We Are Screwed...

[kpete]

MONDAY, JULY 23, 2012
Randy Wray: Why We’re Screwed
By L. Randall Wray, Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Cross posted from Economonitor

......................

After 1990 we removed what was left of financial regulations
following the flurry of deregulation of the early 1980s that had freed
the thrifts so that they could self-destruct. And we are shocked,
SHOCKED!, that thieves took over the financial system.

Nay, they took over the whole economy and the political system lock,
stock, and barrel. They didn’t just blow up finance, they oversaw the
swiftest transfer of wealth to the very top the world has ever seen.
They screwed workers out of their jobs, they screwed homeowners out of
their houses, they screwed retirees out of their pensions, and they
screwed municipalities out of their revenues and assets.

Financiers are forcing schools, parks, pools, fire departments,
senior citizen centers, and libraries to shut down. They are forcing
national governments to auction off their cultural heritage to the
highest bidder. Everything must go in firesales at prices rigged by
twenty-something traders at the biggest and most corrupt institutions
the world has ever known.

And since they’ve bought the politicians, the policy-makers, and the
courts, no one will stop it. Few will even discuss it, since most
university administrations have similarly been bought off—in many cases,
the universities are even headed by corporate “leaders”–and their
professors are on Wall Street’s payrolls.

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/07/randy-wray-why-were-screwed.html#5QdUhkSiydxXqpBQ.99

[Cary]

1. This is so incredibly obvious and undeniable

Yet "conservatives" continue to deny it. I mean simply go to inequality.org. The evidence that the middle class has been fleeced is overwhelming.

[still_one]

2. The removal of Glass–Steagall was signed by bill clinton. That is why romney speaks favorably about

clinton. It is a disgrace what bill clinton did. He hurt a lot of people, including signing welfare reform and the communication act of 2000

[Angry Dragon]

3. plus NAFTA

[still_one]

5. unfortunately yes. Selling America at the cost of American jobs, the foundation of rethug policies

[antigop]

14. plus the Commodity Futures Modernization Act

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/17/business/economy/17gramm.htm

[UnrepentantLiberal]

10. It was in vogue at the time.

When I argued with libertarians at the time they said it would be OK because it was in corporations best interest to do the right thing.

[former9thward]

28. Stop rewriting history.

The basic framework of NAFTA was agreed to in December, 1992. It was NOT "all done except for the signing." It still needed to be passed by Congress and signed by the President. Clinton actively campaigned in Congress to get support for the agreement. Remember the debate Gore had with Perot over NAFTA?

The House of Representatives approved NAFTA on November 17, 1993, 234-200. The agreement's supporters included 132 Republicans and 102 Democrats. NAFTA passed the Senate 61-38. Senate supporters were 34 Republicans and 27 Democrats. Clinton signed it into law on December 8, 1993; it went into effect on January 1, 1994.

[Sirveri]

36. Both bills were written by Republicans and passed with a veto proof majority.

Unless my memory has gone hazy. Should probably double check that but I'm lazy.

Point being, assigning all blame to Clinton for what was clearly a bipartisan screw job is a tad disingenuous.

[former9thward]

39. They were not veto proof by any means.

Neither the House nor the Senate passed with 2/3rds. The House of Representatives approved NAFTA on November 17, 1993, 234-200. The agreement's supporters included 132 Republicans and 102 Democrats. NAFTA passed the Senate 61-38. Senate supporters were 34 Republicans and 27 Democrats.

No one is "assigning all blame to Clinton". But the poster I was replying to was trying to rewrite history and say that Clinton was almost a neutral observer. He was not.

[Sirveri]

63. I'll stand corrected on the veto proof thing.

And you're right of course, we need to stop putting our party elite up on pedestals, we're not Republicans we shouldn't subscribe to cult of personality. I have a hard time hating Clinton though because I actually had a good job while he was President.

[former9thward]

74. I don't hate Clinton by any means.

For the most part he kept us out of military adventures during his terms. That is the main thing I want in a president. I had a good job also but Clinton had nothing to do with that. Presidents are given too much credit and blame regarding the economy in my view.

[former9thward]

49. Stop speading your BS.

As I said in my previous post the basic framework for NAFTA was agreed to in December, 1992. It had to be agreed to by Congress and signed by the President.

Democrats held a 258-176 majority in the House and a 57-43 majority in the Senate. Clinton sent Gore out to debate Perot on the subject in which Gore lost ("the great sucking sound&quot . Clinton badgered enough Democrats in Congress to support the treaty and it finally passed after almost a year of his administration. To say that Clinton's role was just to sign it is a total misrepresentation of history.

Don't you just hate it when people have the facts?

[former9thward]

55. What half did I leave out?

It was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on December 8, 1993 and entered force January 1, 1994. Although it was signed by President Bush, it was a priority of President Clinton's, and its passage is considered one of his first successes.

