Another national fleecing?

16 years ago

To the editor:
    Certainly, we can’t let the Nation’s economy go under! But, given the people who are telling us we’re in a crisis, we wonder; is this the last chance GW Bush and his fat-cat cronies have to fleece the American public?!     I mean, just off the top of our heads, GW Bush, Inc.:
• Conned us into a war of conquest in Iraq;
• Awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in no-bid contracts to their fat-cat pals;
• Swore they weren’t, but, actually contravened the U.S. Constitution, as, for example — ordered actions that are clearly torture that they’ve redefined as not being torture; spied on U.S. citizens; dumped the Geneva Convention, but, “didn’t”; and refused to implement the law as constituted by the U.S. Congress;
• As to those U.S. troops, including the Reserves and National Guard fighting in Iraq/Afghanistan — sent, in far too many cases, the same troops to fight over and over again, to the extent that we now have combat vets who’ve seen more combat duty than any U.S. WW II vet; far too many, diagnosed with PTSD, are sent right back into combat; far too many of them, suffering with severe PTSD and/or shell shock, are, in spite of years of honorable service, declared to have “pre-existing conditions” and discarded with no medical benefits and the VA is denying then benefits, as well;
• Given huge tax breaks to major companies that have been reporting record profits all along;
• Deliberately and knowingly driven the Nation into unbelievable debt; and
• Constituted what might be regarded as its own private army — Blackwater.
    So, we ask, “Do we really want to just follow the lead of people who have given us the above?” We say, “Not ‘No’. But ‘Hell, no!’” We accept that there may be a crisis that calls for quick action. But, we also think that the bailout has to be done in such a way that, among other things:
• The Nation needs full access to all records of the companies involved;
• The Nation needs to fully re-instate regulation and oversight – big time;
• This bailout needs to be done in such a way that the Nation can recoup losses when it’s shown that we’ve been suckered;
• The people who caused this musn’t go scot-free; and
• No golden parachutes!

Mike Morrison
Fort Fairfield