Socialized Capitalism

The last few days have seen some rather astonishing developments coming out of the Treasury Department of the Bush administration, what with the collapse and bail-out of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the 500 point implosion of the stock market on Monday, followed by the death or sale of several big-name Wall Street financial institutions including; Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, and now most recently, the insurance giant AIG. But not to worry, we can all rest easy knowing that none other than that economic genius John McCain has decreed that our economy has "sound fundamentals." I'm so glad, just imagine what unsound fundamentals might look like!

We are truly fortunate, as over the last few weeks we have been witness to the perfection of a new kind of political economy. This new form of governance can only accurately be called "Socialized Capitalism." And who have been the authors of this new kind of socialism for the rich? You guessed it, none other than the self-styled free-market, Capitalist, Republican administration of George W. Bush! Here's how it works. Powerful corporate and wealthy interests essentially take over the functions of government. This was easy, as the die was cast when the Republicans came back to power with the 2000 "election" of Bush. These elite, wealthy special interests are essentially the constituency of the Republican party (though the Democratic Party does not escape all blame here either). With the reigns of power in hand, or at least in the hands of their surrogates, corporations can then re-write regulatory law and weaken the oversight and enforcement functions of the government. In the context of the financial sector, this gave banks and investment firms carte blanche to freewheel and make a killing, selling "derivatives" and bundled, mortgage-backed securities, while overexposing themselves to substantial debts from an ocean of bad loans in the process. Then, when the bill finally comes due and the pyramid scheme collapses, that same corporate-run government that initially rigged the game, allowing and enabling the plunder, provides billions and billions of tax-payer dollars to bail out those poor ailing corporations. It's a perfect confidence racket, and every tax-paying citizen is a chump with the word "sucker" written right across their forehead. Not just you, your young children will be saddled with this debt for years to come. These hucksters have mortgaged our kids futures to enrich their already rich constituents. Almost enough to make one boiling mad, eh?

And all this is brought to you by that very same Republican Party that loves to talk about free markets, small government, personal responsibility and the wonders of unfettered Capitalism, the same Republican Party that becomes apoplectic when anyone even breathes the words liberal, socialism or, god forbid, welfare. Of course all this Republican talk of free markets etc. is a steaming pile of guano, and maybe after being fleeced for eight years by Bush and Co. enough Republican-voting "suckers" out there will finally get the message? Republicans love big government, especially the kind that is doling out huge sums of cash to their constituents. They love free markets for the other guy, but hate them if it means they would have to compete fairly. And personal responsibility? Republicans are NEVER responsible, that's also for the other guy. In fact, when you're a Republican it's always the other guys fault. Make no mistake, this Republican administration is practicing rampant socialism for all its corporate constituents. Forget about welfare queens, Bush, McCain, and all their Republican supporters are the welfare kings, the kings of corporate welfare. We let them stay in power at our own peril.