Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Symbols or Solutions

When "Big-3" auto executives sought "Bail out" funds, Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif) criticized them for coming to the hearings in private jets. He asked them to,

"...raise your hands if you are going to sell your jet here now, and fly back home commercial".

Ironically, at the same time, President Bush had flown to Peru in "Air Force One", to attend the summit on the "Global Economic Crisis". So we have to ask the question,

"...raise your hands Democratic Representatives, if you are going to sell Air Force One and have the President fly back commercial."

None of the foreign heads of state (in Peru) asked George Bush that question. They certainly could have. After all, our national debt is 67% of GDP. General Motor's debt is only 27% of its yearly income. Perhaps the US should file for Bankruptcy or sell off its assets. Instead, the US is counting on foreign "bail out" money (loans) just as the "Big-3" are.

The Statue of Liberty is a symbol of American freedom. The Senate and House Chambers are symbols of American Democracy. Air Force One is the symbol of the most powerful person in the World. The GM private Leer jet is no less a symbol of the global reach of the world's largest automaker.

We need to address our economic problems with economic solutions, not symbolic solutions.

By the way...who were the House Representatives who led this line of inquiry?

  1. Barney Frank (D-MA), a gay, civil rights advocate who championed the subprime lending scheme and is credited with the collapse of Fanny Mae.
  2. Brad Sherman (D-CA), previously worked for the State Board of Equalization of California. He is a budget expert in the state with the largest budget short fall in the nation ($7 billion). So far however, he hasn't publically recommended selling off any of California's assets, only GM's.
  3. Paul Kanjorski (D-PA), involved in a major scandal, i.e. directing earmarked Federal funds into a family start up business, "Cornerstone Technologies, which was owned and managed by his nephew and other family members. The company went bankrupt after all the money was gone.
  4. Gary Ackerman (D-NY), a long-term congressman who had to resign from the Ethics Committee for leaking information from committee investigations to hurt political rivals.
  5. Michael Capuano (D-MA), a long time advocate of starting an "independent ethics enforcement office", he is a classic witch-hunter. Oddly, he does not think we should scrutinize the banking industry. His forté is tracking "the integrity of the money trail" (except for 85% of his campaign funds that came from outside his district and 55% that came from outside his state.

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