The Laugh Bank

By Paul S. Peete

All Rights Reserved

An eTrade commercial currently running on television shows bank customers being robbed by the bank personnel. The manger yells for them to get on the floor as the tellers go around collecting the customers’ money like the bank heists we see in movies. At its conclusion, the manager thanks the victims, inviting them back next week for the same treatment. The commercial is a humorous take on the way banks gouge customers with those endless, niggling fees while they use your money to make their money.

The concept of a bank robbing its customers reminds me of another scenario I have seen. This one has to do with the wealthy and powerful interests who control the American economy. Every so often, economists release data on the distribution of wealth in this country and for as long as I can recall, wealth has continued to concentrate in the hands of a decreasing percentage of the wealthiest in our country. Since Bush 43 became President in 2001’ as a result of the tax cuts, legislative breaks granted top investors, transfer of jobs offshore, and union busting tactics of employers, we’ve witnessed an acceleration of income disparity as the middle class shrinks markedly and the bottom tier jobs favor an immigrant population willing to work harder for less money than their American counterparts. The old adage of the rich getting richer has never been truer!

The Bush years have seen the likes of Enron make its employees hard earned retirement funds evaporate as the top management played fast and loose with the company’s funds, Haliburton receive no bid contracts worth a billion dollars and reward the government by moving its corporate headquarters to Dubai to avoid paying taxes. There are endless examples of corporate greed, wealth avoiding taxation through tax dodges only they can take advantage of, and at the same time wages for the working class stagnate and jobs disappear.

The truly wealthy behave like those bankers in another eTrade commercial hitting golf balls at an average citizen trying to get a loan. There are exceptions, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett come to mind as philanthropic power brokers, but most simply laugh at the rest of us who suffer from oil companies gouging us at the pump, medical corporations killing us with medications they profit from while those we elect to protect us turn a blind eye to their actions. We let politicians divide us over issues like abortion, immigration, stem cell research, and the war in Iraq voting away our freedom. The next election is nearing and my hope is that voters keep in their minds eye those fat cats laughing at our plight. Maybe for once we will do the right thing. Get rid of the likes of Boener whose crocodile tears over 9-11 conceal his true intentions. Keep the coffers open for the war while opposing minimum wage increases, medical insurance for the needy, and restoration of our rights lost in the Patriot Act and secret wiretapping that Bush and his patsies snuck through on us. After all, another adage goes ” he who laughs last, laughs best!”