Home › Blogs › Winter's blog

Wrong Again! Twice!

Tue, 09/30/2008 - 03:21 — Winter

I've made a few mistakes lately and it's time to 'fess up. I was wrong about the Azizabad massacre, and I was wrong about the Wall Street bailout, too. Oops.

You can read more here or comment below.

Comments

Tue, 09/30/2008 - 05:10 — Jimmy Montague

Wrong like you --

Winter -- as you know, I've never been wrong in my life. But if ever I AM wrong, I hope I'm at least as wrong as you are.

I posted over on Chris Floyd's that I single-handedly saved us from the Bailout Boogers with my trusty cell phone. The part about the cell phone is true. I've been burning up cell-phone minutes for days now, calling every member of the Iowa Congressional Delegation two or three or four times a day and yelling my stupid head off. Evidently other Americans are doing the same. Everybody should. Thing is, I can't believe we won one this time, and winning one doesn't really make me feel very good. What does make me feel good is the fact that I've been hoarding beans and rice and flour for about two years now. I hope the rest of you have been doing the same.

Another point about the bailout blowup -- it hasn't changed a thing. Think about it: For the last thirty years I've watched the stock market go up and up. Every time a factory closed, every time some corporation laid off three thousand or ten thousand people, every time a company moved overseas, every time something happened that was BAD for the American people, it turned out to be GOOD for Wall Street. Now something has happened that was GOOD for the American people, it was BAD for Wall Street. So the pattern persists.

I won't feel better about the country until I notice that when GOOD things happen for you and me and other ordinary Americans, it's GOOD for Wall Street, too. And when something happens that hurts Americans, Wall Street feels our pain, too. I mean the way things are right now, it's like there are two Americas. Things aren't going to get better until we build a system that keeps us all pulling together for the common good. The way things are right now, it's just insane.

You're right to be wrong. Don't worry about it. The president of the United States doesn't worry when he's wrong -- so why should you?

Jimmy

"It may be thought that I am prejudiced. Perhaps I am. I would be ashamed of myself if I were not." Mark Twain

Tue, 09/30/2008 - 11:49 — Chris Floyd (not verified)

WP, you have surpassed your

WP, you have surpassed your unsurpassable self with this piece. Your analysis at the end is a brilliant summation of what besets us, the hydra-headed nature of the beast. You've really been cooking with gas the past couple of weeks anyway, and this one tops them all. Great stuff.

Wed, 10/01/2008 - 12:55 — Winter

blushing

thanks very much, Chris.

Wed, 10/01/2008 - 01:35 — gandhi

Plan Number One

I posted two plans of action at Glenn Greenwald's blog today, and I'd like to re-post them here if I may. This is Plan #1 for solving the financial crisis (aka "opportunity").

1. Bush summons the top 1000 richest people in the USA for an urgent meeting.

2. Bush explains that they have all profitted handsomelely from years of laissez-faire greed and corruption, which his government has actively abetted. But now the party's over.

"If you will not willingly hand over money to support your country," he says, "then we are coming after you. The IRS will audit every deal you have done for the past 20 years, the Feds will vet your private life, etc."

Remember, he says, we have been bugging your phone lines and reading you emails for several years now.

3. Bush announces that they have all agreed to put hundreds of billions of dollars worth of private assets into a pool, which will be available to the government as the need arises.

Wed, 10/01/2008 - 01:42 — newjesustimes
newjesustimes's picture

I like this plan.

> I'd like to re-post them here if I may

By all means - thank you for the posts!

If this was anything approaching a just existence this might come to pass.

Wed, 10/01/2008 - 01:36 — gandhi

Plan Number Two

The second plan is for the Dems. Obama announces that if elected he will:

(a) immediately withdraw every single US soldier from Iraq and Afghanistan,

(b) close all US military bases abroad, including Guantanamo Bay, and

(c) reduce government spending on the military by at least 50% in his first term.

This will save the USA at least $500 billion per year, he explains.

Of course this will provoke howls of outrage, so Obama further explains that he will:

(d) abandon the "Star Wars" project and sell off non-lethal US military assets including de-militarized vehicles, real estate, ships, planes,

(e) provide re-training programs to help US soldiers integrate with the workforce,

(f) urgently restart nuclear disarmament talks with Russia, China and other countries, with the ultimate aim of permanently eliminating all arsenals,

(g) ensure that the IAEA has full powers to stop further development of nukes by countries such as Iran.

Of course, the critics will deride this as a dangerous fantasy, so Obama explains that he will also:

(Grade increase funding for the United Nations, including funding for a new, fully independent body to maintain checks on UN corruption,

(i) support expansion of the United Nations Security Council, and renogotiate members' much-abused right to veto, thus making it a more representative and effective body

(Crazy join the International Criminal Court, and ensure that it has the powers to arrest and put on trial rogue leaders like Saddam Hussein and Robert Mugabe.

World leaders will immediately welcome this plan as a long overdue change from US aggression. Optimism about improved prospects for negotiating deals on world trade and climate change will buoy global markets.

Stocks in military-dependent companies like Lockheed-Martin will of course plummet: the US government can nationalize these, split them up private-equity-style and sell off the assets. Nobody but Dick Cheney will mourn their loss.

Wed, 10/01/2008 - 02:18 — newjesustimes
newjesustimes's picture

This could only happen

if the Dems were what they like to pretend to be. The opposition party that cares about people. How awesome would that be?

Wed, 10/01/2008 - 08:13 — james

OK, my turn for a PLAN (#3)

I like both of Gandhi's plans but I would add-
1. Nationalise the Fed (i.e Govt takeover). It's beyond ridiculous that private owned companies should create and control the Money Supply instead of the Federal govt.
2. Ban banks from lending more money than they have on deposit. (Before Bretton Woods, this practice was actually fraud)
3. Remove legal identity for Corporations (which give them rights but not responsibilities)
4. Erect tariffs on imported goods to disuade child and slave labour and so encourage these second and third world countries to make things useful to and needed by their own populations. This would also renew domestic manufacturing
5. Ban political parties so that elected govt representatives owe their first allegiance to their electors rather than some power conspiracy and
6. Fix up election financing laws.

Wed, 10/01/2008 - 13:02 — Winter

three wild plans

thanks for these three very wild plans ... they are brilliant, and necessary (though not sufficient) ... and thoroughly impossible! That's what I love most about them.

I remember the last guy who tried to do anything even remotely similar to any of this ... he got the back of his head blown off ... that was 45 years ago ... and since that time, nobody with ideas like these has been allowed anywhere near the levers of power

that doesn't mean we should stop talking about it ...

Wed, 10/01/2008 - 15:58 — littlehorn

A simpler plan

Ask everyone around you: why do some guys get millions a year ? Why ? What did they do that is so extraordinarily great ? Why do we have an elite ? Why do we let some guys have this kind of wealth, power and influence ?

Once it is decided upon that the very idea of an elite is ridiculous, as ridiculous as the concept of a monarchy by divine right, it can only get better.

This whole bailout crisis shit is all for the elite's eyes. Erase the elite and regulations might actually make some kind of sense.

Wed, 10/01/2008 - 17:32 — james

3 Day Presidency

Was it William Blum who noted in his recent book all the things he would do if elected President in his first three days because on the fourth day he would be dead?

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
By submitting this form, you accept the Mollom privacy policy.