We don’t often link to the Puffington Host, but this post of Alec Baldwin’s is an instant classic. An excerpt:
We have learned many lessons in the past three years. One important lesson, I believe, is that bailouts of major corporations in any and all industries is counterproductive to long term economic health. And not simply direct infusions of cash as loans, tossed like gargantuan life preservers, in moments of greatest perceived dread. I’m talking about the bailouts the US government gives major corporations every day. The excessive fees forced on customers by certain banks, not to mention the predatory lending practices of the mortgage industry (coupled with the remarkably stupid borrowing of certain homeowners).
Another example is that we have no high speed rail in this country. Typically, you fly or you drive. So airlines are free to tack on fees to remain profitable the way that oil companies are free to manipulate oil production, and thus the price of gasoline. You bailed out the airlines every time you did not demand more effective, intermediate range travel, i.e. high speed rail. You bailed out the oil companies every time you watched (were you watching?) as American troops went to Iraq to fight a war for oil. You bail out American business, and help them maintain an often false veneer of profitability, every time you send nearly every member of the current Congress back to Washington. Maintaining US corporate profitability is the single goal of this Congress. Because that is what the corporations who own the Congress paid for when they bought the Congress.
Dude, you work for GE and Comcast. GE’s profits from offshore jobs and Comcast’s crappy service at a high price are what pay you to read what other people have written and get well paid for it. As for high-speed rail, here’s an idea: I propose a high-speed rail line from the 125th Street and Park Avenue train station to Alec Baldwin’s beloved East Hampton so those of the 99 percent in Northern Manhattan can enjoy Eastern Long Island’s pristine public beaches as well.
The rest here.