Fighting, Not Resisting Poem by gershon hepner

Wall Street bankers now are not resisting,
but they are fighting against all restrictions,
and on their annual bonuses insisting
despite economists’ most dire predictions
that the S.S. America is sailing
towards an iceberg field like the Titanic;
we have a President who’s will is failing,
although it’s far more rational to panic
than sit with folded hands and make nice speeches
to people who are selfish, rich and greedy.
No good doctor should allow the leeches
to run his practice, and the ones who’re needy
should not allow people who are wealthy
to fill their pockets which, so full of holes,
will not when filled make those who’re needy healthy,
however hard the Fed crams them with rolls
of endless money that we’re forced to borrow
from China, who today may share our goals,
but won’t, I think, when we default tomorrow.


Inspired by a column by Arianna Huffington in Hufffington Post, September 15,2009 (Why Obama Won’t Be Able to Reform Wall Street”) :
Listening to President Obama's heartfelt, well-intentioned, but ultimately naïve speech on financial reform today, my mind kept flashing on a story I heard the last time Washington, in the wake of the Enron scandal, promised to reform Wall Street. The story came from a friend who took a family trip on a cruise ship. Her 10-year-old son kept pestering the crew, begging for a chance to drive the massive ocean liner. The captain finally invited the family up to the bridge, whereupon the boy grabbed hold of the wheel and began vigorously turning it. My friend panicked - until the captain leaned over and told her not to worry, that the ship was on autopilot, and that her son's maneuvers would have no effect. And that's the way it is with our leaders. They stand on the bridge making theatrical gestures they claim will steer us in a new direction while, down in the control room, the autopilot, programmed by politicians in the pocket of special interests, continues to guide the ship of state along its predetermined course. Standing on the deck at historic Federal Hall, the president said all the right things, eloquently pointing out how American taxpayers had 'shouldered the burden of the bailout' and are 'still bearing the burden of the fallout - in lost jobs, lost homes, and lost opportunities.'…
But when the president actually delivered the line, he edited it, saying instead that Wall Street should 'embrace serious reform, not resist it.' That one-word change says everything you need to know about why all the president's well-intentioned pronouncements won't actually lead to fundamental reform. The president is utterly misreading the opponents of reform. They are not passively resisting; they are aggressively fighting against reform with every weapon they have in their extremely well-funded arsenal. As a result, Obama's rhetoric has not been matched by reality. In his speech today, the president claimed that the actions of his administration have 'spurred lending' and 'helped responsible homeowners refinance to stem the tide of lost homes and lost home values.' But, in truth, credit for Main Street is still very hard to come by, and only 12 percent of eligible homeowners have had their mortgages modified by the president's home ownership plan. Meanwhile cramdown legislation remains lobbyist roadkill (though Barney Frank is vowing to revive it this fall) and mandatory mediation between homeowners and lenders prior to foreclosure is going nowhere on a national level. That's why I could picture all the heads of the big banks sitting there today, listening to Obama and smiling - knowing that, in the end, his claim that his administration is 'proposing the most ambitious overhaul of the financial system since the Great Depression' won't mean anything as long as Wall Street's relentless lobbying and contributing continue to hold sway in the control room of the S.S. America.

9/15/09