Wagoners East

Without getting into too much (if any) statistical analysis, it just feels as though America is getting busy again. New-home starts jumped last month, fewer jobs have been lost than usual, consumer confidence is rising - heck, even our level of personal savings has increased since Barack Obama took office.

It appears, then, that the recovery will be taking place from the ground up. Wall Street still suffers, loudly, and without shame. The banks are still feigning credit paralysis despite all the injections of taxpayer cash. Now even the wealthiest among us are feeling like targets, and some are, like Rick Wagoner.

Wagoner, the former CEO of General Motors, was more or less forced to resign over the weekend. Great government pressure is being brought to bear upon GM (and Chrysler) as the wheedling automakers keep coming back to Washington with Prada hats in hand.

Conservatives are aghast at this development, but then, they've never seen a failure they didn't like. Wagoner managed to lose about $70 billion for GM over the past two years; it's a wonder shell-shocked shareholders hadn't demanded his ouster before with pitchforks and torches.

For all the predictable right-wing protest, the White House is doing exactly what we elected them to do, which is to clean up this financial mess. Bailout money means at least partial public ownership, and nobody in this country should have to pay Rick Wagoner or any other fiduciary flop another dime.

The only regret is that financial institutions are not being forced to choke down similar medicines. As well as losing some degree of control in the operations of their companies, GM and Chrysler may well end up in bankruptcy court, which is perhaps where they belong.

Reorganization would allow them to dissolve their contracts with the United Auto Workers - an outfit despised by conservatives even as they say they want everyone to make as much money as they can. But even that unhappy prospect isn't enough to make these people feel good.

All of this merely demonstrates that Obama and the Democrats are taking a responsible, non-ideological approach to the problems that have vexed Detroit for so long. And it proves again that conservatives are consistent only in their duplicity and their scorn for American labor...

Which doesn't matter one whit. The American worker doesn't care about the GOP any more than the GOP cares about them. Republicans and their greedy little fistful of core constituents can enjoy the view and wait for the recovery to trickle up.

As for the hefty minority of suckers supporting that whole cabal with their mindless voting habits, well, there's always a talk-show host around who'll take their call. Why not? It's toll free. Here at the end of the age of excess, it's the only thing left that they can afford.

pH 3.3o.o9