fearlesshistory

Sometimes I wonder if conservative such as Chuck Asay, the cartoonist above, ever experiences cognitive dissonance; the queasy, uneasy feeling that occurs when holding two contradictory opinions or beliefs.

Where is the cartoon depicting Wells Fargo’s $18 Billion trip to Vegas? Where is his critique of the CEO of Bear Stearns who accelerated the billions of dollars in bonuses so that when Bank of America took over, the former executives would not be held accountable for those bonuses? Where is the outrage when AIG took billions of taxpayer’s money and then gave a party for executives at a California spa and a UK hunting trip?

Of course, I am perhaps trying to fit the square peg of logic into the star-shaped hole of conservative dogma. But if conservatives (be they social or fiscal) are outraged that the mythological “hollywood” lobby, or the allegedly strong-arm unions, are getting money from the bailout, why aren’t they screaming for the blood of the CEOs who throw multi-billion dollar parties at the tax payer’s expense? I do believe I hit the nail upon the head a couple of sentences ago: conservative dogma.

Conservative dogma  holds that whatever is good for the rich, is good for the country…despite historical facts to the contrary (The French Revolution, Cuban Revolution, Russian Revolution, Egyptian Revolution, Chinese Revolution and Civil War, Tyler’s Revolution, etc.) Let us examine the facts:

CEOs of the major American financial institutions (AIG, WaMu, Bank of America, Bearn Stearns, Lehman Bros., etc.) come to Washington to demand money to keep their industries afloat because their reckless behavior caused a catastrophic, global financial meltdown. After a brief fight under the Bush administration and with a Republican-controlled Congress, they receive $700 billion in funds with no strings attached. AIG throws a multi-million dollar spa resport and later a hunting trip for executives; Wells Fargo spends $18 billion to send execs to an all-expense paid trip to vegas; WaMu purchases new corporate jets; literally billions of dollars in bonuses paid to CEOs, CFOs, and COOs (as well as “top tier” executives) before January 22nd, 2009 . The conservatives are curiously quiet on the subject of a corporate handout - I’m not talking my friends at their blogs, but Rush Limbaugh, Chuck Asay, and other neoconservatives have hardly had a word to say about literal, de facto corporate welfare which benefits the American tax payer in no way shape or form.

On the other hand, tax breaks and financial incentives are paid out to “green industry jobs.” Immediately, these energy-generating jobs for an American public addicted to all things electronic and woefully dependent upon oil purchased from Iran, Venezuela, Russia, and Saudi Arabiaare attacked. Unions, without whom there would be no weekends, 8 hour days, safe work spaces, an end to child labor, workman’s compensation, or good-pay blue-collar manufacturing jobs that made America a superpower, are reviled as entitled beggars robbing from the people of the United States.

So, in essence, it’s okay for financial leaders (who perform no real work of their own and make money from Usury) to play with the economy as if it was a crap shoot then get out of paying their debt scott-free but industries and organizations that are aimed at helping middle- and working-class families as well as putting the United States back on a healthy path to recovery are the bad guys.

Cognitive Dissonance: you has it.

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