Third World America

by Arianna Huffington

  16 And why would they do that: Ibid.

  17 Indeed, as far back as 1910, Teddy Roosevelt warned: Theodore Roosevelt, The New Nationalism (New York: The Outlook Company, 1910), 13.

  18 Teddy Roosevelt must have been spinning in his grave: Adam Liptak, “Justices, 5–4, Reject Corporate Spending Limit,” 21 Jan. 2010, www.nytimes.com.

  19 President Obama called the decision “a major victory …”: Ibid.

  20 Or the chemical industry’s long-term cover-up: Dan Agin, “More than Genes III: Pregnancy, Toxic Environments, and Fetal Vulnerability,” 1 Dec. 2009, www.huffingtonpost.com.

  21 Or the way Big Tobacco has fought tooth and nail: American Cancer Society, “Cigarette Smoking,” 24 Nov. 2009, www.cancer.org.

  22 Or the outrageous ripping off of the American taxpayer: Kimberly Hefling, “Iraq Contracts Have Cost Taxpayers at Least $85 Billion Since Invasion,” Associated Press, 12 Aug. 2008.

  23 Days after the Upper Big Branch disaster: Michael Cooper, Gardiner Harris, and Eric Lipton, “In Mine Safety, a Meek Watchdog,” 10 Apr. 2010, www.nytimes.com.

  24 In an eerie echo, in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon: Russell Gold and Stephen Power, “Oil Regulator Ceded Oversight to Drillers,” 7 May 2010, www.wsj.com.

  25 Florida senator Bill Nelson summed it up: Ibid.

  26 Chris Oynes, the Interior Department’s top official: Carol E. Lee, “Oynes to Resign in Wake of Oil Leak,” 17 May 2010, www.politico.com.

  27 Elizabeth Birnbaum, the head of MMS, was forced out: Tom Raum and Jennifer Loven, “Elizabeth Birnbaum Quits Under Pressure: MMS Director Is Pushed Out After Gulf Spill,” Associated Press, 27 May 2010.

  28 Indeed, a federal inspector was at the Upper Big Branch mine: Michael Cooper, Gardiner Harris, and Eric Lipton, “In Mine Safety, a Meek Watchdog,” 10 Apr. 2010, www.nytimes.com.

  29 Similarly, there are plenty of financial regulatory agencies: Craig Torres, “Fed Says Capital at Some Major Banks Is ‘Substantially Reduced,’ ” 24 Apr. 2009, www.bloomberg.com.

  30 Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight: Jonathan J. Miller, “The Federal Housing Finance Agency: Regulators Awaken!” 19 Nov. 2008, www.nytimes.com.

  31 And, after Bear Stearns crashed, the New York Fed: Andrew Ross Sorkin, “At Lehman, Watchdogs Saw It All,” 15 Mar. 2010, www.nytimes.com.

  32 Regulations are “very difficult to comply with”: Jason Linkins, “Massey CEO Blankenship Has Complained About ‘Nonsensical’ Regulation,” 9 Apr. 2010, www.huffingtonpost.com.

  33 The Wall Street Journal cites the arguments: Russell Gold and Stephen Power, “Oil Regulator Ceded Oversight to Drillers,” 7 May 2010, www.wsj.com.

  34 “There has been a very good record in deep water [drilling]”: Ibid.

  35 Similarly, the reason the financial industry can’t be regulated: Shahien Nasiripour and Ryan McCarthy, “Greenspan Testifies to Financial Crisis Commission, Blames Fannie, Freddie for Subprime Crisis,” 7 Apr. 2010, www.huffingtonpost.com.

  36 Massey offers a textbook—and in this case tragic—example: Michael Hupp, “Reports Critical of Massey, Other Mining Operations,” 22 Apr. 2010, www.statejournal.com.

  37 In 2009, its Upper Big Branch mine was ordered: Daniel Malloy, “Upper Big Branch Mine Forced to Shut Before,” 9 Apr. 2010, www.post-gazette.com.

  38 That same year, the mine was cited for 515 violations: “Miners’ Families Cling to ‘Sliver of Hope,’ ” Associated Press, 7 Apr. 2010.

  39 In 2010, by the time of the explosion: Emily C. Dooley, “Safety Violations Posted at Massey Mine,” 7 Apr. 2010, www.timesdispatch.com.

