Fractured Prisms

Refracted light allows us to see,
The spectrum of colors
Of self-righteousness
With certainty.

And so it is with moral conflicts,
That begins with clarity,
Belying the underside of
Destruction, pity, and
The last refuges of piety.

Since creativity, Wars of certainty
Began and ended in despoliation.
Followed by peace, and bereavement,
From generation to generation:

History records twenty-seven wars
Since seventy-hundred and seventy-six,
And twenty smaller conflicts in between.
With casualties of 3.2 million,
Most of them unforeseen.

Young men and women lost in just nine generations,
Not counting civilians caught up in the hypnotism.
Like splinters of light reflected by a terrible War prism.

The spectrum of primary colors was stained ‘dread,’
In the fourth quarter of the Eighteenth Century,
From the Revolutionary and Indian Wars,
That left forty thousand dead.

In the Nineteenth Century, the color was Vermillion,
Following the War of 1812; the Civil War; and
The Spanish-American War, we had lost
Another million.

Not to be outdone by victories attained,
The Twentieth Century color was Bloodstain.
WW I, WW II, Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf,
And twenty-six other armed conflicts,
Cost the lives of 2.2 million conscripts.

Now here we are six years later,
We are the hated not the hater.
Iraq and Afghanistan are the quid pro quo,
Twenty-Two thousand casualties,
And only ninety-four more years to go!















…inspired by reading Goldensohn, Lorrie, American War Poetry, (Columbia Press, 2006),
and Grandetita.

Aristocratizing America

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

The Shrinking Importance of Americans
ARISTOCRACIZING AMERICABeginning with The Bank Holding Act of 1956[1] that exempted Industrial Loan Companies from federal banking regulations except for keeping them eligible for government- sponsored FDIC insurance, these secondary lenders were a valuable source of high interest loans to a public segment otherwise unbankable. A financial stranglehold has proliferated on all citizens, however, because of misusing an otherwise well conceived statute.Today, Industrial Loan Corporation charters are open to non-bank corporations wanting to own a financial institution without becoming subject to the provisions of the Bank Holding Company Act. These “Credit Card Companies,” with federal deposit insurance protection, are endowed by Congress with “most favored lender” treatment and “exportation” rights pursuant to the Federal Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980[2], a statute enacted to allow a special interest group to usurp all State usury laws, and charge outrageous interest on credit card purchases that masquerade as punitive fees, elected by the card-holder, as an addition to contractually high interest rates.Only California, Colorado, and Utah offer charters for Industrial Loan Corporations that are eligible for FDIC insurance to exempt them from abiding by bank regulatory statutes, and other State usury laws. In 1986, only the Utah legislature enacted a statute that “mandates” all Industrial Loan Corporations be insured by the FDIC, and be allowed to use the words “bank” and “savings” in their name. [3] This act enhanced the value of their State charters for non-bank Industrial Loan Corporations (previously tainted by the failure of Utah’s privatized Industrial Loan Guaranty Corporation that resulted in numerous problems for state politicians including depositor lawsuits.)[4]The Competitive Equality Banking Act was passed by Congress in 1987 to change the definition of “bank” to include any institution having FDIC insurance but specifically exempted Industrial Loan Corporations from other bank regulations if, among other things, such corporation, “...organized under the laws of a State which, on March 5, 1987, had in effect, or had under consideration in such State’s legislature, a statute which required or would require such institution to obtain insurance under the FDIC Act.”[5] Utah was thereafter prepared for the “gold rush” of domiciling credit card companies. From 1994 to 1998, at least eighteen major credit card companies obtained Utah State Charters to operate as Industrial Loan Corporations, including American Express, First USA, GE Capital Financial, and Providian Bank. Combined these accounted for over $18 billion in consumer debts in 1998. Today, these chartered “banks,” joined by almost 200 others account for $two trillion of outstanding credit card debts-- half of which constitute egregious interest charges and punitive fees (the latter a euphemism for even higher interest rates) that often double the cost of an original purchase on a revolving account. The constitutionality of State and consumer rights to fair and statutory interest is rarely challenged when federal legislation benefits the gigantism of credit card “banks” and their lobbying at all political levels, not to mention the largess of their political action committees (PACs) and soft money contributions.”[6] (MBNA, a major company made political contributions of $3.5 million in the last election, and the credit card industry as a whole is estimated to have contributed $19.2 million, two-thirds going to the Republicans).[7] Pernicious consumer laws become accepted doctrine by default because they are rarely tested against the metrics of our founding fathers that entitles every American citizen to freedom from legalized forms of oppression---economic, as well as religious.Not content with the Utah lottery that entraps the American public into over-shopping then paying credit card companies twice for the privilege, or the merchant clients who also pay fees, discounts, and collection days to credit card companies for the privilege of selling merchandise, the Congress passed consumer bankruptcy law reforms(?) to prevent hard-pressed American consumers from their constitutional right of due process to declare bankruptcy and obtain relief from their accumulated and burdensome debts including credit cards, exorbitant fees, and horrendous interest. This new law raises all credit card debts to the same priority as income taxes arrearages (taxes are not dischargeable in bankruptcy). In U.S. history, no other type of indebtedness enjoyed such privileged status.[8] Senator Orin Hatch (R-Utah), and former chair of the Judiciary Committee that created this travesty, is quoted as saying, “This bill will do an awful lot for the good people in our society”. Article 1 of The Constitution grants powers to Congress to regulate bankruptcy for the purpose of “enacting laws of hope,” but can the debtor’s stockades be far behind?Congress is unaffected by the burdensome consequences of having American citizens pay exorbitant and no longer illegal interest and fees that masquerade as punishments, but our politicians continue to profit politically from the payback of passing the Bank Holding Act of 1956. Do we not have political aristocrats who cloak themselves as selfless public servants to further enrich their regal benefactors as well as themselves?Please let me know your thoughts....Thanks!End Notes:[1] 12 U.S.C. x 1841(c)(2)(H).[2] Section 521, 12 U.S.C. x 1831d(a).[3] Utah Code x 7-8-5(3)(a)(iv).[4] A fund created by State statute in 1975.[5] ref: 12 U.S.C. x1841(c)(2)(H) and 12 U.S.C. x1811.[6] ibid., March 15, p. A22.[7] ibid., March 13, p.A14.[8] NY Times, March 13,15, 2001, pp. A1-14 and A22, respectively.
Post a Comment

DID YOU SEE…

…the Great Wall of China,
Built to keep out invading hordes, or
The Berlin Wall,
That kept out competitors?

Then you must see the
Great Wall of Mexico,
Built by Americans,
To keep out friendly Sẽnors.

Oh, the sky over it, and
The ground under it,
Are shared with delight,
The threat to America
Comes from the flight,
Of poor but honest Sĕnors,
Who pay their taxes,
To do the chores that
America abhors.

The fence is high, and
Topped with wires,
The US side looks in
With spite such sight
Inspires—beckoning,
Mimicking, and taunting
Those who work the land,
And live with haunting fright.

The Great Wall of Mexico,
Built for votes and false hopes.
Separating land from man, where
A man’s land is his treasure.
Where laws were writ to protect
Property before human rights,
And immortality is passing land
from an older to a younger man.

“Stay on your side,” we shout, “or
We’ll run you out!”
Stay on your side, and
Throw stones at my wall,
So they may be thrown
Back at you, Sĕnor.
We are frightened of others,
Whom we cannot see,
Yet you were always free
To labor here and then go,
Before we closed our doors to Mexico,

But Montezuma will have his revenge;
This is one government program that can
Be impeded,
There are no Mexicans left to complete it!