OP-ED MONDAY

FRANK RICH- IS OBAMA PUNKING US?

Believe me, I do not want to think bad about this President; I worked too hard to try and get him elected.Frank Rich does present a powerful case suggesting I,and millions like me,may have been conned. It's far too early to be sure but it's not too early to be anxious.

A real estate agent in Virginia put it this way:

“Nothing’s changed for the common guy,” she said. “I feel like I’ve been punked.” She cited in particular the billions of dollars in bailouts given to banks that still “act like they’re broke.”

There is no question that the banks are PUBLIC ENEMY NO. 1

Billions in billions of handouts from the government, 173 billion to be exact. They handed out 32 of those billions in bonuses to their employees so far this year and have only paid back 50 billion.

What have they done for us with all that money. Well I can tell you what they have done for me, a very old and very poor man living on my monthly SS check and my credit cards. One of those banks, J.P. Morgan Chase cut my credit line in half from 3500.00 to 1750.00 with no advance notice. Why? Who knows. I guess so their officers can sit in those 2500.00 a game boxes in the new Yankee Stadium.

I don't mind Kate Hudson sitting in them as at least we get some eye candy but those smug bank fat cats make me sick. Their ilk will be at the U.S. Tennis Open next month in Forest Hills.

So are the well off really getting burned in this recession/depression? NOT.

Continuing with Rich's brilliant expose of wealthy America.

PUBLIC ENEMY NO. 2- LOBBYISTS

These are the parasites Obama promised to clear out of D.C. NOT.

Most of them are ex-congressmen, both sides of the aisle. Face it we have no two party system,just one giant mob of corporate gluttons. As an example Rich cites Freedom Works an outfit run by ex congressman Dick Armey. Armey has received six million in fees in five years from this influence group.

The old saw about poor countries getting rich by declaring war on the U.S. and then surrendering has been replaced by one even more ironic. Run for congress,serve a few years and screw it up enough to insure your defeat.Then go join one of the corporate firms you pretended to be fighting while you were in office.

Where have you gone Tom Daschle, a nation turns it's lonely eyes to you??? You were supposed to be the guy who could get us a health plan. NOT.

PUBLIC ENEMY NO. 3- PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES

Former congressman Billy Tauzin from Louisiana (where in hell would he be from with a first name of Billy?)

Billy boy switched from the Dems to the Gop,then lost.Now he is President of PHRMA,the largest pharmaceutical trade group.Obama used to blast PHRMA for allowing the large drug companies to keep their prices inflated.Now Billy boy is a key figure in the health care plan battle and has succeeded in persuading Obama to keep these very same drug prices inflated. Frank Rich,in this week's column, wants to know what is going on here?

Why do these pharmaceutical firms charge so much? I paid $120.00 last week for 90 Benicar pills for my high blood pressure. I have no inside info but dollars to Dunkin Donuts,those pills cost about a dime each to produce.

What do these drug pirates do with all that profit? They pay mini-skirt wearing bimbos 6 figure salaries to nuzzle up to their MD customers. That's a fact;the NY Times has written several articles about it during the past 5 years.

I had a friend who dated one of these "detailers". She owned 3 condos worth a half a mil each. She didn't know the difference between a tablet and a pill and never read a newspaper in her life. She made Sarah seem like a rocket scientist

They use those profits to pay for lobbyists to sit in the Yankee Stadium box seats.So I am,in effect, paying for those seats.

As a child I used to pay $5.00 for a bleacher seat there during the Great Depression. Now I watch the games on TV and observe what's wrong with a country that treats it's poor this way?

Re the other Op-Ed columnists I would normally write about today, Dowd and Friedman, their pieces on Sunday were not up to their usual quality. They seemed to be looking forward to their vacations and repeated stuff they had already written.

There was another column this week in this same Op-Ed section, written by a truly great journalist,author, Barbara Ehrenreich. The column was earthshaking to me
personally.

Titled.......

IS IT NOW A CRIME TO BE POOR?

It influenced me so much that I am will comment on it in depth tomorrow and may change the direction of this blog beginning this week.