  40 What’s more, in the ten years before: Kim Bobo, “Psalm 20 and the Massey Mining Disaster,” 19 May 2010, www.huffingtonpost.com.

  41 So how did Massey escape greater oversight: Steven Mufson, Kimberly Kindy, and Ed O’Keefe, “West Virginia Mine Has Years of Serious Violations, Officials Say,” 9 Apr. 2010, www.washingtonpost.com.

  42 At the time of the explosion, Massey was contesting: Ibid.

  43 According to another loophole in the law: Thomas Frank, “Mines Carry Backlog of $90M in Violations,” 8 Apr. 2010, www.usatoday.com.

  44 Only $ 8 million of $113 million: Ibid.

  45 The BP disaster has a similar story line: Marcus Baram, “Big Oil Fought Off New Safety Rules Before Rig Explosion,” 26 Apr. 2010, www.huffingtonpost.com.

  46 Over the last decade the Minerals Management Service: Eric Lipton and John M. Broder, “Regulator Deferred to Oil Industry on Rig Safety,” 7 May 2010, www.nytimes.com.

  47 The piece of equipment that the industry resisted: Russell Gold, Ben Casselman, and Guy Chazan, “Leaking Oil Well Lacked Safeguard Device,” 28 Apr. 2010, www.wsj.com.

  48 The replacement value of the Deepwater Horizon platform: Ibid.

  49 As for fines for safety violations: Marian Wang, “Oil Companies Pay a Pittance in Penalties to Offshore Drilling Regulator,” 4 May 2010, www.propublica.org.

  50 between 1998 and 2007, BP racked up a dozen: Ibid.

  51 Even after the Gulf catastrophe, oil companies: Ian Urbina, “Despite Moratorium, Drilling Projects Move Ahead,” 23 May 2010, www.nytimes.com.

  52 one of the exempted projects was run by BP: Marian Wang, “After Spill, More Gulf Drilling Plans Got Environmental Exemptions,” 11 May 2010, www.propublica.org.

  53 Not content with controlling politicians and kneecapping: Linda Keenan and Janine R. Wedel, “Shadow Elite: Think BP’s the Bad Guy? Think Bigger, Way Bigger,” 13 May 2010, www.huffingtonpost.com.

  54 The names of the Wall Streeters: Matthew Vadum, “Goldman Sachs Government,” 16 Oct. 2008, www.spectator.org.

  55 The finance industry has 70 former members of Congress: Public Citizen, “Stop Congress’ Revolving Door of Corruption,” www.citizen.org.

  56 This includes 33 chiefs of staff, 54 staffers of the House: Arthur Delaney, “Big Bank Takeover: Report Blames Revolving Door for ‘Too Big to Fail,’ ” 11 May 2010, www.huffingtonpost.com.

  57 Five of Senate Banking Committee chair Chris Dodd’s: Kevin Connor, “Big Bank Takeover: How Too-Big-to-Fail’s Army of Lobbyists Has Captured Washington,” Institute for America’s Future, 11 May 2010, www.ourfuture.org.

  58 Of course, the revolving door spins both ways: Arthur Delaney, “Big Bank Takeover: Report Blames Revolving Door for ‘Too Big to Fail,’ ” 11 May 2010, www.huffingtonpost.com.

  59 On the mining front, former Massey chief operating officer: Brad Johnson, “Don Blankenship’s Record of Profits Over Safety: ‘Coal Pays the Bills,’ ” 8 Apr. 2010, www.thinkprogress.org.

  60 At the time of the Upper Big Branch accident he was: Ibid.

  61 And President Bush named Massey executive Richard Stickler: Ibid.

  62 Stickler had such a lousy safety record: Ibid.

  63 That’s what happened when Bush put Edwin Foulke: Stephen Labaton, “OSHA Leaves Worker Safety in Hands of Industry,” 25 Apr. 2007, www.nytimes.com.

  64 Earlier in his career, while serving as chairman: Ibid.

  65 Then there was Bush’s choice of Mary Sheila Gall: “Mary Sheila Gall Named to Chair CPSC,” 20 Apr. 2001, www.consumeraffairs.com.

  66 In her ten years on the commission: Lizette Alvarez, “Consumer Product Safety Chief Sets Deadline to Resign,” 9 Aug. 2001, www.nytimes.com.

