Brent Budowsky, The Hill, November 20, 2007
In our two Americas, this holiday season will be the best of times for some and the worst of times for others, and it is a moment to give thanks not for what we have, but to those who live their lives in the true spirit of America.
Last year at this time there was news of soaring bonuses on Wall Street, including some very lavish rewards for those most responsible for the mortgage financing crisis. We will soon read of lavish bonuses again, and of executives at some offending companies reaping hundreds of millions of dollars of personal wealth through legal insider stock sales as their reward for the American tragedy they helped cause.
In one America this Thanksgiving oil prices drive to $100 a barrel, gas prices impose pain on average Americans, and home heating oil rises to punishing heights while some reap record profits from the dictatorship of oil. In the other America there is much work for those who feed the hungry, clothe the needy and heal the hurting among us.
Meanwhile, the number of foreclosures rises through the roof. Many good Americans will spend this Thanksgiving losing their homes, or nervously praying the court order does not arrive while their frail holiday tree hosts modest gifts given with great love.
The sales of luxury presents will be solid at the great shops that cater to the high incomes of one America, while workers in the other America will be searching for bargains at the Wal-Marts, trying to afford their holiday presents sandwiched between skyrocketing gas prices and rising food costs.