Companies First, Individuals Last
Jul. 15th, 2008 11:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithToday I spotted a cluster of news articles demonstrating the current trend to protect companies at the expense of individuals.
Despite the government's efforts to make the bailout sound good, people aren't buying it. Largely because they can't afford to.
More of the same is likely to come. The government shows far more interest in protecting companies -- the larger, the better -- rather than individual people or the middle and working classes that make up the vast majority of We The People. This is not good. Our elected officials are failing their job of keeping this country in good working order.
Finally, when corporations cause direct harm to human individuals and groups, the government is more likely to protect the corporations than public health and safety. Corporations are not made to pay the real cost of their crimes. This is rapidly degrading everyone's ability to live a healthy life.
This not an accident. It's a pattern. It's on purpose. People are profiting at our expense.
Do you hate this?
US Stocks Fall as Credit Crisis Jitters Remain
Herbert Lash, for Reuters, reports, "Renewed fears about fallout from the credit crisis on Monday overshadowed initial enthusiasm over a rescue plan for the top two US mortgage finance companies, dragging down stocks as investors turned to the safety of government bonds and gold."
Despite the government's efforts to make the bailout sound good, people aren't buying it. Largely because they can't afford to.
Analysts Say More US Banks Will Fail
Louise Story reports for the International Herald Tribune: "As home prices continue to decline and loan defaults mount, U.S. regulators are bracing for dozens of American banks to fail over the next year. But after a large mortgage lender in California collapsed late Friday, Wall Street analysts began posing two crucial questions: Just how many banks might falter? And, more urgently, which one could be next?"
More of the same is likely to come. The government shows far more interest in protecting companies -- the larger, the better -- rather than individual people or the middle and working classes that make up the vast majority of We The People. This is not good. Our elected officials are failing their job of keeping this country in good working order.
Joel Bleifuss | EPA on Trial
In These Times's Joel Bleifuss writes: "Former EPA head Christine Todd Whitman interrupted investigations into her agency's endorsement of sewage sludge as fertilizer, according to the former chief investigator of the EPA's National Ombudsman Office. As the chief investigator for the EPA's National Ombudsman Office, Kaufman had a bird's eye view of how the public health and safety were routinely subordinated to corporate interests. For more than six years, Hugh Kaufman has been battling the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), his employer for 37 years, with a whistleblower lawsuit."
Finally, when corporations cause direct harm to human individuals and groups, the government is more likely to protect the corporations than public health and safety. Corporations are not made to pay the real cost of their crimes. This is rapidly degrading everyone's ability to live a healthy life.
This not an accident. It's a pattern. It's on purpose. People are profiting at our expense.
Do you hate this?
- Study progressive politics for ideas on which economic policies will aid individuals and families, and help the economy recover.
- Watch the EPA site for news or use it to report violations of the environment.
- Contact your elected officials to complain and to demand better responses.
