The topic below was originally posted on my blog, the Intrepid Liberal Journal.

I first became aware of William Greider after the publication of his 1981 Atlantic Monthly profile of President Reagan's embattled Office of Management and Budget Director ("OMB"), David Stockman. At the time I was just a kid and the Reagan administration insisted they could simultaneously balance the budget, cut taxes and increase defense spending exponentially.

Greider's reporting however exposed that even Stockman, doubted the fiscal prudence of Reaganomics. After the article's publication, Stockman absorbed public humiliation when President Reagan took him "to the woodshed." I trace that article as a seminal moment in my own political awareness.

The topic below was originally posted at the Intrepid Liberal Journal.

Arguably America's greatest trial lawyer, Clarence Darrow, famously once said,

"First and last, it's a question of money. Those men who own the earth make the laws to protect what they have. They fix up a sort of fence or pen around what they have, and they fix the law so the fellow on the outside cannot get in. The laws are really organized for the protection of the men who rule the world. They were never organized or enforced to do justice. We have no system for doing justice, not the slightest in the world."

Reading this morning's headlines about A.I.G. utilizing $165 million of their $170 billion tax payer financed bailout for bonuses, reminded me of Darrow's insight. The excuse being offered after all is that a "contract is a contract" and A.I.G. must fulfill their obligations.

Isn't it curious how contracts are deemed sacrosanct for Wall Street beneficiaries but not blue-collar members of unions in the auto industry? Unions are expected to get "realistic" and " renegotiate" their contracts but moneyed elites are allowed to carry on as before. Anyone who has the temerity to point out the contradiction is "unreasonable," "angry," "extreme," or heaven forbid, one of those "crazy left wing bloggers."

Understanding and Accepting a Crisis
by Cody Lyon
The anonymous analyst said that Wall Street is all about leverage, going on to charge that leverage is like odds, you bet one, but if you lose, you lose a thousand.

During that same conversation at a downtown bar, the analyst said that Wall Streets assets are based on synthetic value, mere blips on a screen than actual assets.