Speech on Bannockburn Day (24 June) 1997

This is a speech I composed for and gave at the end of a poetry reading 24 June 1997.  It was Bannockburn Day, the 683rd anniversary of that battle.  

Less than three months afterward, the people of Scotland voted overwhelmingly for devolution and their own Scottish Parliament sitting in Holyrood.  The main source was Randall Wallace, writer of the screenplay for "Braveheart", but also the actual William Wallace and a predecessor of several centuries named Calgacus, of the Caledonii who fought the Romans at the Battle of Mons Graupius.

Sons of Scotland, I see before me a whole army here in defiance of tyranny.  You've come to fight as free men, and free men you are.  What will you do without freedom?

We are not here to seek peace, but to make war for the liberation of our country.  Let our enemies come and they will find us prepared to meet them to their very beards.  They plunder the whole world from one end of the earth to the other and still they are not satisfied.  To robbery, slaughter, and plunder they give the lying name of government; they create a wasteland and call it peace.

Help me.  In the name of Christ, help yourselves.  You have a God-given right to something better.  Now is the chance.  Now.  If we join, we can win.  If we win, then we will have something none of us has ever had before--a country of out own.  We are not fighting for glory not riches nor honors, but for that freedom which no good man will surrender but with his life.

Yes, fight and you may die.  Run, and you will live, at least for now.  And dying in your beds many years from now, would you not be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for a chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives but they will never take our freedom?

Then go out and let them know that Scotland's daughters and her sons are theirs no more.  Let them know that Scotland is free.

"On this day in the year of our Lord thirteen hundred and fourteen, patriots of Scotland, starving and outnumbered, charged the fields at Bannockburn.  They fought like warrior-poets.  They fought like Scotsmen.  And won their freedom."

This was the last of my performance that night, and I got a standing ovation because of this speech and its contents.  The credit for that belongs to the writers mentioned above.

(FOOTNOTE: The date I posted first posted this on Facebook, 11 September 2010, was the 713th anniversary of the Battle of Stirling Bridge.)

The Axis of Almost Evil, by John Cleese of Monty Python fame

(This piece, not by me, was first published on DemocraticUnderground.com.) 

Bitter after being snubbed for membership in the "Axis of Evil," Libya, China and Syria today announced that they had formed the "Axis of Just as Evil," which they said would be more evil than that stupid Iran-Iraq-North Korea axis President Bush warned of in his State of the Union address.

Axis of Evil members, however, immediately dismissed the new Axis as having, for starters, a really dumb name. "Right. They are just as evil... in their dreams!" declared North Korean leader Kim Jong-II. "Everybody knows we're the best evils... best at being evil... we're the best."

Diplomats from Syria denied they were jealous over being excluded, although they conceded they did ask if they could join the Axis of Evil. "They told us it was full," said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. "An axis can't have more than three counties," explained Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. "This is not my rule, it's tradition. In World War II you had Germany, Italy, and Japan in the evil Axis. So, you can only have three, and a secret handshake. Ours is wickedly cool." International reaction to Bush's Axis of Evil declaration was swift, as within minutes, France surrendered.

Elsewhere, peer-conscious nations rushed to gain triumvirate status in what has become a game of geopolitical chairs. Cuba, Sudan and Serbia announced that they had formed the "Axis of Somewhat Evil," forcing Somalia to join with Uganda and Myanmar in the "Axis of Occasionally Evil," while Bulgaria, Indonesia and Russia established the "Axis of Not So Much Evil Really as Just Generally Disagreeable."

With the criteria suddenly expanded and all the desirable clubs filling up, Sierra Leone, El Salvador, and Rwanda applied to be called the "Axis of Countries That Aren't the Worst But Certainly Won't Be Asked to Host the Olympics."