  67 She even adopted a “Let them eat marbles” stance: Hearing on the nomination of Mary Sheila Gall to chair the Consumer Product Safety Commission before the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, U.S. Senate, 25 Jul. 2001, www.gpo.gov.

  68 And while I’m all for slapping warnings: Matthew Robinson and Daniel Murphy, Greed Is Good: Maximization and Elite Deviance in America (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2009), 94–95.

  69 Thankfully, the Senate refused to confirm Gall: Caroline E. Mayer, “Senate Panel Rejects Bush’s Choice for Consumer Job,” 3 Aug. 2001, www.sfgate.com.

  70 Undeterred, Bush filled the slot with Harold Stratton: Dap
hne Eviatar, “Toy Story,” 3 Jan. 2008, www.thenation.com.

  71 Following the money once again: Center for Responsive Politics, “Pharmaceuticals/ Health Products: Long-Term Contribution Trends,” 1990–2010, www.opensecrets.org.

  72 In return, the Bush administration served up: Marc Kaufman, “Former FDA Chief Illegally Held Stocks,” 17 Oct. 2006, www.washingtonpost.com.

  73 And, if you want to see “overly cozy” run amok: Charlie Savage, “Sex, Drug Use and Graft Cited in Interior Department,” 10 Sep. 2008, www.nytimes.com.

  74 We saw how all those former Senate and House staffers: Brian Beutler, “Do Baucus’ Ties to Health Care Industry Compromise His Reform Efforts?” 6 Jul. 2009, www.talkingpointsmemo.com.

  75 Among those lobbying Baucus were two of his former chiefs of staff: Dan Eggen and Kimberly Kindy, “Familiar Players in Health Bill Lobbying,” 6 Jul. 2009, www.washingtonpost.com.

  76 And among those on his staff being lobbied: Peter Dreier, “Citizens Confront WellPoint: Poster Child for Health Insurance Reform,” 22 Sep. 2009, www.huffingtonpost.com.

  77 We got an unsettling glimpse of what this: Sam Stein, “Dodd: Treasury Officials Insisted on Weakening Bonus Provision,” 2 Apr. 2009, www.huffingtonpost.com.

  78 Think about that: Even after having been bailed out: Congressional Oversight Panel, “The AIG Rescue, Its Impact on Markets, and the Government’s Exit Strategy,” 10 Jun. 2010, www.cop.senate.gov.

  79 It’s the same kind of inside juice that allowed: Raymond J. Learsy, “The Key Question No One Asked About Goldman’s Role in the AIG Bailout,” 20 Nov. 2009, www.huffingtonpost.com.

  80 a fate that would have a multibillion-dollar impact: Ibid.

  81 The crooked firm’s chairman, Kenneth Lay: Dan Ackman, “Enron Shifts Cash to Democrats,” 27 Dec. 2001, www.forbes.com.

  82 Enron also spent $3.45 million lobbying Congress: Public Citizen, “Blind Faith: How Deregulation and Enron’s Influence over Government Looted Billions from Americans,” Dec. 2001, www.citizen.org.

  83 “Kenny Boy” Lay was known to boast about his “friends at the White House”: Interviews with Ken Lay, Frontline, 27 Mar. 2001, 22 May 2001, www.pbs.org.

  84 friends who helped him engineer the replacement: Robert Scheer, “Connect the Enron Dots to Bush,” 24 Dec. 2001, www.thenation.com.

  85 He also had a lot of input on energy policy: “Enron Had Cheney’s Ear,” 8 Jan. 2002, www.cbsnews.com.

  86 including two with Lay: Michael Abramowitz and Steven Mufson, “Papers Detail Industry’s Role in Cheney’s Energy Report,” 18 Jul. 2007, www.washingtonpost.com.

  87 The last of those meetings took place six days: “Enron Had Cheney’s Ear,” 8 Jan. 2002, www.cbsnews.com.

  88 Back in 2000, Massey was responsible for a coal: Brad Johnson, “Don Blankenship’s Record of Profits over Safety: ‘Coal Pays the Bills,’ ” 8 Apr. 2010, www.thinkprogress.com.

