Now I generally don't post about politics. People in politics mostly piss me off. I just read an article in Bloomberg Business (my boss gets them at work and I sort the mail), about why business doesn't trust the Tea Party.
To be honest, does any rational human being trust the Tea Party Movement? Here's a "political party" that wants to take government and business to the pre-1920's era. Can anyone remember what happened in the 20's? Even before that? I remember my history lessons.
With no government regulation businesses were allowed to use child labor, they didn't need to have medical coverage, medical leave or even give workers a lunch break. 8 hour work days were unheard of, you worked until you were done. Businesses could have a monopoly and run as a legitimate gang, "if you don't work for us, you don't work". The Gilded Age was just that, looked great on the surface, but was still crap underneath.
Without government oversight, the stock market crashed, companies went under and people lost their jobs, their homes and their dignity.
Government regulation is what started an even keel for the economy. There was not the huge up and down swings that we had before the Great Depression. Until the 1970's, companies didn't even have to worry about the environmental impact factories had, or if their products were hazardous for people. They just wanted to make money for themselves and to hell with everyone else.
I know that there is corruption in the government now, but you can imagine what kind of corruption there was before there were oversight committees?
The gradual de-regulation of government started by the Republicans of the 80's and 90's is what caused the housing market collapse of 2008. Without the regulation of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the banks they felt free to "play" with our money, our mortgages and our futures. Selling the loans back and forth to each other just to make their bottom lines look good.
I purchased my home using a sub-prime loan. I was one of the lucky ones. Before my interest rate became variable, I was able to re-finance and lock in a fixed rate. But others were not so lucky. There are more houses in my neighborhood with For Sales signs than there were 5 years ago when I bought my house. And everyday, I see more. Everyday I hear reports that the executives who run the banks that have caused this mess giving themselves bonuses. How can they justify these bonuses when they screwed up? If I were to make an error that cost my company money, I'd be lucky to have a job let alone get a bonus.
My husband and I work as hard as we can, but we are still having trouble making ends meet. The Tea Party and their pundits, Glen Beck, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh and Fox News, think that by reversing the clock on government will make things better for all Americans are either blind, incredibly naive or they are complicit in keeping the poor from improving their situation and are driving the middle class down to the depths of poverty.
So many of us are hanging on by a thread, the Tea Party and anyone who wants to take us back to the Gilded Age are sitting there with the scissors waiting to cut it and let us fall.