Canada, Mexico and Australia formed the "Axis of Nation That Are Actually Quite Nice But Secretly Have Some Nasty Thoughts About America," while Scotland, New Zealand and Spain established the "Axis of Countries That Want Sheep to Wear Lipstick." "That's not a threat, really, just something we like to do," said Scottish Executive First Minister Jack McConnell.

While wondering if the other nations of the world weren't perhaps making fun of him, a cautious Bush granted approval for most axis, although he rejected the establishment of the "Axis of Countries Whose Names End in 'Guay," accusing one of its members of filing a false application. Officials from Paraguay, Uruguay, and Chadguay denied the charges.

Israel, meanwhile, insisted it didn't want to join any Axis, but privately world leaders said that's only because no one asked them.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1015977

Muhammad/Jesus and the Adulterous Woman

(NOTE: This story, now borrowed from the Gospel of John, was originally not part of that book but was first borrowed from the now nonexistent Gospel of the Nazarenes.)

Early in the morning, Muhammad/Jesus came into the mosque/synagogue, and everyone came following.  So he sat down and began to teach.

As he was speaking and the crowd listening, a group of men made their way through the crowd, dragging a distraught and fearful woman with them.

When they got to the center of the crowd where Muhammad/Jesus was, they held the woman before him and said, "This woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.  Our laws say that she should be buried up to her shoulders and stoned to death.  What do you say?"

Muhammad/Jesus ignored them, and stooping over began writing with his finger on the ground, pretending he couldn't hear them even though their arguments for why the woman should be thus punished grew louder and more insistent.  Finally, he stood up, and they could see what he'd been writing.

Whoever looks upon another person lustfully has already committed adultery with them in their heart.

"Read this," he said to the men, "then let whichever one of you is without sin among you throw the first stone."

Then he sat down and began writing on the ground again.

One by one, the men, convicted by their own consciences, dropped their stones on the ground and walked away.

Finally, there was no one left in the center of the mosque but Muhammad/Jesus and the woman, with the congregation looking on silently.

Muhammad/Jesus looked up, blinking his eyes as he cast his gaze around the room, seeing no one left but the woman in the center now.  He looked at the woman as he stood up and asked, "Woman, where are your accusers?  Is anyone left to condemn you?"

The woman replied, "They are gone, master, there is no one."

Muhammad/Jesus smiled, saying, "Then neither do I.  Go, and remember that God is Compassionate and Merciful."

The woman made her way to the outer edge of the crowd, which she joined, as the Prophet/the Messiah sat back down and resumed teaching.

Rant about what the Religious Right does to women

(I wrote this a few years ago aimed at the Christian Right in America; most of it could apply equally to the mullahs of Iran, or of Saudi Arabia, or any "fundamentalist" religion.)

I've been volunteering at my son's school all day and just got home a little bit ago, and since I wanted to post this here anyway, I'm doing so tonight.

Now, here's my rant. I first posted it on several Yahoo lists I'm a member of, and nothing in particular I can think of provoked it, more like an endless stream of abuses and usurpations pursuing invariably the same object:

One of the things that bothers me most about the Religious Right is what they and their neuro-psychotic culture has done to women, both their own and those in the rest of society hit by the blood splatter from the Religious Right's vicious attacks on women. I ran across a song earlier today I've not heard in years, Helen Reddy's "I Am Woman", which is every bit as much of an inspirational song of liberation for all as is "We Are the Champions", the anthemn of the gays rights movement. I'm neither female nor gay, but if an injury to one is an injury to all, which I believe, then liberation for any of us is liberation for every one of us. 

Sometimes when I encounter the Religious Right’s misogyny in a way that hits me directly in the face, such the screaming-out-loud body language of a wife psychicly if not physically abused by a husband exercising his divine right to keep his spouse in her place or use her as he sees fit, which he is encouraged, even charged, to do by the Religious Right, I just want to gather up all the little canine fuckers who mark their territory with this drek, whether they be dogs or bitches, and enact a bloody vengeance against them for what they are doing not only directly to their victims, but to collateral damage such as me, my son and his generation as well, and all the other women in this country, all of whom are the Religious Right's victims even if all they do is witness what the Religious Right does to its direct victims. 

