The End Game

As my readers all know, I recently finished Jean Edward Smith’s biography of FDR. So naturally, this article in The Washington Post caught my eye.

75 Years Later, a Regulator Who Would Make FDR Proud

Bair is everything you'd want in a public servant: thoughtful, practical, independent-minded -- a straight shooter with political savvy who can manage the details of policy without losing sight of the big picture. She's no grandstander, but she isn't shy about going public with concerns if she thinks it will help her inside game. She never forgets that her most important constituency isn't the thousands of banks she regulates but the millions of Americans who use them.

It’s an extraordinary article in that I can’t remember ever seeing such a glowing assessment of a government employee -- much less a regulator -- in many a year. It’s well worth the short time it will take you to read it. Be sure to take note of who brought Ms. Bair to Washington. It might surprise you.

After you read that story, think about the images of the Wall Street suits doing the perp walk yesterday on the evening news. In case you missed it, you can read about it at the Financial Times.

Ex-Bear Stearns fund managers on US charges

What do you think ? Do you think they’ll do any time ? Much less hard time ?

The last little morsel I’d like you to mull over is a very short blog entry from Paul Krugman.

”My second biggest concern is that “Unity” means never having to say you’re sorry: that in the name of putting past partisanship behind us, the next administration will sweep the abuses of the past 8 years under the rug, the same way Bill Clinton did in 1993; the result of that decision was that the very same people responsible for Iran-Contra showed up subverting our democracy all over again. “

I, of course, relate all these issues back to air traffic control. Was there a regulator or any balancing force within the government warning you about the abuses taking place at the FAA ? Will anyone responsible for this mess be taking a “perp walk” on TV ? Or will they just show up later (probably working for a contractor) to damage your aviation system for their personal gain ? Again.

Don Brown
June 25, 2008