* A time to grieve, but for whom – If anyone other than his family is grieving at the death of Robert S. McNamara, Secretary of Defense from 1961 to 1967, I suggest stripping off the black cloth of mourning. This once head of Ford Motor Co. and eventual president of the International Monetary Fund proved to be one of the best and brightest but also one of the worst leaders in American history. He intentionally misled then President Lyndon B. Johnson and the American people about a North Vietnamese attack on American ships in the Gulf of Tonkin – an attack that never occurred. McNamara’s deception led to the bombing of North Viet Nam and resulted in the escalation of a war that would claim over 58,000 American lives, 350,000 American casualties and untold numbers of Asian lives. For many of the American military personnel who survived Viet Nam tragic lives followed from loss of legs and arms, mental illness, joblessness, homelessness and a host of illnesses from exposure to the chemical known as Agent Orange. I for one do not wish that Mr. McNamara rest in peace. I suspect that in the future the same will be written about several members of the Bush administration for their criminal and immoral role in the Iraq War. Amen.

* If you reside in Pennsylvania the foul odor assaulting your senses is not environmental, it is political. Former state senator Vincent Fumo was recently found guilty of a long list of crimes (137 to be exact) and he is about to be sentenced. The Philadelphia Inquirer featured an article about the well-connected pols who have stepped forward pleading for leniency at the Fumo sentencing. Below is my letter to the Philadelphia Inquirer:

Tuesday’s front page article “Rendell lends support to Fumo” epitomizes the stench of Pennsylvania politics and failed leadership. Vincent J. Fumo is the poster boy for and has been found guilty of pay to play politics, fraud, misuse of office and funds and destroying evidence among a list of crimes that is longer than his years of “service.” There is no question of his egregious and criminal acts. Now that he is about to be sentenced, who steps up to ask for mercy? There is the governor of PA, U.S. Rep. Robert A. Brady, and former PA Supreme Court Chief Justice Stephen A. Zappala. The “good old boy network” is not good for the citizens of PA and it has gotten very old. The aphrodisiac of power knows no shame!

* Un-American – This is a term we have heard quite often this decade. It is an accusation usually hurled by Republicans/Conservatives at critics of an unprovoked war, individuals who support the rights of gay citizens, citizens that believe torture is immoral, and lovers of freedom offended by the government spying on citizens. I thought about this when reading of Switzerland’s opposition to its international bank UBS disclosing data to U.S. tax authorities on 52,000 Americans who are holders of secret Swiss bank accounts. If one were hiding money in a Swiss bank it seems reasonable to conclude it is being done to avoid taxes, to avoid paying one’s fair share. It is clearly an un-American act and yet I have not heard the lapel flag pin faux patriots offering their outcry. Maybe some of them are waiting until they move their hidden accounts to the Cayman Islands.

The Swiss claim that such revelations would break their banking laws. Not reporting money to the IRS to avoid paying taxes breaks U.S. law so in a very real sense the Swiss are aiding and abetting criminal activity by U.S. citizens. In response to the Swiss intransigence perhaps the U.S. should impose a 500% tariff on Swiss cheese and watches. The other alternative would be to follow the propensity of our Neocon brethren and drop a bunker bomb on the Swiss vaults.

* Speaking of what it means to be an American – Conservative icon Pat Buchanan offered this interesting perspective in an interview this week: “I put democracy far down the line. I think a devoutly Christian, conservative, traditionalist country—even if it’s a monarchy—is fine with me.” I guess that being a real conservative means never having to say you are sorry for ignoring the Constitution of the United States of America or the history of what brought settlers to the new world - fleeing the religious persecution that took place under a monarchy. It is obvious that being extremely intelligent does not preclude one from being a fool.

* Speaking of big cheeses - A report in the Washington Post offers an interesting insight into the lobbying efforts of the healthcare industry to influence or impede legislation on healthcare reform. In this historic battle you and I are David versus Goliath:

~ The healthcare industry is spending $1.4 million per day as it attempts to influence legislation.
~ “The nation's largest insurers, hospitals and medical groups have hired more than 350 former government staff members and retired members of Congress in hopes of influencing their old bosses and colleagues… At least three of every four major healthcare firms have at least one former insider on their lobbying payrolls”
~ “The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) doubled its spending to nearly $7 million in the first quarter of 2009, followed by Pfizer, with more than $6 million.”