However, my arms would grow tired and my hands would get pretty cramped from either holding down the machine guns trigger or swinging the machete, then there's the fact that mass murder is kind of evil, besides which I only have to read one single news story from Iraq to remind myself of all the wonderful results that kind of violence can bring. Maybe God/Allah/Holy One or Mother Nature or The Tao or The Force or Brahman will engineer a highly lethal virus which only attacks those of zealous religious and other ideological bent as an evolutionary defense against its own destruction. Then again, thinking of all the wonderful things humanity as a whole has done for the planet, maybe religious/ideological enthusiasm IS its defense against us. 

The two cultures historically which have been the best for women were those of the Celts and of the Iroquoian nations such as the Mohawk, Seneca, Erie, Huron, etc., and especially the Cherokee, at least prior to the spread of Christianity and other acculturation after the Chickamauga Wars concluded in 1794. In Ireland, women remained on a more or less equal status with men in spite of the Christianization of the island until the English Pope allowed Henry II to impose the Holy Mother Church of Rome's will on the unwilling. 

To me, a woman isn't just something to fuck. I've not even comfortable thinking of women as anything but equal. Maybe that's why I realize that the women clinging to the privileges of the pedestal and the submission which it requires are betraying their own freedom as well as that of other women every bit as much as the bastards who have been rolling back our civil rights and liberties in the name of defending freedom and the cowards who have acquiesed in that through direct cooperation or unprotesting silent observation. And have you ever seen a pedestal? There's more room in every jail or prison cell I've ever seen, even with a person in each bunk and another in a cot on the floor than there is atop one of those. 

The Religious Right doesn't get that, never will, and still hasn't gotten over that fact even after well over two hundred years since the first major completely secular government in the history of the world was established. The women of today suffering directly or indirectly and some even participating in their subjugation by the Religious Right are taking hits the Religious Right is too chicken to make against its true foes--the Founding Fathers. 

America is about Ten Amendments--NOT Ten Commandments.

Message from a Friend in Tehran who was out yesterday (22 Bahman 1388/11 February 2010)

(First published on Facebook 12 February 2010.)

My featured cause on my profile is "I support Iranians inside Iran". It's their show, not mine.

A few minutes ago, I received this message in my Facebook mail, which I am post as a Note, removing all info that could possibly be used to ID my friend.

"Hi there chuck! first of all I can't thank you enough for covering everything that's going on in iran. Second I have a few points about yesterday which I don't feel safe posting on the internet because we really don't know how secure our info really is these days even though we use proxies and all. I thought maybe if you agree with my points you could share them with our fellow iranians and those who so kindly support iran like yourself. 

"1- I don't think any protest, demonstration or boycott could have possibly showed the strength of the green movement quite as well as what the government did yesterday. The fact that the government felt like they needed to bring such military force to the streets shows how truly scared they are of the opposition. I have lived my entire life in iran and as you probably know basijis are always there in the streets but never had I seen so many basijis in my entire life. Even with this amount of force they weren't able to completely disperse the opposition and there were clashes and chantings. So I think it was very impressive that the government proved the strength of this movement to the world. See the "daheye fajr" is their rally point, they use it every single year but this year even the ever so popular fajr festival was completely deserted. you have no idea what people did for tickets every year but this year even the artists themselves didn't participate. I think the greatest victory was the fact that this "daheye fajr" was a nightmare to them. 

"2- For the sake of argument let's say what Fars news said is true and that 5 million people were out in tehran. See if you're a supporter of the government you obviously have nothing to be afraid of. You can come out on 22 Bahman, it's even a family affair and the kids can enjoy it too with all the balloons and cheering, etc. besides they even give you sandwiches and refreshments and this time around they would even give you chicken, meat and rice. So you should just come out and celebrate your government. So the 5 million people who came out along with let's say 1 other million in tehran who just didn't feel like coming out and then let's say a 3 million crowd in the provinces make up 9 million people, let's say 10 million. That's all the support the government has, according to themselves!!!! so 60 million still oppose them!!! 