  89 The company very successfully limited the damage: “Two for the Money,” 20 Oct. 2006, www.kentucky.com.

  90 According to Jack Spadaro: Ibid.

  91 And you can’t get any cozier than Linda Daschle: Doug Ireland, “I’m Linda, Fly Me,” 23 Jan. 2003, www.laweekly.com.

  92 But there is no need to worry about familial: Paul Blumenthal, “Daschle, Dole Release Health Care Plan, Forget to Mention They Are Health Care Lobbyists,” 18 Jun. 2009, www.huffingtonpost.com.

  93 Daschle, you’ll recall, came within a few: Jeff Zeleny, “Daschle Ends Bid for Post; Obama Concedes Mistake,” 3 Feb. 2009, www.nytimes.com.

  94 Daschle has also bolstered his personal bottom line: Linda Keenan and Janine R. Wedel, “Shadow Elite: Think BP’s the Bad Guy? Think Bigger, Way Bigger,” 13 May 2010, www.huffingtonpost.com.

  95 Hopefully he wasn’t the one who advised BP: Tim Webb, “BP Boss Admits Job on the Line over Gulf Oil Spill,” 14 May 2010, www.guardian.co.uk.

  96 Tom Daschle is a senator: Arthur Delaney, “How Tom Daschle Lobbies in Secret: Influence Laundering,” 25 Nov. 2009, www.huffingtonpost.com.

  97 Robert Rubin is co-chairman of Goldman Sachs: Eric Dash and Louise Story, “Rubin Leaving Citigroup; Smith Barney for Sale,” 9 Jan. 2009, www.nytimes.com.

  98 Dick Cheney is a congressman: Dan Froomkin, “Halliburton’s Return: Oil Spill Puts Symbol of Cronyism and Corruption Back in the News,” 11 May 2010, www.huffingtonpost.com.

  99 You thought Halliburton had been eradicated: Ibid.

  100 You thought it was over when the Justice Department: Ibid.

  101 You thought reports that Halliburton had allowed: Ibid.

  102 Well, they’re baaa-aaack! And their work sealing: Charlie Cray, “Time to Drill Down into Halliburton’s Role in Big Oil Spill,” 30 Apr. 2010, www.huffingtonpost.com.

  103 Doing a segment on Halliburton’s involvement: Robert F. Kennedy, “Sex, Lies and Oil Spills,” 5 May 2010, www.huffingtonpost.com.

  104 MSNBC’s Chris Matthews couldn’t contain his indignation: Hardball with Chris Matthews, 11 May 2010, www.msnbc.com.

  105 Janine Wedel calls them “flexians”: Linda Keenan and Janine R. Wedel, “Shadow Elite: Think BP’s the Bad Guy? Think Bigger, Way Bigger,” 13 May 2010, www.huffingtonpost.com.

  106 His résumé is the personification: Robert Rubin: Executive Profile and Biography, www.businessweek.com.

  107 Early in 2010, he penned a lengthy essay in Newsweek: Robert E. Rubin, “Getting the Economy Back on Track,” 29 Dec. 2009, www.newsweek.com.

  108 What grabbed my attention was not the 2,500-word piece: Ibid.

  109 Given that the piece is about the: Jonathan Stempel and Dan Wilchins, “Robert Rubin Quits Citigroup Amid Criticism,” 9 Jan. 2009, www.reuters.com.

  110 But that’s how our system “works”: Robert E. Rubin, “Getting the Economy Back on Track,” 29 Dec. 2009, www.newsweek.com.

  111 This from the man who, as Bill Clinton’s Treasury secretary: Timothy A. Canova, “The Legacy of the Clinton Bubble,” Dissent Summer 2008, www.dissentmagazine.org.

  112 and who lobbied the Treasury during the Bush years: Mark Lewis, “Rubin Red-Faced over Enron? Not in the Times,” 11 Feb. 2002, www.forbes.com.

  113 “Politics is like sales”: Simon Johnson and James Kwak, 13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown (New York: Pantheon, 2010), 104.

  114 Just as Ptolemy was convinced: Owen Gingerich and James R. Voelkel, “Tycho and Kepler: Solid Myth Versus Subtle Truth,” Social Research 72, 1 (22 Mar. 2005).

  115 Writing about the “grand book” that is the universe: Galileo Galilei, Discoveries and Opinions of Galileo, trans. and notes by Stillman Drake (New York: Doubleday, 1957), 237–238.

