Obama & The Bankers

Well, the President recently met with the executives of the "too big to fail" banks, and then he met with the executives of the "if you can't swim, the hell with you" modest to small banks. Of the latter, within the past year, a good many have not been able to swim, and they have indeed been let to "go to hell," and have failed, including one recent failure here in Cleveland, where the bank traces its history well back into the 1800s. In fairness, the Obama Administration took over the policies towards the banks, both large and small, of Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson of the Bush Administration. Now, in more fairness, the Obama Administration can't claim they inherited all of these policies. Yes, they inherited an economy on the very brink of another Great Depression, but they didn't have to go along lockstep with the Bush Administration on banking policies. That is something they chose to do on their own. If we see "real" banking reform, with the "too big to fail" entities brought down to size, I will gladly give credit to the President and all those associated with it.

As the President noted in some televised remarks a few days prior to his meeting with the "big" bankers, whose salaries and bonuses are indeed "too big," Americans are angry at the bankers. These folks are now trying to pay themselves even more, when they should be thankful that the public didn't come, drag them outside, and string them up, like the criminals they are! Yes, I said "criminals," for what they did to this country and millions of Americans was out-and-out CRIMINAL! They brought the country to its very knees, and it will be quite some time for the ship to be righted again, if ever, and the lives of many Americans will NEVER be the same.

Lest we forget what they did to us! Don't let that happen!

WORD HISTORY:
Gall-There are two, possibly distinct, words here. I say "possibly," because they may actually be related, but that is uncertain. First, "gall," as in "gall bladder," meant "bile," or "yellow substance." It traces back to Indo European "ghol/ghel," which meant "yellow, gold," and also continued in Greek "khole," and Latin "fel."* Old Germanic continued with "gallon/gallam, and this developed as "galla/gealla" in Old English, the form being dependent upon the regional dialect. Close English relative, German, has "Galle," and another close relative, Dutch, has "gal." The use of this word to mean "boldness," in the sense "impudence," (as in "He had the gall to say such a thing") supposedly developed in the 1880s in America, but it also meant "effrontery/bitterness" (as with a verb form in "I was galled by the events," as bile is bitter) going back to the 1200s. Now secondly, "gall= a sore spot," or the verb, "to make sore by chafing," could well be the same word, as often times sores have a "yellowish" color, and they certainly can make you "bitter." Some linguists believe this meaning goes back to Latin "galla," which meant "a swelling on a plant," (one source also says Latin used this for "a sore spot on a horse") but others point to Low German "galle," which meant "sore/sore spot." Still others feel that the Latin and Low German forms come from are two separate words/meanings. It is more than a little confusing. What gall!

* Greek and Latin are both Indo European languages related to English, but further down the family tree, although English and the other Germanic languages picked up (usually referred to as "borrowed," by linguists) a number of words from both, and more so in the case of Latin, gave (usually referred to as "loaned," by linguists) some words to those languages' vocabularies.

McCain Steps Up To The Plate

Finally!!! John McCain has returned once again as the guy many Americans, including many in the media, fell in love with in 2000. McCain, a Republican, has joined forces with Maria Cantwell, a Democrat, to propose legislation to restore some sense of sanity to the banking system. Their idea isn't new; rather it is about 76 years old. By proposing such legislation, McCain is making the admission that at least part of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal was effective. What is this proposal, you ask? (Ah, you DID ask, didn't you?) It is a proposal to reinstate the "Glass-Steagall Act of 1933." This law kept commercial banks in their traditional banking role. It prohibited banks from using depositors' money in casino-like ventures and investments. That role was left to investment banks. The law worked, too! It worked so well for decades that some "free market" conservative (libertarian?) politicians couldn't stand it! As wealthy investors (better known to me as, "the sit on their ass class") gained political strength since the early Reagan years, one of their best front men, Phil Gramm, a conservative Texas Democrat turned Republican, took a lead position in dismantling this regulatory law.

You remember Phil, don't you? About six months before the final plunge of the economy in 2008, old Phil declared that there was nothing wrong with the American economy except that "Americans are a bunch of whiners!" I tell ya, I was so hurt, I couldn't stop sobbing all day. With his statement all over the news, just days later old Phil stepped down as the chief economic advisor to the presidential campaign of.......John McCain!

Now, old Phil was not alone in his efforts to return the country to pre-Depression lack of regulation, no siree! Most, if not ALL, congressional Republicans voted for the measure, but they were joined by a number of Democrats, and enjoyed the support of the Clinton economic team, including one Larry Summers. Let's see...where have I heard that name lately? Oh! He's the Obama Administration's economic advisor!

