from the sales of these mortgage-backed securities, they systematically pushed all major mortgage lenders to generate as many loans as possible to anybody who would apply. This situation by definition means that a very large number of those loans were very risky. But again, because Wall Street made their hundreds of billions of dollars in profits from the fees associated to the volume of loans generated, and the sale of investment instruments backed by those loans, they did not care about their quality.
One of the companies that had direct involvement in this scam was Goldman Sachs, which also made money by betting against those same securities through credit default swaps (provided by companies like AIG).
There is a lot of reporting on these issues, so I won't go into any further details, but the bottom line is that it appears that there is enough evidence for a thorough investigation. So all I'm asking is that these (potential) crimes are investigated, and if people committed crimes, that they are held accountable.
One of the sure signs of a decline in a democracy is when a small elite of Plutocrats is able to violate the law with impunity. This creates a very corrosive effect whereas the citizenry starts to believe that the powerful are not held to account for their crimes, and this eventually leads to widespread corruption. This is usually what happens in so-called Banana Republics.
So my humble request is that these issues are investigated, and that the President fires Goldman Sachs (and other big Wall Street bankers) now in his employ. Otherwise this leaves the impression that we have a pack of Foxes guarding the henhouse.
End the Wars: I'm aware that when it comes to war there are many aspects involved. Many of them are legitimate. However, my concern is with one aspect that is not legitimate and that has to do with the war profiteering on the backs of our women and men in the military, and the financial resources of the country. Maybe even this type of greed should have some kind of limit, so after the longest period of war in the history of this country, maybe we could gingerly suggest that the war profiteers have made enough money and it's time to bring these wars (Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya) to an end.
Remove Corporatist Choke-hold: To a certain extent, and because of a coordinated and very effective campaign that has taken approximately 40 years, we are now in a situation where a corporatist ruling elite has been able to totally corrupt the entire government, which is basically now owned by them. This situation lead to the dismantling of the regulatory framework which allowed the Corporatist cartels to loot the country (Wall Street scams), chip away at the social safety net (in order to control and exploit the citizenry), and take control of the entire mainstream media, which now serves as the most powerful and effective propaganda apparatus in history.
This explains the fact that both major political parties are basically two "wings" that serve their corporatist masters. This should be easy also. Just remove the corporatist choke-hold so we can restore true democracy.
Progressive Agenda: This should not be that difficult either... Let's push for 100% unionization of the labor force. It's fine if we get to 60% or 70%. At least that's something. Let's push for single-payer universal health care system, and remove the for-profit exploitative insurance companies from the equation. And let's redouble efforts to keep and expand the social safety net and the gains the working people of this country made during the last several decades (sometimes through great sacrifices and harm to their security and safety) regarding collective bargaining, social security, medicare, etc. Also, restore constitutional protections that have been gutted under the guise of "national security."
Even after implementing these humble suggestions above, there is no reason for not having a vibrant and thriving free market economy. To the contrary, taking these steps will assure we really have a level playing field with a healthy economy and a strong middle class.
These suggestion, if implemented would prevent the country from becoming a Banana Republic-like Plutocracy, which is where we are heading if there are no changes.
In closing, last night I watched a documentary about the early 1960s Freedom Riders. It was interesting to see how President Kennedy and his brother initially had no interest whatsoever about issues related to the Civil Rights movement. They initially tried to ignore the Freedom Riders, then tried to discourage them, and finally, after it was clear that the movement for racial equality was being lead by brave young people who would not take no for an answer and were willing to put their own lives on the line, finally they did the right thing.
I understand that in many ways the political class and the President may feel many constrains, especially when having to operate within a political framework set in place by a very powerful (and organized) right wing movement that has basically turned the country over to be under the control of a tiny Plutocratic corporatist elite.
We are now in an historical crossroad. Either the country continues her path towards a corporatist plutocracy (and we are pretty much there already), or we get some real leadership from the Democratic party, and also from the citizenry so we can restore democracy.
We'll see what happens. Yes, I'll vote for President Obama, knowing that I'm acting within the parameters of an increasingly corrupt and repressive system (set in place by the corporatist ruling elite), but that's going to be the extent of my participation unless I see the President address these very important issues.
Respectfully,