In terms of shifting wealth from working people to the ultra-rich corporate elite, I would say that the massive amount of money being pumped into U.S. corporations by the government has been a huge success. AIG, Bank of America, Citicorp, U.S. Bank, and all of their cronies have made off with billions of dollars of our tax money and with little to no accountability or oversight. When this series of thefts were being "debated" in Congress, liberal paladins such as Sen. Christopher Dodd and Rep. Barney Frank (and Barack Obama, for that matter) wrung their hands and claimed they were "meeting a national crisis" and therefore had to pass something that was infuriating people around the nation. The necessity argument was put forth by most of the powerholders who handed our money to greedy corporate failures in the face of general outrage.
However, from the discussions I have had through my job, the working people here have not bought into this myth. The idea that banks that have received our money have an obligation to us is very much present in the minds of people who are being threatened by these very banks with the loss of their homes. And truly, the situation in this country is insane when you look at it with common sense. Consider:
-Banks that require our taxmoney to stay in business are throwing us out of our homes. They are using our money to do this.
-Banks are continuing to enforce the terms of predatory loans, even though these loans are illegal in many states now. This means that even if you were targeted for a loan you could never repay because of your race, age, and/or income, Bank of America is still demanding you pay that loan or lose your home.
-Banks are punishing workers who are laid off or have their hours cut by foreclosing on homeowners who can no longer afford their mortgages. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that in February, the average length of time someone in the US is unemployed is 19.8 weeks. That's almost 5 months - and unemployment in the US is skewed to look better than it actually is! A bank will generally begin the foreclosure process after three missed payments, meaning 3 months. Even if you have some money saved up, that's a huge burden on top of trying to pay all of the other bills and find a job!
-Banks are evicting tenants from their apartments for no other reason than they want it empty to sell it! These are people whose money is keeping these banks in business, and they are being forced out of their homes! Even if they are okay with leaving, many receive little or no compensation and very little time.
-The US government owns AIG - it has given $170 billion in our money to this sinkhole of corporate greed. In return, AIG has sent money to corporations that are already receiving bailout funds as well as gigantic multinational banks not even based in the US. On top of this, the company is awarding millions (perhaps over a billion) in bonuses to its executives! Let's keep in mind that the Obama administration put protection in the latest bailout specifically to protect corporate bonuses and that the man himself voted for the AIG bailouts! One of the fundamental contradictions in all of this is that the government, which owns 80% of AIG, is saying that it cannot (read: will not) do anything to stop these bonuses. This is "privatizing gains and socializing losses" at its most obvious.
-Let's not forget that high-profile liberals associated with the bailout such as Chris Fraud and Barney Bank have both received a huge amount of money and exceptional mortgages from banks and corporations who are now being held up by our money.
What are we seeing as a result of this insanity? Bank losses are socialized - meaning workers have to pay for their greedy practices - while the profits of executives at these banks is protected as a private gain that the government has no right to touch. This has always been the case - it's how capitalism works, and companies and investors have been bailed out for hundreds of years - but never has it been so high-profile and so massive. People are extremely angry at what their money is being used for, especially considering that the foreclosure and unemployment rates are accelerating all over the country. The banks and mortgage companies, along with other massive corporations, are on the giving end of all of this, and it's the poor and working people here who are getting plowed under.
So what is happening in this country? Conservatives who for the last 8 years built this monster (with the help or consent of many liberals) are now able to sit back and play the populist card against people like Barney Frank and Christopher Dodd even as they halt the taxation of the AIG bonuses in Congress. The Obama administration is now worried over a popular backlash against its pro-wealthy priorities. Consider the following quote:
"The change now is you have a free floating economic anxiety that has expressed itself in a kind of lashing out in those being bailed out and people who are bailing out," Michael Kazin, a professor at Georgetown University who has written extensively on populism. "There's not really a sense of what the solution is.
"I do think there's a potential for a damn-everybody-in-power kind of sentiment," Kazin said.
This analysis is not uncommon. In Britain, police are preparing for a long, violent 'summer of rage' as many of those most affected by the global recession take to the streets. Will we see the same thing in the US? One can imagine the possibilities if we can successfully build a movement out of the anger and pessimism about people in power!