At least McCain has seen the damage wrought by the lack of regulation and is now attempting to rectify matters. So, government DOES have a role! What is particularly troubling is that this rectification has not been sought by the current administration! I've been telling you folks, too many Wall Streeters in the Obama Administration!

Don't assume that the McCain-Cantwell proposal will pass both houses of Congress and be signed into law by the President, as that would make too much sense and be much too easy. The long arms of the bankers and the "sit on their ass class" will undoubtedly do just about anything to stop such common sense legislation, and they will rely heavily upon their many Republican allies to go to the mat for them; so, this is far from a done deal. Throw in some campaign contributions by the above mentioned to key congressional Democrats and this legislation may never make it onto the floor of either house. I've been preaching here for several years that WE have to step up and put the heat on the politicians of BOTH parties, in order to get our country back from the wealthy interests. With OUR help, maybe McCain and Cantwell can get this legislation passed. If that happens, I guess we can forgive McCain for giving old Phil such a high-level position in his presidential campaign. Now, as for forgiving him for selecting Sarah Palin as his running mate, NO WAY, Jose!

WORD HISTORY:
Tarnish-I can't trace this word back to some Indo European base, but I could swear I've seen such somewhere in the past. English got this word in the late 1500s from a form of French "ternir," which meant "dull, dim, lack brightness." This form had developed from French "terne," which meant "dark, dull, lacking brightness." French got the word from Frankish, a Germanic language/dialect. Old Germanic had "darnijaz," which had the notion of "conceal, hide, darken." This gave Old English "dyrnan," which meant "to conceal, to darken." (From what I found, another form in Old English, "dierne," meant "obscure.") In that same time period of long ago (600-800 A.D.), Old High German had "tarnjan," with the same basic meaning, and Old Saxon, the Germanic dialect that remained in northern Germany after part of the Saxons left for Britain, had "derni." It "seems" that the word form died out in English,* except for a distant relative form, "dark," and that English acquired our modern form "tarnish" from French. Modern German still uses the basic form as "tarnen," which means "to camouflage, disguise." In English, the verb form came first, followed by the noun about a hundred years later.

* I say "seems," because one never knows about these things, as many common people could not read nor write in those times, but old words long abandoned by the educated folks remained in use by these people, often in relatively isolated rural areas.

Some Movement On Financial Reform

Finally, the Democrats in Congress have made a move to reform the financial system and thus they began to act like Democrats. We don't need TWO pro-business, pro-wealthy political parties. No Democrat need worry about someone looking out for the interest of the above mentioned, as there is one party seemingly committed heart and soul to concern for the plight of billionaires and millionaires. We need a political party to be concerned about the plight of the middle class and working people; something we've been lacking for awhile. Do you think there's a connection between the concern for wealthy interests and all the money sloshing around in the political process? Nah, couldn't be.

Anyway, I'll have to look over the details of what passed the House of Representatives, but I didn't hear anything about breaking up those companies deemed to be "to big to fail." Since that term was coined more than a year ago, many of those companies have become even bigger!!! Why? Because some banks were allowed to fail and were then merged with others, thus making the big bigger, and also removing competition for those "to big to fail." From what I understand, almost three quarters, get that now folks....THREE QUARTERS of all banking deposits are now in the hands of just a few banking companies!

Let's see...do you think that all the money sloshing around in the political process has anything to do with politicians not trying to whittle down the size of some of these...ah...institutions? Nah, couldn't be. (Don't forget, the Senate also must pass some form of legislation on this important matter before any actual law can then be brought before both houses for passage and a signature by the President, so the House passed version is NOT a law.)

WORD HISTORY:
Nether-This word is now not as common in English, except for "The Netherlands," as it has essentially been replaced by "low/lower," but a form still is commonly used in both "beneath" and "underneath." The word goes back to Indo European "ni," which meant "down or below." Old  Germanic developed the offshoot "nitheraz" or "nith" (I found both). In Old English there were "nithera" and "neothera," (I suppose depending upon dialect) both meaning "down, beneath, below." Old Saxon, the Saxon dialect that remained in northern Germany after some Saxons departed for Britain, had "nithar." While modern English no longer commonly uses the word, the close cousins of English still use it extensively, as Dutch has "neder" and German has "nieder;" both still with the meaning "low, below." The Netherlands name comes from the geography of that area, much of it reclaimed from the sea, which is restrained by dikes; thus "Netherlands=lowlands."