"Besides if all they say is true then they should hold a referendum and prove that the nation supports them what are they so afraid of?! mousavi and karroubi aren't afraid of coming to the streets even though they have a "few" supporters yet the supreme leader with millions of supporters is to afraid to show his face?!!!! 

"Thanks for your time"

The Sermon

(My Jewish godmother, who used to eat kosher bacon, sent this to us when I was in university.)

A new priest at his first mass was so nervous he could hardly speak. After mass he asked the monsignor how he had done.  The monsignor replied, "When I am worried about getting nervous on the pulpit, I put a glass of vodka next to the water glass. If I start to get nervous, I take a sip." 

So next Sunday he took the monsignor's advice. At the beginning of the sermon, he got nervous and took a drink. He proceeded to talk up a storm.

Upon his return to his office after mass, he found the following note on the door:

 1. Leave out the olive.

2. Sip the vodka, don't gulp.

3. There are 10 commandments, not 12.

 4. There are 12 disciples, not 10.

 5. Jesus was consecrated, not constipated.

 6. Jacob wagered his donkey, he did not bet his ass.

 7. We do not refer to Jesus Christ as the late J. C.

 8. We do not refer to Jesus Christ and the disciples as J.C. and the boys.

 9. The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are not referred to as Big Daddy, Junior, and the Spook.

10. God tested the Israelites in the desert, he did not tease them.

11. David slew Goliath, he did not kick the shit out of him.

12. David was hit by a rock and knocked off his donkey, not stoned off his ass.

13. We do not refer to the cross as the "Big T."

14. When Jesus broke the bread at the Last Supper he said, "Take this and eat it for it is my body." He did not say "Eat me".

15. We refer to our Lord's mother as the Blessed Virgin Mary, not "Mary with the Cherry".

16. The recommended grace before a meal is not: Rub-A-Dub-Dub thanks for the grub, yeah God.

17. Next Sunday there will be a taffy-pulling contest at St. Peter's, not a peter-pulling contest at St. Taffy's.

A Brief Outline of U.S. Economic History in the 20th and 21st Centuries

“You have to distinguish between two things – the economy and the stock market.  The economy is the sum of all the goods and services that are produced in the country every day.  The stock market is something very different.  There is no economy and no production of goods and services.  There are only fantasies in which people from one hour to the next decide that this or that company is worth so many billions, more or less.  It doesn’t have a thing to do with reality or the economy.” – Stieg Larsson

As the century turned from the 19th into the 20th, America was in the so-called Progressive Era and Europe was in its Belle Epoque, both part of the Age of Imperialism that ended with the Great War known also as World War I.  This timeline goes to 2016.

1901: The new century begins with a stock market crash resulting from struggles between E.H. Harriman, Jacob Schiff, J.P. Morgan, and James Hill for control of Northern Pacific Railway, resulting in all the big rivals being gathered into the Northern Securities Company by James Stillman and William Rockefeller with Standard Oil money.

1904: The Northern Securities Company is dissolved under the provisions of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, a law previously used primarily against labor unions.

1907: The stock market crashes in the bankers’ panic of that year, but J.P. Morgan averts even worse disaster through his personal fortune and influence.

1913: The Federal Reserve Act creates a national banking system to prevent another catastrophe like the Panic of 1907 happening again without a J.P. Morgan around to pull everyone’s arses out of the fire.

The 16th Amendment to the Constitution, authorizing an income tax, is passed.  The Revenue Act establishes a rate of 7% on the top tax bracket.

1914: The Federal Trade Commission Act prohibits unfair or deceptive business practices and creates the FTC.

1917-1919: American involvement in World War I.

