Congress is indulging in its usual posturing by holding innumerable hearings investigating why the price of gas is so high. Every member of Congress knows or should know that the Enron loophole, passed 7 years ago, is the primary cause of this energy catastrophe. After years of successful, tight governmental control over speculators, Enron’s large campaign contributions to members of Congress resulted in the loosening of this oversight. The Enron loophole allows unregulated speculators to manipulate oil so that prices are estimated to be $60- $80 higher per barrel than they should be.
Members of Congress, in order to demonstrate their ability to handle national crises, are initiating legislation to alleviate the subprime mortgage difficulties. Typically, they are proposing a hasty solution that uses Federal Funds, tax payers’ money. If, more probably, when, this plan fails, tax payers will be required to pay, once again, for the loss.
I think one reason why many don’t participate in civic life comes from the conclusion that it won’t make any difference.
They don’t buy into the theory that a butterfly flapping its wings on one continent can contribute to devastating weather on another. So why flap your wings about the way someone governs us or the way the behavior of others affects us?
That flapping won’t help.
I disagree. Collections of small actions do lead to big changes.
Several news items recently caught my attention and serve as examples of what I believe.
Here are links to sites where you can find more about wealth inequality.
www.inequality.org:
A web resource dedicated to the topic of wealth inequality.
Economic Policy Institute
National data from The State of Working America 2006/2007:
Compare wages and compensation trends, jobs, unionization, family earnings and income trends, and prices throughout the last 50 years.
Economic Indicators:
One percent of Americans control 22 percent of the nation’s wealth. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan says a democratic society must address such inequality if it hopes to remain healthy. Are citizens concerned about the gap between rich and poor in the United States? Find out what Jared Bernstein, economist and researcher with the Economic Policy Institute and co-author of “The State of Working America,” thinks about the economic divide and “YOYO” economics.
