THE DIRTIEST GAME IN TOWN

Does anyone still need convincing that there are bad guys and good guys? It is not a matter of opinion. I know, I know. You keep harping on “everyone is entitled to an opinion.” Everyone is entitled to an informed opinion. If you believe that America is right to tell Europe to solve its own problem – you are wrong. Dead wrong. If you believe that the problems in Greece, Spain, Portugal, and the once thriving “Celtic Tiger” Ireland should solve their own problems – you are wrong. If you think Iceland should be allowed to rot in its own bankruptcy – you are wrong.

Sorry. It is never a matter of opinion when the facts are in plain sight. If you believe that it is “fact” that America, more than any developed country in the world, is held captive by its ideology – you are dead right.

Witness the Obama White House declaring that it is not America’s business to curb the madness of gambling with derivatives. So afraid is the White House of the disfavour of Wall street, it is willing to let Greece (and perhaps all the others) fall victim to the unrestricted interference of American banks like Goldman Sachs. Proof? Look at the “advisors” the president has surrounded himself with – all Wall street guys. From Timothy Geithner to Larry Somers they are all deeply mired in the orthodoxy of the “investment” industry. And derivatives are an investment about as much as beTting the farm on a hot tip at the racetrack. So, even though the poor, beleaguered and impotent SEC has tried to bring derivatives and hedge funds under control – doing that still appears to be contrary to American buccaneer economics.

Goldman Sachs made $300 million on the derivatives it put in place to mask the Greek bankruptcy. Critics of the financial establishment are right when they say these financial instruments would be illegal even in a casino.

There will be no hope for change unless America is ready to lead the way- even at the expense of making the money barons angry. It is ironic that Obama levels his guns against the greed and selfishness of the health insurance companies, but exempts the big investment bankers. He has to realize that he is losing political points on Main street. He has to realize that he has squandered the good will that Americans bestowed on him during the election campaign. He has caved. And the world suffers for it.