1918:  The tax rate for the top bracket reaches a war-time high of 77%.

1920-1921: Depression.

1921: With the inauguration of William Harding as POTUS, Herbert Hoover becomes Secretary of Commerce and absolute master of all federal policy and programs, assisted by HIS choice for Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon.  Besides de-regulation of business, tax rates are lowered five times, with the top rate eventually reaching 21%.  Hoover’s tenure in the executive branch ends with him as POTUS, presiding over the decay of the American economy in the aftermath of the Roaring ‘20s.

1929-1942: The Great Depression.

1932: Congress raises the top tax rate to 63% over Hoover’s veto.

1933: Franklin Delano Roosevelt becomes POTUS and launches the New Deal.

The Banking, or Glass-Steagall, Act sponsored by Sen. Carter Glass (D-Virginia) and Rep. Henry Steagall (D-Alabama) creates the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), separates “commercial banks” focusing on consumer activities (checking, savings) from “investment banks” dealing with speculative trading and mergers, institutes rules on handling conflicts-of-interest, and bars a bank holding company from owning other financial companies.

1934: The National Labor Relations (Wagner) Act supports the formation of labor unions, collective bargaining, and the right to strike; amendments to the Railway Labor Act of 1925 do the same for railroad and airline employees.

The National Housing Act creates the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the Federal Savings and Loan Corporation (FSLIC).

1935: The Social Security Act provides Retirement, Survivors, and Disability Insurance, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and Unemployment Insurance.  Amendments in 1965 add Medicare and Medicaid.

1936: The Commodities Exchange Act regulates all futures and commodities trading.

1938: The Fair Labor Standards Act mandates a national minimum wage, an 8-hour workday, and overtime pay for work beyond 8 hours, and outlaws child labor.

1941-1945: U.S. involvement in World War II.

1944: The G.I. Bill provides a fund for veterans to attend college and supporting funds for institutions of higher education.

1945-1971: The Golden Age of Capitalism.

1945: The Revenue Act reduced the tax rate for the top bracket from its war-time 94% to 91%, where it remained throughout most of the so-called Golden Age of Capitalism.

1947: The Labor and Management Relations (Taft-Hartley) Act limits the Wagner Act by allowing so-called “right-to-work” laws; prohibiting jurisdictional strikes, wildcat strikes, solidarity strikes, political strikes, secondary boycotts, mass picketing, closed shops, and monetary donations to federal campaigns; and restricting union shops.  It also authorized the federal government to enact strike-breaking in the name of “national security” along with forbidding communists and socialists from joining unions.

1949-1950 - Coal miners’ general strike.  Beginning in West Virginia under leadership of the Johnson-Forrest Tendency of the SWP and at first authorized by UMWA president Lewis, it rapidly spread to all of Appalachia and then to the West.  After Lewis prematurely ordered the miners back to work, the strike became as much against him and his collaboration as against Big Coal.

1950-1953: The Korean War.

1956: The Bank Holding Company Act specifies that the Fed’s Board of Governors must approve the establishment of a bank holding company, and prohibits a holding company in one state from owning a bank headquartered in another state.

1959-1975: The Viet Nam War.

1964: The Revenue Act reduces the tax rate for the top bracket from 91% to 70%.

1968: The Truth in Lending Act requires banks to disclose loan terms & fees.

1970: The Bank Holding Company Act weakens the Glass-Steagall Act by allowing commercial banks, via holding companies, to both accept deposits and make commercial loans.

The Unsolicited Credit Card Act prohibits unsolicited credit cards.

The Occupational Safety and Health Act protects workers safety and health on the job.

1971-1978: Stagflation: massive unemployment and rising prices at the same time.

1971: Pres. Nixon disconnects the dollar from the gold standard.

1973-1974: The stock market crashed and stayed down.

1973: The Oil Crisis.

1974: The Fair Credit Billing Act attempts to protect consumers from unfair billing practices and provides a mechanism for addressing billing errors.