It will require a great deal of citizen action to overcome the mountain of resources being utilized by the folks that have brought us the current state of affairs in healthcare and who wish to maintain the status quo. Seventy-six percent of Americans want a public option to healthcare. As overwhelming as this statistic may be the healthcare industry and their friends/advocates/hired guns in Congress stand in the way. Change will only happen if we the people assert ourselves.

Health Care for America Now has a petition you can sign that will be forwarded to your Representative at this link. Change.org offers a letter to your Senator about healthcare reform at this link. If you want to contact your elected officials directly Project Vote Smart, at this link, provides the tools to locate your congressmen’s contact information to let them know your vote will depend upon their actions. If you want to become more active in the effort to achieve healthcare reform Organizing for America has a site where you can sigh up for an event to make phone calls or canvass door-to-door at this link. If you wait for the next increase in your health insurance premium or co-pay it may be too late.

In case you are accepting the band aid solutions the health insurance industry claims it will institute to improve healthcare and control costs a Senate committee report noted the following: “Health insurers have forced consumers to pay billions of dollars in medical bills that the insurers themselves should have paid.” Insurers have systematically underpaid for so-called out-of-network care. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo described the underpayments “as a scheme by health insurers to defraud consumers by manipulating reimbursement rates." Who do you trust?

Some resources on healthcare reform:
~ Physicians for a National Health Program
~ California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee
~ Health Care for America Now
~ The U.S. House's Health Care Reform Discussion Draft
~ National Health Care Policy Study Group

* “One reason the Kennedy and Johnson administrations failed to take an orderly, rational approach to the basic questions underlying Vietnam was the staggering variety and complexity of other issues we faced. Simply put, we faced a blizzard of problems, there were only twenty-four hours in a day, and we often did not have time to think straight.”
Robert S. McNamara, “In Retrospect” (a memoir), 1995

Postscript: One wonders if this week Mr. McNamara is explaining to his maker how he did have the time and mental acuity to intentionally mislead his country into an unnecessary escalation of war marked by death, destruction and tragedy for millions of human beings?

* When the cards are stacked against you - Capital One just sent me a “Dear Stephen” notice informing me that outstanding credit card balances can now be charged a 24% interest rate and that they have first rights to my testicles. Some credit card companies are charging up to 32% interest on outstanding balances. I pay my credit card balances in full so fortunately, I do not to need to pay their exorbitant interest rates, rates that should be illegal in any sane and reasonable society. When such loan rates are charged outside of the hallowed banking industry the loaner is generally associated with the word “mob.” The question is, “How much longer are we as a nation going to stand for such usurious and abusive acts by the financial industry?” The financial crisis that embroils our nation is part and parcel of this under-regulated, unconstrained and free-wheeling industry. Left unchecked, the greed of the financial industry damaged all of us. The greed was so great and so widespread that ironically, it has even led to its own destruction.

What has taken place in the financial world reminds me of a rare disease that inflicted the brother of someone I know. He has a disease known as Prader-Willi syndrome. One aspect of this disease is that it does not allow an individual to feel full when eating and results in eating binges. “Parents of children with the syndrome often have to lock the kitchen cabinets and refrigerator to restrict the child's access to food.” Perhaps we can characterize what has inflicted the financial community as the Prader-Willie Sutton Syndrome.

How did the financial deterioration of our nation occur? Can you say “special interests?” The Wizards of Wall Street hired sophisticated influencers of congress (lobbyists) to convince OUR representatives to enact laws and regulations that benefitted only the interests of the financial industry. An example of this special interest inter-marriage with elected officials is the likes of former Senator Phil Gramm. It was Gramm who spearheaded much of the legislation that contributed to the easing of restrictions on the financial industry and that subsequently contributed to the financial crisis we face today. When Gramm left “public service” he took very lucrative jobs lobbying for members of the financial industry. One such interest he represented was Swiss bank USB, up to its Swiss cheese in deceptive practices. In a settlement last week with the U.S. Justice Department USB agreed “to pay a fine of $780 million and to disclose about 250 names of U.S. clients it said had committed tax fraud.” USB also agreed to provide information about 19,000 other accounts held by U.S. citizens. Gramm is not an exception to how special interests corrupt the fiduciary responsibility of elected officials. They fund their political campaigns, hire family and friends and further reward such officials with lucrative positions when they leave congress. It is especially prevalent in the fields of banking, energy, telecommunications, insurance and defense. It has proven especially damaging to the country.

