The Great Compromise

"I used to sleep at the foot of old glory

And awake in the dawn's early light

But much to my surprise

When I opened my eyes

I was a victim of the great compromise"

For those of you scoring at home, that's John Prine from...I don't even know when.  I also don't know, btw, which of the many great compromises our government has served up to us that he is so eloquently referencing.  Probably Vietnam and the faux populism wars like that demand.

Regardless, I'm feeling it now.  I think the Treasury Department needs some sort of slogan for the cash shoveling currently underway:  "Bankers and Financiers First!"  "No Banker Left Behind!"  Something...

And while I'm not ready to take up my pitchfork and join the "populist uprising" or express confederacy with the misplaced outrage of the Rick Santellis of this world, I am indeed starting to lose the faith.  And though I am far from an expert in the complex economic issues at play here, I understand enough to sense the swirling sound of "hope and change" sliding into the sewer hole with the mountains of cash we're feeding to the criminally inept folks who created this mess.  

Meanwhile, the recipients of our cash infusions send us notices that, well, darnit, we're just going to have to tweak up your interest rate by 6 or 8 points, or raise your insurance premium by 40% due to "economic circumstances beyond our control..."