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act encourages pension funds to get involved in risky stock speculation, which gives Mike Milliken the platform he needs to launch his massive fraud schemes as well as enabling the ruin of retirement of millions in the 2000s.

1976: The  Consumer Leasing Act  attempts to assure that meaningful and accurate disclosure of lease terms is provided to consumers before entering into a contract.

1978: SCOTUS’s decision in Marquette National Bank of Minneapolis v. First of Omaha Service Corporation allows banks to make loans in states other than where they are headquartered, causing lenders to rush to places with the weakest consumer protections.

1980-1983: Recession.

1980: The Silver Thursday stock market crash in March.

The  Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act sponsored by Sen. Jake Garn (R-Utah) removes usury caps for mortgages; raises the bar for prosecuting lenders; forces all banks to obey the Federal Reserve; allows banks to merge; removes the power of the Fed’s board of directors to set savings interest rates; and allows credit unions and S&L’s to offer cheques and other banking services without regulatory safeguards.

The  Truth in Lending Simplification and Reform Act limits the information credit companies are required to disclose on their interest rates to their APR and exempts creditors from liability in several cases.

1981: The Economic Recovery Tax Act reduces the tax rate on the top bracket from 70% down to 50%.

1982-1998: The Great Commodities Crunch.

1982-1988: Real estate boom.

Leveraged buyout (LBO) boom in the same period.

1982: The Depository Institutions Act sponsored by Sen. Jake Garn (R-Utah) and Rep. Fernand St. Germain (D-Rhode Island) deregulates the savings and loan industry and credit unions.

The Alternative Mortgage Transactions Parity Act allows adjustable rate mortgages (ARM), balloon-payment mortgages, interest-only mortgages, and option-ARM.

At the request of the Reagan administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission passes Rule 10b-18 allowing stock buybacks, discouraged (though not officially outlawed) since the Great Depression because they hide the true strength of corporations and manipulate the stock market.

1986-1991: The Savings & Loan Crisis.

1986: The Tax Reform Act reduces the tax rate for the top bracket from 50% to 38.5% in 1987 and to 28% in 1988, yet RAISES the LOWEST tax rate from 11% to 15%.

1987: Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. creates “collateralized debt obligations” (CDOs), securities made up of myriad loans and bonds with different risk levels.

The stock market crashes on 19 October.

1988: The Fair Credit and Charge Card Disclosure Act mandates that companies provide consumers with details of their fees.

The Home Equity Loan Consumer Protection Act requires disclosure by creditors of terms, rates, and conditions, miscellaneous charges, payment terms, and variable rates.

1989: The FSLIC is declared insolvent.

The stock market crashes 13 October.

1990-1991: Recession.

1990: The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act raises the top tax rate to 31%.

1991: The Gulf War.

1993: The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act raises the top tax rate to 39.6%.

With support from the Republican Party, Bill Clinton pushes the North American Free Trade Act (NAFTA) through Congress.

1994: The  Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act attempts to limit abuses in the home equity lending market.

The Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act abolishes the Bank Holding Company Act prohibition against a bank holding company in one state acquiring a bank headquartered in another state.

The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, initiated by the Clinton administration, written by Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE), and sponsored by Rep. Joe Brooks (R-TX), passed Congress and is signed into law.  The bill includes provisions of mandatory sentences, increases the opportunities for the death penalty, eliminates higher education for inmates, increases money for new prisons, and supports the private prison industry, and allows for states to pass three-strikes laws.

1995-2000: The Dot-Com Boom.

1995: The Truth in Lending Class Action Relief Act sponsored by Rep. Bill McCollum (D-Fla.) eases regulations on creditors and makes it more difficult to sue for securities fraud.

1996: The Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act loosens supervisory regulations over financial institutions and lessened creditor liability.

The Office of Thrift Supervision issues a rule preempting all state laws regulating S&L credit activities.

