The Hightower Report

Nader's Novel Idea

Okay, maybe you're one who still stews about Ralph Nader's presidential campaigns – but give the guy credit for his lifetime of confronting corporate arrogance, his inventive thinking to produce effective reforms, and his tireless advocacy for economic fairness and social justice.

Nader's great strength is that he has always been a big thinker, willing to propose solutions that at first blush seem to be impossible. He's at it again. This time with, of all things, a novel bearing the un-Naderesque title of Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!

Using such real-life characters as Warren Buffett, Bill Cosby, George Soros, and Yoko Ono, Nader imagines a meeting in Maui at which 17 of these older, unconventional, superrich philanthropists realize that their individual charitable donations to various "good-guy" causes are not making any widespread difference in how things work. So they decide to pool their megabillions into a unified agenda for structural economic and political change that can transform America into a true egalitarian society.

Nader's novel is the tale of the titanic power struggle that ensues, including dramatic moments of intrigue and (who would believe it?) romping humor!

The significance of this work is that Nader sees it not as a novel but as "a fictional vision" that might come true. For example, what if such a group put $50 billion or $100 billion behind the single-payer, "Medicare-for-all" health care idea? That would alter the political dynamic, rally the grassroots, and make true reform possible.

Nader is already having conversations with a few of his superrich "characters" who are at least intrigued by his audacious vision. To connect with the real-life effort behind the novel, go to www.onlythesuperrich.org. Imagine if life were to imitate fiction.

Reining in the Gods of the Fed

This story would be comic, were it not so serious. It's about "The Fed," a hydra-headed creature of enormous power that exercises its power from within the midst of a Washington, D.C., marble cavern that is unapproachable by commoners.

The Fed is the Federal Reserve, which is a private, for-profit bank run by and mostly for other big bankers. But it's also its own, secretive branch of our national government. The Fed creates its own money, sets our interest rates, regulates Wall Street, and – as we've recently learned the hard way – bails out Wall Street.

The Fed operates largely beyond the purview of Congress or even the White House, and both the media and the public are essentially shut out from scrutinizing its financial machinations. The banking gods who dwell within The Fed's temple are said to have knowledge, even wisdom, that the rest of us cannot fathom, so they must be left alone to make their decisions.

But, wait. Aren't these the same omniscient gods that failed to see – much less forestall – the looming financial disaster that Wall Street finaglers were building atop a very shaky housing market? Yes, the gods were so intoxicated with the fumes of their own conventional wisdom that they failed abjectly as regulators, as public servants – and, most certainly, as gods.

Yet, without apologizing for (or even acknowledging) their failure, these denizens of the temple now insist that Congress entrust them with even more authority over our financial well-being. However, many lawmakers – led by such longtime knowledgeable Fed critics as Rep. Ron Paul and Sen. Bernie Sanders – are daring to challenge the gods, proposing steps to rein in their arrogance, aloofness, and authority. For more information on this challenge, contact the watchdog group OMB Watch at www.ombwatch.org/fiscal_stewardship.