NEWS FLASH:It is almost as if I had a crystal ball, since posting this book in Oct. 2011, several major news stories already discussed in the book are now leading the headlines:
1, A whole chapter dedicated to the charade of “Student Athlete” and the Penn State story breaks.
2, Section of a chapter about the charade of regulations and congressional hearings focusing on the Massey Coal Mine disaster and now Congress’s report leads the news.
3, A chapter reveals how Congress is exempt from insider trading rules and it is now a feature on all the major news shows.
4, Now the term “looting” used to describe Romney’s Bain capital strategy, identical to the specific example in the chapter on Wall Street. It is almost scary.
BUSTED! exposes how out of mutual self-interest, the media, politicians, and Wall Street have sold America a bill of goods. They are playing a game of charades. These charades allow Wall Street to create asset bubbles and make high risk bets with depositors money that cost people their life savings and their jobs. Politicians serve their campaign-donor masters while people die on oil rigs and in coal mines. The media tells us what is good for their ratings not what we need to know. Below are excerpts from sample chapters:
II. Charades Played By Pros [Lehman bankruptcy]
When I joined an industry close to investment banking, a wag told me the joke: “What’s the first thing you have to be able to do to become an investment banker?” A: “sell your mother.”
IV. Wall Street’s Charade Takes Down the Economy
The investment banking shenanigans behind the financial collapse of 2008 were about the banks making hundreds of billions in commissions by selling securities related to mortgages even though it has now become clear the banks knew these securities were worthless.
The stock analysts coated with conflicts of interest were presented to the viewing audience [CNBC] without disclosure of their conflict of interest! … when Merrill Lynch’s guru was giving reports to buy certain stocks, privately he described them as “junk” and “dogs.”
V. Student Athelete! Oxymoron of Charades
Barry Switzer, the legendary coach of Oklahoma commenting… “that’s jaywalking to me, these things don’t surprise me. This stuff has gone on forever.” … a minor league system would put the hidden business of college sports on the table for everyone to see. SMU a franchise of Dallas Cowboys, U. of Miami with the Dolphins, Stanford with the 49ers. Wow.
VI. A Flim-Flam Charade: Health Care Cost Control
The drug companies major arguments for their excessive profits is that they need the money to cover the enormous research and development costs they incur to develop new drugs. A pile of crap, a massive charade hiding the truth. The federal government through grants to university scientists, your tax dollars, funds most of the research behind new drugs.
X. Politicians: Charades as a Way of Life
… politicians are no more serving Main Street than are the investment bankers… Alan Simpson, the legendary now retired Senator from Wyoming who said: “The God here in Washington is the God of reelection.”
… sent a letter to the SEC and in all capital letters that Stanford’s investment company “WILL DESTROY THE LIFE SAVINGS OF MANY.” Yet they did nothing… when it comes to the government, reality is even more bizarre than fiction.
As described by the CEO of Google, Eric Schmidt, “The average American doesn’t realize how much of the laws are written by lobbyists…It’s shocking how the system works.”
That our politicians represent the people is the most tragic charade of this country.
XII. The Academy Awards of Charades
14, House Representative Joe Walsh during the debt ceiling debate, “I won’t place one more dollar of debt on the backs of my kids.” Eight months earlier his ex-wife had filed suit against him for $117, 347 in back child support
XIII. Will It Ever Stop, Our Future Hangs in the Balance
Bribery, graft, and corruption, no sirreee, not in the good ol’ U.S. of A. In fact it is so much a part of our political system we gave it a name, lobbying.
XIV. Epilogue
Two main philosophies have allowed our country to become as great as it has. The primary one is the idea of a meritocracy and the second is the concept of free-market capitalism.
The bottom line: If we become mediocre as a country it will be because our educational system has come to accept mediocrity as just fine as long as everyone is happy and gets a tropy.