Their Entitlement To America, Part Seven

“Homer’s Country”

By the time I was ready to go to high school, there weren’t many immigrants left in the neighborhood, except for a very few from Poland, but they were pretty well along in years. The passing years had whittled away at the more than century old German character of the neighborhood, and by the 1970s, finding locally produced German meats was impossible, as the slaughterhouses and butcher shops had all closed. The only “Limburger cheese” to be found was the processed kind in a jar, but it didn't taste (or smell) the same, something my grandmother would rant about on occasion. In “Polish Town” the situation was evolving in the same manner, but with the Polish immigrants having come to America a bit later, there were still a few of the actual immigrants living in the neighborhood. Over time and ever so gradually, the descendants of immigrants had been moving out of the neighborhood, and thus it would be with me, as my parents bought a home in another part of town. * It didn’t take Randy too long to return, however, as about three and a half years later I rented a small apartment on my own.

When I think about the conservative era that came over the country for so long, I can’t help thinking about a guy in the neighborhood of white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant descent. His name was Homer. Now just about anyone named Homer has got to be conservative, and he certainly was. A friend of mine called some people “aginners.” (I guess that's how it should be spelled!) It was his own little term for people who just seemed so miserable that they wanted everyone else to be miserable too, so they were “agin” (against) everything. That was Homer. In all the years I knew him, I don’t believe I ever saw him smile even once. Life was serious business to Homer and so was money. For a number of years I was around him a good deal, and I guess he was in his 50s, but his very manner and the way he dressed made him seem much older. When I think about him now, I wonder if he ever really had a childhood, or at least a childhood that had some fun to it. If you told him you liked chocolate ice cream, he'd say he liked vanilla. If you said you liked vanilla, too, he was apt to say, "I don't even like ice cream!"

First, I have respect for those who have the courage to protest things, even when I don't agree with their point of view. That is part of what this country is about. Sometimes, staunch members of one party, or the other, only see the faults of the opposite political party, and not their own party's failings or complicity in things. Homer could have been the original "tea bagger." Understand, he worked hard at his own business (painting, not the Van Gogh kind), and while I'm sure he wasn't rich, he wasn't too concerned about where he'd get his next meal, either. Some people in the neighborhood called him a "skinflint;" that is, a miser. Homer was "agin" taxes of any kind, and he railed "agin" government at every level as "a bunch of people who waste my money." If there was one thing Homer hated, it was spending...I mean, wasting money, although I'm of the opinion that if he had tried unzipping his pocketbook a little, he might have actually enjoyed life much more. He could never give government credit for anything, and if the city patched a pothole, he'd say they didn't patch it right. And woe be to those who got any kind of government check. Whew! It didn't matter what the check was for, they were moochers. (My father suffered a fairly major back injury as a consequence of a Japanese artillery shell during World War Two and received a small partial disability check for the rest of his life, but I guess he was "My father the moocher.") Homer wasn't afraid to speak his mind, and he regularly attended neighborhood meetings where many a person of Polish or Ukrainian descent would be present. He had a great deep voice and if someone would ask if the city was going to put in new swings at the playground, he would stand up and proclaim that, "This wanting the government to do such things was brought to this country by those socialists from eastern Europe. That's just their mentality. When I was a kid, we tied our own swing over a tree. We didn't need the city to do it for us." (I told you I wondered if he had a fun childhood.) I always felt that if Homer had sung "This Land Is My Land," he would have really meant it! Times change, but Homer never kept up, nor even tried to do so.

* My mother’s family was from this neighborhood, but my father’s family was originally from another part of the state.

WORD HISTORY:
Again (Against)-This word has an unknown ancient history, but it goes back to Old Germanic "gagin," which had the notion of "straight, in a direct line opposite." The Germanic form gave Old Norse "gegn," Old High German "gegin." The then developing Germanic languages added a prefix, in Old English (Anglo-Saxon) it was "on," which gave Old English "ongean," later contracted to the "a" prefix, and modern German has "entgegen." The idea of "opposite" also gave English "against," which was simply "again" + "st," which came into broad usage in the 1300s. There seems to have always been two basic pronunciations of these words, although I'd say in America we pretty much have only "a-gen," but in Britain, besides that pronunciation, there is also "a-gane," with a long "a" sound. German "entgegen" (also with the long "a" sound) means "against," and German "gegen" means "against, toward, towards," Low German Saxon has "gägen" (against), Dutch has "jegens" (against, toward), Icelandic "gegn" (against), Danish and Swedish have "igen" (again) and Norwegian has "igjen" (again).