Glenn Greenwald: Bailout follows the 10 normal principles for how our government functions

[meegbear]

The word being used most frequently to describe the bailout package that is about to pass is "extraordinary." That adjective may apply to the amounts of money being transferred from taxpayers to Wall Street, but the process by which this is all happening is anything but "extraordinary." All of the "principles" that drive how our Government functions in general -- what explain the last eight years at least -- are perfectly evident in what has happened here:

I am only posting the first sentence of each point. You should click the link below to read the full text (a very good read.) -- meegbear

(1) Incredibly complex and consequential new laws are negotiated in secret and then enacted immediately, with no hearings, no real debate, no transparency.

(2) Those who created the crisis, were wrong about everything, drive the process.

(3) Public opinion is largely ignored, as always, and public anger is placated through illusory, symbolic and largely meaningless concessions.

(4) The Government begins with demands for absolute power so brazen and absurd that anything, by comparison, seems reasonable.

(5) Wall Street, large corporations and their lobbyists own the Federal Government and both parties, and (therefore) they always win.

(6) The people who run the Washington Establishment are drowning in conflicts of interest.

(7) For all the anger over what Wall St. has done, the Government -- as it bails them out -- isn't doing anything to rein in their practices.

(8) When the Government wants greater and greater power and wants to engage in pure corruption, it need only put the population in extreme fear and it gets its way in every case.

(9) On the most consequential and fundamental questions that define the country, the establishment/leadership of both political parties are in full agreement, and insulate themselves from any political ramifications by acting jointly.

(10) Whenever you think that the Government has done things so extreme that it can't top itself -- torture, theories of presidential lawbreaking, a six-year war justified by blatantly false pretenses -- it always tops itself.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/

[tularetom]

1. K & R

Bookmarked the article but that teaser list is the best description of this goveernment's MO that I've ever read.

[dhpgetsit]

2. K&R!

I can't argue with a single point. It seems he found the manual for the corporate conquest of America!

When are people going to get wise?

[chill_wind]

3. The truth. And more very revealing stuff inside.

And a couple more good links to follow from his piece:

Mussolini-Style Corporatism in Action:
Treasury Conference Call on Bailout Bill to Analysts (Updated)

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2008/09/mussolini-style-corporatism-in-action.html

one quick snippet:

Various readers wrote us, and it was confirmed by a detailed report on the call at DealBreaker, that the Treasury Department held a conference call this evening for analysts on the bailout bill. A memo was evidently sent to SIFMA members; others may have been contacted by other means. But the report I got from one person who was on the call was the the questions came from financial services industry members.

In other words, this was most assuredly not intended to be a call open to the public at large. If anyone from the media or other member of the great unwashed was listening in, it was by accident.

This is simply scandalous. To have a group of interested parties get a privileged briefing by government officials on a matter of keen public interest flies in the face of what a democracy is supposed to be about. The proper method would either be a published FAQ on the Treasury website or a briefing with the media included. But why should I be surprised? Favoritism has been a staple of the Bush Administration.

Here's the audio recording of the alleged call:

http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/4418763

one of the listener comments:

2) Waiting a couple of weeks because no one has any idea when or where the next bomb will blow up. In other words, all their doomsday scenarios about Black Monday were B.S. They screamed the check had to be written by Monday, but now they're saying they actually have a few weeks before they need to cash it. Plus, this will allow them to "seek guidance" from GS, JPM, and other selfless public servants about where the money should be funneled.

Treasury Officials Admit Bill's CEO Compensation Measure and Restrictions on Paulson Were a Farce

http://openleft.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=974565FA2EB277123C0D3429840002B6?diaryId=8675


K & R

[pberq]

4. Outstanding analysis - that puts everything in a nutshell

Sometimes it's easy to forget that what we're viewing is just business as usual.

[chill_wind]

5. KICKING.

[slipslidingaway]

6. Kick n/t

[mhatrw]

7. Exactly! n/t

[Hannah Bell]

8. kick. concise & so true.

[chill_wind]

9. ...