Divergence
Here we are approaching the end of 2009 and with the notable exception of the Stock Markets our economy is in as much trouble now as before all the stimulus bills of two administrations were enacted. It should be clear to even the casual observer that divergence is in play at many different levels of our economy, and that this divergence is detrimental to the economy of the United States and to 95% of all Americans.
Divergence between the DOW and Main St is capturing all the news headlines, yet apparently this is insufficient for government policies to be changed other than a quick look at how Wall St. bonuses are paid. Are our elected and appointed officials responsibly addressing the needs of all Americans? I think not.
Divergence between the income of the top 1% of our population and the rest of American workers has outright broken all tracking
charts. It's never been more lopsided as government policies have become so slanted against Americans that no one bothers to justify them any longer. Are our elected and appointed officials responsibly addressing the needs of all Americans? I think not.
Divergence of the needs of Multinational corporations vs the needs of Americans has demonstrated clearly that what's good policy for multinational corporations is no longer good policy for American workers. Free trade is now standing naked and exposed for the bad policy it was and still is. Are our elected and appointed officials responsibly addressing the needs of all Americans? I think not.
Our Trade policies are the 600 pound gorilla that no one wants to talk about yet are ultimately responsible for what every economist is calling a jobless recovery. If it's a jobless recovery, folks ... it isn't a recovery...period. Jobs are gone, they're not coming back. Yet, without those jobs the housing market will continue to languish, foreclosures will continue to set records, bankruptcies will continue to grow unabated, and the bottom
line is that consumer spending, which is 70% of our economy, will never recover. Therefor, America will not recover. For the record, these are no longer just manufacturing jobs, white collar jobs are being outsourced at record levels.
Until we start hearing about how this is going to be addressed, Washington is just pandering, and not serious about solving the problems we face. Consumer spending
IS our economy. Consumers have to have income in order to spend. It's pretty basic economic theory, yet there it is and yet just who is addressing this? Until we begin hearing murmurs of trade policy reform from Washington, everything we read is just so much mumbo jumbo and elected and appointed officials are not responsibly addressing the needs of all Americans.
Just my opinion
I think Ratigan, whose heard the rap numerous times, was expressing the general incredulity and anger at these self-appointed 'masters of the universe' who seem to think they can bleed the public treasury forever, even after nearly (and possibly yet again) crashing the world financial system with their incompetence and greed. 
