Mob rule 080211

The links between crime and politics are ancient and well documented.   The caveman hunter would bribe his chieftain with a choice cut of mastodon for a choice mate or soft rock for his head.  When Nero fiddled, contractors lined up with bribes for large urban renewal contracts.  During the age of discovery politicians stole from the natives and lost their piles of loot to pirates who bought their way into the political power elite.

Americans claim exceptionalism from the evils of the Old World, but it was settled by refugees and schemers from that world.  The American exception was its fresh opportunities for criminal and political inventiveness.  There was money to be made in America.  Laws were written for maximum profit.  Criminals installed their own politicians creating machine politics, which governed for the benefit of criminal mobs.  Mobs came to own many local governments.  Old World get rich quick gangs flocked to the New World.  Violent turf battles raged across the country.  Crime bosses sent their children to the best schools and they return to the family business. 

This new generation knew how to leverage their power and laundry their loot.  They invested in their criminal enterprise with Wall Street moves, campaign donations along with support for arts and charities.  A cloak of legitimacy wrapped the same old violent activities of extortion, drugs, robbery and murder and the profits grew larger.

No longer strong arm “hoods” it is now respected public figures that exerts criminal influence on national and international governments.  Dirty money is laundered through municipal and national triple “A” bonds.  The mobs' interests are now tied to the safety, surety and profitability of these financial instruments.  The mobs maybe fronted by “respectable” bosses but they have a host of “knee breakers” to deploy when their fortunes are threatened.

Congress is playing political “chicken” with the nation.  The rhetoric is hot, loud and dis-information.  The budget problem is a congressional problem brought on by both parties over a number of years.  The Constitution clearly gives that responsibility to Congress but it has failed in its duties.  The beginning of the fiscal year was moved from July to October because Congress couldn’t pass a budget by July first.  Congress couldn’t even draft a budget so the Executive branch began to submit a draft based on legislative appropriations, which obligated more than expected income.  Planning to spend more than comes in is called deficit spending, which becomes national debt when actually spent.  National debt grows because Congress repeats it failures year after year, which is compounding not only the problem but also interest on the debt.   

 The political circus in Washington for the past few weeks threatens the economy, the national standing among states but also the fortunes of linked criminal enterprises.  It is probable that mob’s polite influence on Congressmen and Senators will not be enough to prevent an economic slide.  If mob “soft power” is not adequate then it maybe time to send in the knee breakers to the halls of power to protect national economic interest. 

It’s like leading an American Mule; first you have to get its attention with a sharp crack between the ears.