Is It Barack Obama’s Fault You’re Broke?
[ 1 Comment ]Posted on July 10, 2009 by admin in Politics
Friday, July 10th, 2009We’re a little overdue for more irrational finger-pointing about the economy. Maybe Obama did it.
 This image has little to do with the article. We just thought it might get your attention. |
I think it’s obvious if you take a quick look at the Politics section here on Dissociated Press that I’m no political science expert. But I do think I’m a little more aware than the average Bible-thumping Palin supporter, or all-bark-no-bite liberal intellectual. Which is why, although I feel comfortable in saying that politicians by and large are a bunch of money hungry, morally decrepit philanderers, I can still take a broader view and realize that although the media is already trying to link Obama administration policy to the economy, that this is patently absurd. So who’s to blame for the economic situation? Well, Time Magazine has 25 suggestions. But maybe it’s testosterone, or a glitch in our brains. Or maybe mathematics is to blame. Personally, I think it’s all at once both a little simpler, and a little more complex than all of this. I think it’s greed, and a long-term crisis of values. At least with Enron, there was a feeling that someone was going after the bad guys. And as a result, Enron no longer exists. In the case of the recent massive financial industry failures though, we’ve mostly sat back as citizens and coughed up the loot while the responsible parties move through the magic revolving door of business and government. This Vanity Fair piece about Joseph Cassano is one of the few in-depth looks at the real people behind this catastrophe that I’ve seen, and Cassano is just one of dozens of his type. I don’t know about you, but I’m broke, a little angry, and a little confused. Part of me wants to make an updated Leave Barack Alone video, and part of me wants to join Jon Stewart in saying “That’s great. Now fix the economy!” What do you think?
Too Big To Fail: Your Congressperson’s Expense Account
[ 4 Comments ]Posted on May 1, 2009 by admin in Politics
Friday, May 1st, 2009Take a moment to learn more about how your pork is gettin’ pulled.
As a one of the 86 million Americans without health insurance, I was reminded recently (as I prepare to shell out a few grand to pay for some dental work out of pocket*) of how our nation is basically running on a half-empty tank sloshing with greed, graft, and entitlement. When it comes to health care, the last thing I’m worried about is pork viruses, it’s pork barrels that concern me. As legislators prepare to leave our grandchildren an $11 Trillion legacy of fiscal irresponsibility , I feel pretty confident that none of the politicians that are “fixing” things have pondered cutting back their expenses. The next time you’re comparing prices to make a smart purchase at the supermarket, ponder the fact that your tax dollars are buying your congessman lunch at a place like Charlie Palmer’s, where he’ll start with with the Duo Of Hudson Valley Foie Gras ($22), move on to the Line Caught Wild Striped Bass ($29), and finish with the Meyer Lemon Tart ($8). I don’t know about you, but that’s about what I spend on groceries for a WEEK! Check out this list of perks members of congress receive on top of their $170,000 a year salary. It seems to me that while the government funnels money around to bail out businesses that are “too big to fail”, they would do well to reconsider the way they run the business they’re running, the government. Take for example the story of that $600 million dollar device that the Census Bureau won’t be using to count us so they can continue funding their lunches and limos by accurately taxing us. If you’d like to learn more about how your pork is being pulled, check out Citizens Against Government Waste’s 2009 Pig Book. Oink!
*For the record, it’s still costing me less than if I’d been paying for crappy dental insurance all along…
Brother, Could You Spare Some Fictitious Capital?
[ 2 Comments ]Posted on April 5, 2009 by admin in Politics
Sunday, April 5th, 2009Money really DOES grow on trees. Just be sure to get there before the worms show up.
I think it would be a great investment in the fictitious life I lead. My imaginary friends and I promise to spend it well. Lately, because of the fact that it seems the average working person’s grandchildren are going to be paying to support the offensively luxurious lifestyles of today’s investment bankers as their fortunes plummet, there’s been some buzz about the term Fictitious Capital. Marx is typically credited with defining the term, so the idea that a banker can arbitrarily say “See this simple sheet of paper? It’s worth A MILLION DOLLARS!” is generally accepted as a healthy anti-Communist activity. But wait! What’s this? Apparently Thomas Jefferson described the problem when Marx was less than a year old! It seems to me any child would understand that there’s something intrinsically wrong with creating value out of nothing, but the fact is, children don’t build cities, nations, and their infrastructure. This piece on econ professor Michael Perelman’s blog rounds up a few nice anecdotes from the 19th century which point out the virtues of imaginary money. For example, a hotel owner in Chicago explains to a visiting businessman why he should accept the “wildcat notes” in circulation: “…On this kind of worthless currency, based on Mr. Smith’s [the issuer's] supposed wealth and our wants, we are creating a great city, building up all kind of industrial establishments, and covering the lake with vessels — so that suffer who may when the inevitable hour of reckoning arrives, the country will be the gainer…” Apparently, there’s a built-in assumption about free markets that they didn’t tell most of us about, which is that capitalism is really just a big game of musical chairs; you just don’t want to be the one standing when the music suddenly stops!
Whatever Happened To Righteous Indignation?
[ 3 Comments ]Posted on March 28, 2009 by admin in Politics
Saturday, March 28th, 2009AIG stands for Avarice, Insolence, Greed.
Go ahead. Think about butterflies. |
As I shopped at a resale clothes shop yesterday, I was mostly thinking about how cool it was that I spent less than twenty bucks and managed to buy 4 shirts and 2 jackets. It wasn’t until this morning – when I was assembling some tax documents – that it came back. There it was, welling up inside me. Righteous Indignation. I’m not going to try to sound intelligent here (something many of my friends would say is a lost cause), because as far as I’m concerned this series of images explains the TARP program well enough. It’s so incredibly obvious that in simple terms, the American public is directly paying for the outrageous speculative wealth-building of a very small group of people. Even the beneficiaries of the current bailout plans know they’re creeps; see this internal AIG memo that advises employees on how not to fall victim to the populist horde calling for their heads. In America, the protests have been a little feeble. Small groups have protested at AIG executives’ homes, and there have been under-reported and isolated Tea Parties across the country. In the UK, things have been a little edgier, with acts of vandalism against bankers’ homes. And although millions protested in the streets in France about a week ago, you have to go to sites like AlJazeera.net to find images and reporting. So tell me. Where’s your indignation? I really want to know what you think. If you want to leave an anonymous comment, use the name “Guest” and the email “dissociatedguest@gmail.com”. Read the rest of this entry »
Are You A Psychopath?
[ 4 Comments ]Posted on November 12, 2008 by admin in Lifestyle & Culture
Wednesday, November 12th, 2008Maybe you should go into finance.
  Investment bankers have all the fun… |
No, all my rage has a perfectly rational foundation, thank you very much. For some reason, the recent economic crisis reminded me of the idea floating around back in 2004 that maybe corporate culture was breeding and encouraging actual psychopaths. Thanks to the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, I keep running into articles that suggest that this is indeed the case. What else could explain the audacity of the inclusion of a $140 Billion windfall tax in the Treasury Department’s economic bailout package? Or the aberrant behavior of individuals in the finance industry described in this lengthy but well-written Portfolio.com piece? The election was a nice distraction, but is anyone out there still even slightly angry? If we turned the tables and went all American Psycho
*29 questions, and don’t fall for the checkbox trick at the end.