The financial crisis in America was no accident. It was an accident waiting to happen. The core had been rotting for some time and eventually the structure had to collapse. Both Democrat and Republican politicians are culpable. They allowed themselves to be bought like prostitutes who hawk their wares on street corners. I offer an apology to prostitutes for associating them with politicians who too often exhibit less veracity and integrity in plying their trade than hookers. I expect that we will see reforms since they usually follow crises that reach critical mass. A call for reform has already begun. European Union leaders have met and called for sweeping financial regulations. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at this meeting of Europe’s largest economies, "All financial markets, products and participants including hedge funds and other private pools of capital which may pose a systematic risk must be subjected to appropriate oversight or regulation." The U.S will soon follow - as it did after other financial debacles like the Market Crash of 1929 and the savings and loan failures in the 1980s.

Some say that “it is the way government works” and “politicians are always in the pockets of the privileged.” I will accept the reality that the privileged will have more influence than the working stiffs but one cannot accept the overabundance of influence they exerted over our government representatives for the last two decades. If we as a nation accept such a reality, a reality that plagues third world countries, we deserve no better. And let us not totally excuse ourselves. To be a member of a democracy, by its nature, requires responsibility on the part of citizens. We keep re-electing too many leeches. Perhaps we are too busy with our Blackberries, DVDs, Hi-Def wide screens, Blu-Rays, Ipods and Face Books to pay attention. As the ability to communicate has increased, our communication seems to have decreased. It would certainly make for an interesting sociological analysis to graph the ability to communicate with actual communication. How prescient is Verizon’s long-standing tagline to their commercials, “Can you hear me now?”

While on the subject of credit card companies it is worth noting that their possible failure could be the next financial disaster facing the American economy. One of the best articles I have read on the subject was penned this week by Arianna Huffington at the Huffington Post.

Late last year congress passed a weak credit card reform bill that does not even go into effect until the middle of 2010. Once again congress offers us too little too late. Consumers Union is providing a petition to congress urging them to pass credit card reform legislation NOW. At the site consumersunion.org one can click on the tab Take Action to sign the petition.

* Obama Watch ~ transparency - Contrary to conservative opinion a very pro-active program is needed to reverse the economic downturn crippling our country. Despite virtual unanimity among Republican congressmen who oppose the legislation, coupled with their usual plethora of untruths, the legislation has passed and we await its influence. I have followed the comments by a large number of economists who feel the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act takes us in the right direction. Regardless if one is pro or con relative to the legislation, the public will know what is happening. And unlike the machinations of the previous administration, the stimulus bill is open to public view. Details can be found at recovery.gov. The oversight will be spearheaded by a former Secret Service agent and recent Inspector General of the Department of the Interior who exposed mismanagement, non-management and illegal activities at Interior during the Bush administration. Earl Devaney will be chairman of the new Recovery Act Transparency and Accountability Board. Vice President Joe Biden also will be given a role coordinating oversight of stimulus spending. Such actions can only enhance a democracy that in recent times has exhibited more pomp than circumstance.

* Reining in the Pentagon ~ a formidable foe – We have seen much written recently about the billions of dollars the Pentagon spends on weapons and systems that only benefit the defense industry and their lobbyists, not U.S. security. Congress is finally holding hearings on the tremendous cost to and waste of America’s over-extended financial resources. TruMajority.org is providing a petition to congress urging the elimination of such unnecessary bloating of the federal budget. Already an army of well-funded defense lobbyists and defense contractors are descending on Washington to ensure their cash cow is not endangered. It is time that our votes and voices be cast against the power of the greenbacks that have been shaping the conversation.

"The moneychangers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization." Franklin D. Roosevelt, from his 1933 inauguration speech