Thanks for making my point.

[former9thward]

62. You keep digging a hole.

I posted what the vote of Rs and Ds were in the House and Senate. I posted that the framework of NAFTA was agreed to in Dec, 1992 which any political person would know was during the Bush I administration. Keep digging, you have mud all over yourself.

[L0oniX]

20. Clinton screwd Haiti with rice subsidies.

[Ostracon]

34. Clinton was a conservative (blue dog) Democrat

Thirty years of conservative economic and regulatory policies have decimated this country. Anyone who votes conservative in this next election is an accomplice.

[a kennedy]

44. and I hated him for that.....d*mn blue dogs.....and he was the most powerful

Never voted for him......

[Egalitarian Thug]

54. He devistated this nation. He and his fellow conservatives destroyed hundreds of thousands of

families, wiped out yet another employment sector, demolished the already inadequate social mechanism, reneged on the promises made to an entire generation in exchange for their cooperation in a painful transition, and tarnished the Democratic brand forever, just to satisfy his ego and deep feelings of inferiority. I put him right alongside reagan as the most reprehensible sociopath to sit behind the Resolute desk in our history.

[Bainbridge Bear]

68. He signed the Telecommunications Act

that allowed the rise monopolies like Clear Channel in 1996. Another great sellout by Clinton. However, the repeal of Glass Steagall was a time bomb that went off 8 years later. That will be the major component of neo-liberal Clinton's shameful legacy. When he left office he got to go and play golf with George HW Bush while Dumbya proceeded to accelerate the system of deregulation that would insure maximum profits for the financiers and maximum pain for the rest of us. Damn them all.

[snappyturtle]

4. "The Shock Doctrine" comes to my mind....and boy have we been shocked!

I do see some hope globally; U.S. is catching up. However, in our case, I don't know if we can use voting to get out of it.

[nichomachus]

7. I think we're past the point

where we're going to do it at the ballot box -- our election system has been as corrupted as our banking system, our legislative system, and our judicial system.

[rhett o rick]

30. They have corrupted the system. The system doesnt work any more. The system cant save us. nm

[longship]

16. Indeed, read Naomi Klein's book.

Plus, Michael Lewis' The Big Short.

Plus, Andrew Ross Sorkin's Too Big to Fail

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

6. But..but..they said really icky things might happen if we didn't pay up.

[longship]

15. Start with Dick Fuld of Lehman.

And start rounding the rest of them up. Significant jail terms should result.

[rhett o rick]

31. Who is going to do the "rounding up"? nm

[rhett o rick]

73. You first need to find someone in power that is interested. nm

[salib]

33. That was already too late.

It is always so much more difficult to "fix" things after they are broken so badly.

It is also so much more difficult to "get up the gumption" to stop them when they are obviously breaking them.

We have failed.

We let Reagan deregulate and dismantle out economy and tax code.

We let Bush Sr. Cover it all up and sweep it under the rug.

We let Clinton dismantle communication regulations, financial regulations, trade protections.

We let "W" STEAL AN ELECTION.

When are we going to do something?

[MannyGoldstein]

71. Yeah, but now Iceland is screwed for decades

Sure they're doing great on the outside, but on the inside they mourn for the bankers.

[NYC_SKP]

8. I'm not exactly advocating for a popular uprising or revolution...

...but I do think it's inevitable.

[firenewt]

18. I have to agree with you. Unfortunately we will lose.

[Doctor_J]

21. We're going to lose anyway

do you want to die on your feet or live on your knees?

[firenewt]

35. Die on my feet. I intend to do as much damage as possible if it comes to that. I am disabled -

really good cover if you think about it. No one suspects the man in the wheel chair.

[pscot]

52. Welcome to DU

The irony is unavoidable, but the sentiment is genuine.

[jtuck004]

56. Doubt it.

What's more likely is that the country will sink in submission to the banks, remain as serfs for decades into the future.

As long as the Disjointed States of America exist, and fat people rule from their Lax-Z-Boys (ie, voters), nothing will change.

There will be individuals, and perhaps groups of a few thousands who will march, even try and fight, and those kinds of numbers can be handled by police or military a lot easier than most people think.

It really won't matter until the people willing to resist number in the millions, and then ONLY if they have learned how to voice and recognize the oppressed and the oppressors, and are willing to turn away from it, jumping from their chairs and throwing the remotes into the street.

It won't take guns, and it won't be done with stupid children running around in the streets smashing windows. It will take political organizing and education along the lines of what we used to do in the early part of the century, and the wholesale creation of a party that would take the hit of not living on debt, and making this country truly cooperative again.

