The Sage Observer

Once Again, Our Shadow Government, the Power Elite

          To those of you who yell for smaller government and less, if not the elimination of, regulations, here we go again. There are two articles this morning in the New York Times, “C.I.A. Collects Global Data on Transfers of Money”, and “U.S. Investigates Currency Trades by Major Banks”. Surprise! Surprise! Didn’t our government just complete an $18 Billion fraud settlement with J. P. Morgan? Didn’t we just endure the banking financial crisis of the century in 2008, which came within a “hair’s breath” of destroying our whole country? (Surely, you don’t want to argue about that). What was the name of that guy who “pulled off” that huge multibillion dollar swindle of his friends, neighbors, and business associates? I think his name was Bernie Madoff, and the amount was said to have been around $36 Billion.

 Do you really think these people are ever going to stop? Do you really think we need to quit or reduce regulating? That’s what we did from ’81 through the first decade of this century, isn’t it. We not only quit regulating, we quit enforcing, didn’t we. If you’re not sure about that ask Clarence Cox, the infamous leader of the SEC (during the administration of President George W. Bush) when the derivatives market collapsed. It seems to me that it wasn’t very many months after that when some employees of the SEC were accused of viewing pornography on the job at their computers during working hours. I think that’s true.

What am I really getting at? Maybe I’m an idealists and very naive  but I think it is a downright dirty shame that people in responsible positions are so greedy that they undermine the interests of their country and their fellow-man for self-enrichment. I think these kinds of things have done more damage to America than Benedict Arnold ever did. De jure, as the law of treason is written, they are not; but, de facto, they are traitors and should be treated as such–especially, any public official who betrays the oaths of his office. Most Americans strongly believe in a strong work ethic with equal opportunity for all, i.e. Study hard, work hard, save your money, get ahead, make your mark; and we don’t hold in very high regard those who don’t. To those of you who advocate self reliance and free markets (to which I wholly subscribe), take note that those who lie, cheat, and steal, taking unfair and/or illegal advantage of others (and their country) to get ahead, undermine the free markets for all of us. There is no free market without a level playing field.

What does this have to do with our Shadow Government, the power elite? Don’t you think these global bankers are part of that picture right along with other corporatists pulling the strings of our elected officials through their lobbyists? For that matter, is it just possible that some of our elected representatives on the wrong side of those strings might be accessories after the fact?

Think about it. Talk to me. I welcome your opinion.

Ronald Miller

mtss86@comcast.net