Should the mutual back-scratching stop?

It seems to be that honour, integrity and a sense of decency are in short supply for those in public life. John McCain has got caught up with a character called Charles Keating. I don't think McCain has done anything particular wrong except to be around a man who "spread a lot of money around Washington, and it was time to call in his chits". This is what I read on azcentral.com in an article titled "McCain Profile: The Keating Five".

The United States has a format for matching public funds with that raised by contributions. No political party can exist past the one-man-band stage without funding. That's a given. However, it's the way the money is collected that matters.

This Keating appears to have been a bit of a ducker and diver in his time. His savings and loan business was going the same way as the proverbial handbasket, or in his case handcart. So he wanted favours. Apparently he said, "McCain's a wimp" when he heard that McCain was nervous of a meeting with him.

Do we really want the likes of Keating sniffing around the Congressional halls, without an ounce of moral fibre, seeking out senators and members of the House in order to "call in their chits"?

It's the legalised crooks like Keating who have brought us to this sorry pass. Ironically, this all happened in March 1987. That's over 21 years ago! Then we knew that there was recklessness in the accounting system. It's been mounting up ever since. Thankfully, the greedy banker was ultimately convicted of swindling investors, but only ELEVEN years later in 1998!

So, should the mutual back-scratching stop? I say YES, because this is not free enterprise. It is covert corporatism, with the average person catching the cold!

Posted in: bail-out,banks,corporate sleaze,free enterprise,John McCain