Getting to the Meat of the Problem

It's ironic that people who hate government — corporate interests and right-wing ideologues — are now in charge of running it. Not surprisingly, they do a sorry job, either because they're incompetent or they just don't want government to work. Putting them in charge, however, is more than ironic, it is downright dangerous for the larger public, which counts on a vigorous government.

The latest example comes from the agriculture department, which is supposed to assure the safety of such basics as America's meat supply. However, under the Bushites, the lobbyists and ideologues have steadily slashed enforcement budgets, limited inspections and punched loopholes in the rules so big slaughterhouses can cut corners on our food safety.

Their lackadaisical, laissez-fair approach to their job recently led to the largest beef recall in history, a third of which had already been shipped to such nutrition programs as school lunches. Well, you might think, at least the ag officials caught the perpetrators.

Wrong. It was the Humane Society that blew the whistle on a California slaughterhouse that was abusing cattle and putting sick cows called "downers" into America's food supply. Downers are so sick they can't stand up — a sign of illness that's even associated with mad cow disease. These lame, unhealthy cows had been banned from use as human food — until last year, when industry officials very quietly slipped a loophole into the ban, thus allowing beef processing corporations to slaughter downers and sell the meat to our families.

True to their corporate servility and ideological nuttiness, Bush ag officials stood with the industry, rather than the public, reaffirming their support for the downer loophole. Then they even chastised the Humane Society for going outside of official channels to inform the public.

THE HOMES OF HENRY KRAVIS

Let's take another peek into the "Lifestyles of the Rich and Cranky."

The old rich pride themselves in ...

well, in having some pride. For example, they tend to set their venerable mansions behind tall walls and shrubs that discreetly obscure their wealth. It's a matter of class.

On the other hand, the new rich are more inclined to crassly flaunt their abundance, building garish houses that amount to neon signs screaming, "Look how rich I am, sucker!"

How surprising, then, that one of the showiest of these look-at-me celebrities of wealth has gotten pouty about being featured in a movie that, after all, is about him. He's Henry Kravis of Manhattan, South Hampton and ... well, so many places.

In Henry's life, everything is about him. He heads an eponymous Wall Street equity firm that essentially borrows money to take over corporations that other people built. To pay off his lenders, Kravis sells off whole chunks of the captured corporation. Then he fires thousands of workers, slashes the wages and benefits of those who remain, and pockets the savings for himself.

In days of yore, such predators were called pirates. But pirates could not have imagined the level of gold plundered by the likes of Kravis. How rich is he? In 2006, he made $51,369. Not for the year, of course. Nor for a month, a week or even a day. Kravis hauled in $51,369 per hour, every hour of every day. That's what $450 million a year comes to. He grabbed more in 30 minutes than many of his downsized workers make in a whole year.

Far from being discreet, Henry flaunts his piracy with luxurious homes and a lavish lifestyle. Indeed, that's what the movie is about. It's titled: "The War on Greed, Starring Henry Kravis and his Homes."

Henry hates the movie. But I'll bet you'll like it. Check it out at www.warongreed.org.

To find out more about Jim Hightower, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.

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