Greed Inc.

Ever stop and wonder why things aren't the way they once were? We think back and ponder what happened to so many great ideas and where they went. The above photo is of a present day small Greek market. Once packed with products ready for sale giving it's owner an average, or better, income. He played by all the rules and I'm sure had hopes of educating his children and maybe passing the family business on to them when he retired. Not so anymore. Greece in its' first round of austerity passed a 29% tax neatly tied to everybody's electric bill. Fail to pay it and the power gets shut off. Now our store owner here can barely afford the tax bill much less buy the needed stock to sell.

There was a time, a long time ago now, that kids growing up were covered by health insurance. There were no long lists of school supplies as nearly everything was provided. As I recall the only items not supplied were cookies for the Valentines day party or items for the science fair. Even then everybody seemed to chip in pot luck style. Those days are long gone but where did they go and what happened? Some would have you believe that it was an evil teacher's union that made off with the funds or that the teachers themselves were making opulent salaries. Truth is companies that once provided support to education aren't. Yes there may be the occasional item funded by a company like a score board or a playground but the bulk of profits are now neatly hidden in an off shore account. Such is the case with Greece. There are entire office buildings in Luxembourg staffed with people who's soul purpose is to find tax loop holes for the worlds' largest companies. But it's worse than that. A company making massive profits in a foreign country somehow looks magically pennyless by merely moving it's stash of cash to more favorable and secretive places.

Who got stuck with the bill when it came due? It sure wasn't the bankers or those on Wall Street. And here we sit on an artificial cliff waiting for the hammer to drop. Like it or not we'll all lose no matter which way this thing goes. If it does happen cuts to programs for the poor and disabled will be immediate. No more unemployment extension and cuts to meals on wheels and school lunches. And as the federal action or inaction filters down to the state levels you'll see fee increases and new taxes to try and cover state budgets. That's a given. That of course will cut deeper into people pocket books and make matters worse. We have seen these exact same scenarios in past recessions. And how exactly did we get out? Either corporations finally broke down and started spending or the government stepped in and created jobs. And damned be the man or woman who says it doesn't. It created your job senator!