Risk-free Capitalism -- Grand Theft Country

Sam Seder, who had a pointed and funny talk show on Air America and can be found on the web, came up with "Grand Theft Country" to describe what was going on during the Bush-Cheney years. Unfortunately, the moniker still sticks even though the country has "flipped" complete control to the Democrats.

Our new Risk-free Capitalism is really theft

Risk-free capitalism is the precedent created with Bush-Paulson's TARP program, paid for by the taxpayers. Many of these taxpayers got hit twice, losing a significant percentage of their 401k's in what I consider just part of the greatest corruption and scandal in the history of the country, Grand Theft Country.

We should have let these companies fail. They took the money and left us holding the bag.

Money doesn't disappear. The money everyone lost in the latest "Goldman-Sach's bubble" (see Matt Taibi's Rolling Stone article called the Great American Bubble Machine) went into someone's pocket. Some of it is going into Congress's pockets to keep the greed machine going.

Why hasn't anyone asked how the financial giants are able to pay themselves such handsome bonuses? Over the last eight years, pay in the financial sector grew at twice the rate of the rest of Americans pay.

More Bonuses.

Today it was reported in the Washington Post, the big banks will pay themselves nearly 25% more than they did last year. Without shame, at a time the nation is experiencing the worst unemployment in decades and the country is experiencing its greatest indebtedness in its history because it bailed out these very banks, these people are taking more.

How was Hank Paulson able to pay himself a half billion dollars in the few years he was CEO of Goldman-Sachs? Whose money went into his pocket? How is it he then goes on board the Bush team to create TARP and without nary a nod to Congress indebts the country to bailout his company and others that went bankrupt because they were all involved in a fraud on investors and overpaying themselves?

Now, it's another Wall Street insider giving away our money, and more bonuses to those who helped create this failed economy through the corporate ownership of Congress and the White House.

This country has lost its way. It has abandoned so many of its principles it is almost unrecognizable to me. People thought they were voting for change, but the leader elected to replace the last is letting the people continue to "Hope for Change" while he continues every policy and practice of the last administration.

I fear we are no longer a country of, by and for the people. The people are now piddly assets and debtors to the Ownership Society.