Enabler is the terminology for anyone, wives, families, or friends, who empower addicts and abusive spouses to act irresponsibly. The United States government is the biggest enabler in the world. It bailed out: the Continental Bank in 1964, the Savings & Loan Industry in 1989, and the Long Term Capital Management Hedge Fund in 1998. Recently, the Federal Reserve, under political pressure, bailed out Bear Stearns. (See the op-ed in the April 11th Wall Street Journal, “Our Financial Bailout Culture,” by Ethan Penner.)
Career Congressmen respond to these financial catastrophes, by ill advised adjustments, to demonstrate their prowess in handling emergencies, while serving special interests, and to gain votes for re-election. All too often, these Congressional fixes prolong the problem and cost tax payers exorbitant amounts of money.
The greedy, financial institutions, the feckless mortgagees, the overpaid CEO’s, and the not-so-astute fund managers are responsible for these calamities. Yet, we the steady, dependable, conscientious tax payers pay for their misdeeds. This unfair process will continue as long as the perpetrators are rescued and remain unpunished. We taxpayers should protest these bail outs by expressing our displeasure to our political representatives through public demonstrations and communications. An even more effective protest is voting against these incumbents. Then, politicians will be unwilling to satisfy a few for fear of losing the votes of the majority.
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