[IowaRevolutionary]

57. You'll get there. nt

[tosh]

9. Truth!!

[Zorra]

23. Yep, truth. Pure and unadulterated truth. nt

[Hissyspit]

11. Screwn.

Last edited Mon Jul 23, 2012, 08:28 PM - Edit history (1)

The correct tense is screwn. Damn economics professors.

On a serious note: Wonder how much longer Prof. Wray will have his job?

[Octafish]

17. Meyer Lansky would be proud of Phil Gramm and the entire crew.

Know your BFEE: Phil Gramm, the Meyer Lansky of the War Party, Set-Up the Biggest Bank Heist Ever.

Sniff. I'm so prouda dem.



Don't call me 'Scarface.'

[warrprayer]

19. D.U. kick

+ a big old recommend

[L0oniX]

22. We don't have the guts that we had when we fought the British to have our own country.

Our country has been taken away from we the people. We've also traded our rights away for security.

[Amonester]

24. The Brits had rifles and cannons.

The US armed forces have sattelites, B-52s, cruise missiles, un-maned drones, micro-wave cookers, u-name-it...

They made sure any armed rebellion was not going to last longer than an hour.

[Selatius]

46. I dunno. Iraqi guerrillas put up staunch resistance for most of the eight year long war in Iraq.

Then, of course, there are the Taliban guerrillas. They're still fighting American forces after 11 years.

[pscot]

53. The Taliban seem to be doing ok

despite all the junk we've thrown at them. It's not the dog in the fight, but the fight in the dog.

[mahina]

25. Yes, and so what. We still have to fight, even more than before.

Giving up would be a crime against future generations. We already have had a taste of the outcomes.

Overturn Citizens United, support Common Cause with vigor, work locally and nationally, and never. give. up.

[harun]

26. Our greatest enemy has always been corruption.

[closeupready]

27. K&R. Great thread. Thanks, kpete.

All of this is self-evident and needs to be brought to light, as frequently as possible.

[itsrigged]

29. How they screwed us !!!!!!!!

The Collapse of the American Dream...

&feature=player_embedded

[Lifelong Protester]

32. sobering, to say the least.

[woo me with science]

37. People are finally waking up to the fact

that this is not a simple red versus blue game anymore.

The entire system is corrupted, and change is not coming from inside.

Voting is not enough anymore.

[Dustlawyer]

38. I could not agree more. You left out the fact that under the guise of "Tort Reform"

You now cannot sue for many things, or they have damage caps for the "frivolous lawsuits." they have stacked the Courts of Appeals and SCOTUS with their guys so even if you win your case in trial, it will be tied up and later overturned on appeal. The other big thing not mentioned is that they own the media. BP ruined our Gulf of Mexico but everyone thinks that it was "all taken care of.". Believe me, this could not be further from the truth. Kudos on everything else! Maybe when Americans cannot afford their cable TV they will get off the couch and fight, but likely as not, they will be fighting for the powers that be due to intentionally displaced anger. What a mess we have left!

[snappyturtle]

40. And, I can not agree with YOU more! nt

[HiPointDem]

41. kr

[Quantess]

42. This is the core of our problems.

And it will bring the USA crumbling down, and come close to taking the rest of the world with it.

[DiverDave]

43. There will be a revolution

when joe sixpack is thrown out of his job and his house.
When gas is 10 bucks a gallon when his kids are crying at night from hunger.
We may lose, but by god we will fight the bastards.

[a kennedy]

45. Seriously, I thought this was going to happen when the Occupy movement started.....

and nope, it never really happened. D*mn.

[DiverDave]

70. Nah, Joe and jane arent quite

to that level of discomfort yet.
Maybe soon though.
These austerity measures coupled with the billions given to the banks
I would have HOPED would open their eyes.
I'm watching closely, and I bet the fascists are too.
They play a game to see how far they can go before the kettle boils over.
Then they will throw some low level pukes to the wolves.
When that isnt enough, and danged if they are doing it again,
maybe we will have the 'adjustment' that has been needed since the '60's

[me b zola]

48. Recommended reading

Yeah, we're screwn. Accepting that is the first step in becoming unscrewn. Second step is to stop accepting the absurdities that we are fed day in and day out.

[pscot]

51. Proud to ad the 100th rec

[IowaRevolutionary]

58. Powerful words from Randy Wray! Fuck the financiers! nt

[snot]

59. Their checklist is almost complete.

[abelenkpe]

60. sad but true. nt

[whatchamacallit]

64. My awareness of this truth has made it difficult

to participate in DU's Political Fantasy Theater.

[Quantess]

75. Yes.

But, we only vote for the lesser of two evils, and it would be worse if the more debaucherous one won.

[ErikJ]

66. This is why the Jews

made banking illegal 2000 years ago. They always led to trouble

[just1voice]

67. I see threads deleted all the time with "dupe" as the reason

Obviously some aren't.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/111618989

[woo me with science]

76. Kick.