A few days ago I was watching John Stewart (recommended viewing for all) and heard/saw the preliminaries of testimony delivered by the CEOs of the top 5 oil companies. Much to my dismay, it seemed that while the US Govt wanted to appear to be doing something, they didn't actually want to do anything, other than appear on TV.
I'm an optimist you see, someone who thinks that any government which stands under the banner of "by the people, for the people" should occasionally work FOR THE PEOPLE !! Yet again, it seems that the US Govt has done some soul searching, found nothing of value and instead looked at their chequing accounts.
A lady of the US Senate brought a motion before the panel asking whether the 5 CEOs should be sworn in. This implies that they wouldn't have told the truth in the first place ! Then she was rebuffed by her senior and the motion appeared quashed, until a "second the motion" from another senator was uttered...again rebuffed.
Does this mean that a motion, raised in a hearing, of the Senate of the US Govt, a motion seconded by another Senator has no bearing anymore ? Is the chairman of this particular body so powerful that he can allow his financial backers the opportunity to speak, without obligation to truth, on a limited set of controlled and pre-screened questions ?
People, these companies just made BILLIONS of dollars profit in a time when the average American, Canadian, European (etc.) was tightening his/her belt in order to feed gas to the car or stock the home for winter ! More importantly, they made it while prices on the market were dropping, when we all should've been paying less, yet we were all getting gouged and all the US Senate has to say about the matter is "These execs don't have to tell the truth".
Now, I am anti the "Current US Administration". I think that's obvious. I see so many faults but I also see many opportunities. For example, take every senator...EVERYONE...including Cheney (President of the Senate)..drive them to North Dakota (on their dime..out of their pocket), situate them in an average home (I mean the state average), give them an average income (again, the state average and not theirs), and then ask them to live through a winter.
No outside influence allowed. None, nothng, nada ! No silk sheets, no fax machine, no cell phone and if they want to check their email, better sign up with NetZero or whatever else there is there. I'd like to see a Senator balancing his/her personal finances while accounting for food/heat/shelter/ gas for the car/taxes.
Merry Xmas everyone..Under the tree of every "high" government official will be a stack of presents. Paid for by all of us minions. Never thought that government was a route to easy money, instead I was raised to think that it should be a route of sacrifice for the better.
