Oh, dear. History is repeating itself. I am no fan of BIG business or banks that trifle with the lives of working men and women or with the great heroes of this country--the independent small businessman (to me, they are the best of the best ). Having said this, I know enough from the history of our country that to fool around with the banks in the guise of making them accountable to the "people" is to guarantee an economic catastrophe.
Andrew Jackson, a man who made and threw away multiple fortunes, hated banks, blaming them for his own lack of business acumen. He made it his goal to destroy the Bank of Banks, the Hamiltonian Bank of the United States. Ordering his Secretaries of the Treasury to withdraw monies from the Bank to redeposit in his small state "pet banks", he effectively killed the Bank of the United States. In its death throws, the Bank tried to remain alive by calling in outstanding loans. The result was a dead bank and a collapsed economy. Lives were destroyed, not just at the corporate level, but honest working men who had put all they had into their small businesses. But when asked what he was proudest of in his tenure as President, Jackson responded, "killing the Bank." Did it mean anything to him that he caused so much pain in the lives of the common man?
Important to add here is that Jackson had to appoint three Secretaries of the Treasury before he could find one to do his "dirty work." The last nominee, Roger Brooks Taney, went along with Jackson's scheme, and withdrew the monies from the Bank before he was even confirmed. As it would happen, the Senate refused to confirm him and he did not become Secretary of the Treasury. However, in probably the most blatant example of "spoilsmen" politics, Jackson bided his time and then nominated Taney as Chief Justice of the United State Supreme Court--a great place to have a "yes man." Jackson had treated the previous Chief Justice, John Marshall, and his brethren with complete contempt.
Is the current President intentionally emulating Jackson? If so, has he read how the story ended? Or does he want to lay this economy to waste and rebuild it in his true socialist image? Punishing the banks, openly rebuking the Court for policies contrary to his own--it's "deja vu all over again."
Thursday, January 28, 2010
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