  116 “The struggle of man against power …”: Milan Kundera, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, trans. Aaron Asher (New York: Harper Perennial, 1996), 4.

  117 Until the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Goldman Sachs: Shahien Nasiripour, “Goldman Sachs Fraud Charges Could Be Just the Beginning, Say Analysts,” 16 Apr. 2010, www.huffingtonpost.com.

  118 Six months earlier, the SEC arranged a settlement: Martin Z. Braun and William Selway, “JPMorgan Ends SEC Alabama Swap Probe for $722 Million,” 4 Nov. 2009, www.bloomberg.com.

  119 As part of the settlement, JPMorgan: William Selway and Martin Z. Braun, “JPMorgan Arranging Alabama Swaps Provided Payoffs, SEC Shows,” 5 Nov. 2009, www.bloomberg.com.

  120 We saw the same dynamic played out: Michael J. Merced and Louise Story, “Nearly 700 at Merrill in Million-Dollar Club,” Feb. 2009, www.nytimes.com.

  121 Bank of America executives failed to inform: Ibid.

  122 Bank of America agreed to pay a $33 million fine: Stephen Bernard, “Judge Overturns Bank of America-SEC Settlement over Merrill Bonuses,” Associated Press, 14 Sep. 2009.

  123 A heroic U.S. district judge, Jed Rakoff: Larry Neumeister, “Federal Judge Approves $150 Million Bank of America, SEC Settlement, but Calls It ‘Half-Baked Justice,’ ” Associated Press, 22 Feb. 2010.

  12
4 The SEC and Bank of America came back: Ibid.

  125 The judge said he was forced by judicial restraint: Ibid.

  126 The total amount of fines levied by the SEC: Jonathan Stempel and Rachelle Younglai, “SEC May Wield Stronger Hand After BofA Bonus Case,” 26 Aug. 2009, www.reuters.com.

  127 Three weeks after the Deepwater Horizon: Associated Press, “BP Oil Spill Underwater Video Shows Oil Gushing Like Steam from Geyser,” 13 May 2010.

  128 Within a week, Obama administration officials: “Ken Salazar Calls Gulf Coast Disaster a ‘Grave Scenario’ and ‘Very Catastrophic,’ ” Associated Press, 2 May 2010.

  129 Katrina looked like it could be bad but: Joby Warrick, “White House Got Early Warning on Katrina,” 24 Jan. 2006, www.washingtonpost.com.

  130 Even though we now know that people in the Fed were forecasting: Ryan Grim, “Greenspan Wanted Housing-Bubble Dissent Kept Secret,” 3 May 2010, www.huffingtonpost.com.

  131 But the government promised to protect homeowners: Dan Levy, “U.S. Foreclosure Filings Rise 16% as Bank Seizures Set Record,” 15 Apr. 2010, www.businessweek.com.

  132 In October 2009, the unemployment rate hit 10.2 percent: Peter S. Goodman, “U.S. Unemployment Rate Hits 10.2%, Highest in 26 Years,” 6 Nov. 2009, www.nytimes.com.

  133 When BP first applied to operate the Deepwater Horizon: Marian Wang, “After Spill, More Gulf Drilling Plans Got Environmental Exemptions,” 11 May 2010, www.propublica.org.

  134 Let’s start with Iraq, an unnecessary war: Margaret Griffis, “Casualties in Iraq: The Human Cost of Occupation,” 8 May 2010, www.antiwar.com.

  135 and American taxpayers three-quarters of a trillion: Matthew Duss, Peter Juul, and Brian Katulis, “The Iraq War Ledger: A Tabulation of the Human, Financial, and Strategic Costs,” Center for American Progress, 6 May 2010, www.americanprogress.org.

  136 And for what? As the Center for American Progress: Ibid.

  137 In the run-up to the war, General Eric Shinseki: Eric Schmitt, “Threats and Responses: Military Spending; Pentagon Contradicts General On Iraq Occupation Force’s Size,” 28 Feb. 2003, www.nytimes.com.

  138 U.S. deputy secretary of defense Paul Wolfowitz told Congress: House Committee on the Budget, Hearing on FY 2004 Defense Budget, 27 Feb. 2003.