Congress passed the Clinton administration-sponsored Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act placed a lifetime limit on welfare benefits, devolved responsibility for welfare to the states, and instituted a workfare-for-welfare program requirement, which ends the sixty year old New Deal.

1997: The stock market crashes on 27 October.

1999: The Financial Services Modernization Act sponsored by Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas) and Rep. Jim Leach (R-Iowa) repeals the remaining provisions of Glass-Steagall which distinguish between investment banks and commercial banks, setting off a wave of megamergers among banks and insurance and securities companies.

2000-2003: Recession

2000: The Commodity Futures Modernization Act deregulates OTC derivatives trading, gives rise to the Enron debacle, and opens the door to an explosion in new, unregulated securities, including the credit default swap.

The American Homeownership and Economic Opportunity Act makes it harder for consumers to get out of lender-required insurance.

Commodities prices start rising steadily.

2001: The 9/11 attacks.

2001-present: The Afghan War.

2002-2007: Booms in housing, LBOs, CDOs and debt-repackaging.

2003-2011: The Iraq War. 

2003: The Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act reduces the top tax rate to 35%.

2004: The Federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issues final rule to preempt states from applying most of their credit laws to national banks and their subsidiaries.

The American Jobs Creation Act does little for workers but provides numerous tax credits for agribusiness and other commercial institutions.

2005: The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act sponsored by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) makes it far harder for consumers (but not businesses) to discharge debts through declaration of bankruptcy.

In the case of Susette Kelo, et al. v. City of New London, Connecticut, et al., the “liberal” majority of SCOTUS rules that public government may seize personal property under eminent domain for profit of private corporations under the moniker “economic development”.

2007-present: The Great Recession.

2007: Stock markets worldwide crash in February.  In the U.S.A., the subprime market crashes soon after.

2008: The Mortgage Disclosure and Improvement Act adds to the requirements for early disclosures of terms and conditions.

The Congress and Pres. Bush authorize the $475,000,000,000 Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

Meanwhile, Chairman Bernanke and the Federal Reserve Board of Directors secretly loan American and foreign banks and financial institutions $7,700,000,000,000 ($7.7 TRILLION) at no interest, which it then borrows back at interest, under the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility.  The TABSLF supports issuance of ABS collateralized by student, auto, credit card, and SBA loans.

In September, the stock market drops to its lowest since 1987.

2009: The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act attempts to limit how credit card companies can charge consumers, but without price controls, rate caps, or fee schedules.  In other words, it’s toothless.

The  Helping Families Save Their Homes Act requires that homeowners be notified of the sale or transfer of their mortgages.

The Congress and Pres. Obama pass the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) for $787,000,000,000.

COTUS and POTUS bailout the auto industry for $130,000,000,000.

2010: The stock market crashes in May.

The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act introduces changes to regulations governing capital investment, hedge funds, and private equity funds, increases reporting requirements, and attempts to ensure fair access to credit.  The legislation does not, however, restore the protections of the Glass-Steagall Banking Act of 1933.

In Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, SCOTUS rules that since corporations are people, money is speech, and any attempt to limit spending on political campaigns violates the corporations’ freedom of speech under the First Amendment.

2011: The stock market crashes several times in August.

2012:  Congress passes and Pres. Obama signs the deliberately misleadingly-named Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act, the purpose of which is not jobs creation but further de-regulation of venture capitalism.

The Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee approves the “Keeping Politics Out of Federal Contracting Act” (KPOFCA), to allow federal contractors to spend and lobby without having to disclose their influence peddling, in other words, to firmly entrench politics in federal contracting.

2016: Over the objections of most of the Democratic Party, Barack Obama signs the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

2020: Due largely to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the stock market crashes more than once and unemployments levels rise to ones not seen since the Great Depression.  The U.S. Congress and Pres. Trump respond by providing a $4 trillion bailout package for corporations, including for lobbyists, while granting working Americans a one-time payment of $1200 and adding $600 a month to unemployment benefits.