Randi Rhodes: Wall Street's Enablers

HOUR TWO GUEST: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on the economy, the GOP, Occupy Wall Street, etc.

Okay, now the conservative media flacks have launched something they call the “We Are the 53 Percent” movement. I’ve seen better movements, usually after a high-fiber breakfast. “We Are the 53 Percent” is meant to counter the “We Are the 99 Percent” movement, but it doesn’t add up. Literally. What are they saying here? “We’ll see your 99 percent, and raise it to 53 percent!”

“We Are The 99 Percent” is a website where people who have been victimized by banks and corporations can tell their stories. “We Are The 53 Percent” is a place where people who have been recruited by banks and corporations can tell their stories. And by “their stories,” I mean the stories of the banks and corporations. The “53 percent” part comes from the lie that 47 percent of Americans don’t pay any taxes. The actual percentage of Americans that don’t pay any taxes is more like 1 percent… the richest 1 percent that the 99 percenters are talking about.

This “movement” is being launched by Red State editor and CNN contributor Erick Erickson. Erick posts “I work 3 jobs. I have a house I can’t sell. My family insurance costs are outrageous. But I don’t blame Wall Street.” You moron! If you don’t blame Wall Street, that doesn’t mean that Wall Street is blameless… it just means you have no idea of what is going on. You don’t blame Wall Street— you blame the poor schmucks who are worse off than you. And Wall Street is laughing its ass off at you. (But I don’t think that Erick should blame his hardships on Wall Street—because his so-called hardships don’t turn out to be hard at all. Among Erick’s “3 jobs” are appearing on CNN, and blogging. Erick, you don’t WORK three jobs. You HAVE three jobs. Or to be more accurate, you have three streams of income, that don’t really require much effort on your part.)

The people who post their stories on the 53 percent site should be posting on the 99 percent site. Maybe they want to be part of a more exclusive club. All of their stories boil down to “I got totally screwed over by Wall Street, and I don’t have the faintest clue.” The people who are posting on the 99 percent site are saying they’re tired of getting screwed over. The people posting on the 53 percent site are saying “Keep it up! Faster! Deeper!”

Today’s Homework | Discuss

Robert Reich debunks seven of the most ridiculous myths about our economy in 2.5 minutes...