Reckless!: How Debt, Deregulation, and Dark Money Nearly Bankrupted America (And How We Can Fix It!) - Hardcover

Dorgan, Byron L.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312383037 ISBN 13: 9780312383039

Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books, 2009

Synopsis

As one of only eight senators to vote against bank deregulation, Byron Dorgan warned America that a free-market system left unchecked is like a driving a car at ninety miles per hour without brakes. With the recent financial collapse having proven him right, Dorgan exposes this modern-day carnival of greed and calls out the corporate executives who reap millions and even billions as a “reward” for self-interest and mismanagement. More poignantly, he argues that public officials we elect to represent the best interests of the people have sold us out, as government has become a partner to Big Oil, Big Media, and Big Pharma. 
In his prairie-populist voice peppered with incisive wit, Dorgan argues that we must rescue the economy from the influence of financial conglomerates and power brokers, and to hold our public officials accountable for regulating the economy.

About this title

About the Author:

SENATOR BYRON DORGAN has served as senator from North Dakota since December 1992. In 1998, Dorgan was named the chairman of the Democratic Policy Committee, a position held by many before they become Majority Leader.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

Chapter One

The Good Old Days: I Remember When . . .

There’s an old story about the drunk who came before the judge charged with setting a mattress on fire. He said, "Judge, that bed was on fire when I got in it!"

 

Right!

 

It’s a silly thought. But I’ll bet there are a fair number of young people in our country who look at what has happened and what is happening in our country in just the past decade and make the same point: "Hey, that was happening when I showed up on the scene."

 

Remember, those graduating from high school this year were in first grade when the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal enveloped the Clinton administration. They were in fourth grade when we were attacked on 9/11. They were in fifth grade when President George W. Bush started making plans to invade the country of Iraq. They listened all through high school to a U.S. President insist that our country had the right to torture certain prisoners who might be terrorists. They heard their President claim he had the right to order wiretapping on telephone conversations in our country in order to protect us from these terrorists.

 

They were in grade school when Enron collapsed and we found out that one of the largest energy companies in the United States was also, in part, a criminal enterprise making money the underhanded way—by cheating its customers. And they would have seen the television commercials advertising home mortgages to people who had bad credit and couldn’t pay their bills. They may not have known how out of line that was as compared to a time when their grandparents and great-grandparents saved up to buy things and knew that keeping their financial house in order was essential.

 

They have, during their school years, attended class about 12,000 hours and watched about 20,000 hours of television. They have been fed a steady diet of sex and violence on television since they were first able to handle a remote control.

 

And in 2008 they saw the meltdown of the stock market and an economic crisis unparalleled since the 1930s.

 

In short, those graduating from high school this year have in their brief lives seen, heard, and experienced so much in this age of instant communication.

 

Even in the middle of an economic crisis and cultural change, I know there are plenty of positive things in their young lives as well, starting with computers and the Internet, which brings that ability to communicate with the world to their fingertips in just a nanosecond.

 

Still, it’s probably not surprising that, having grown up in the past decade of these strange times, young Americans, especially, seem determined to change things. And they are deciding to get involved in politics. That is a healthy sign. For the first time in many decades, the 2008 political campaign was marked by an outpouring of energy and commitment by young people. They were demanding change.

 

And, not surprisingly, in the 2008 campaign candidates from both major parties called for change. Change.

 

But "change"is just a word. What exactly needed to change?

 

In a word, I think the issue was trust. The American people had lost faith in their government’s ability to tell the truth and to lead.

 

By mid-2008, President Bush’s approval rating had dropped to a historic low of 26 percent. No institution can survive long without confidence in both the honesty and leadership of those in charge.

 

Frankly, while some in politics might cheer the sinking poll ratings of a President of the other party, it gives me no pleasure. It hurts our country when the American people have lost confidence in their leadership. But the American people have a right to demand change when they feel our country is off track.

 

Clearly, many of our problems have been brewing for some time. But the flaws of the past administration have on nearly every issue, from budget deficits, the war, and torture to the economy, the environment, and more, shaken the faith of those who long to respect and trust their government.

 

I have learned that sometimes government is able to move forward despite itself, but it rarely moves very far without the push of the people behind it. America cannot advance if its citizens do not have the information and the will to do so. The purpose of this book is to provide a measure of both. Nothing happens without you.

 

It seems as if we are in this big boat together and, though there is some splashing going on, we are not rowing together, and it is unsettling to note that for too long no one appeared to be steering!

 

When government is unable or unwilling to effectively lead, it is the place and the duty of its people to lead government. Not only do you have a right to be heard, but you also have an obligation to speak out when America takes a wrong turn.

 

But as I pointed out in my introduction, let’s not lose sight of the many things that are right about America even as we address the things that are not.

 

AN ANGRY OLD MAN

 

It was at a town meeting I was holding in a small North Dakota town one evening that a thin old man got to his feet shouting, "Our government is worthless! There isn’t one damn thing it can do right."The veins in his neck bulged and his red face and narrow eyes made it clear that this anger wasn’t just for effect.

 

I know that government sometimes does things that make our blood boil. So I wasn’t surprised by the passion shown by the old man. But I was curious what prompted his anger.

 

Following the meeting, as people were filing out of the hall, an elderly gray-haired woman came up to me and said, "Don’t mind Ernie! He just had open-heart surgery and he gets pretty upset and emotional about a lot of things these days."

 

Interesting, I thought. This old guy must have had his heart surgery paid through the Medicare insurance program. So I went over to him as he was headed out the door and said, "Thanks for giving me your opinion. Let me ask you, do you have Medicare?"

 

"Yup,"he said. "I just had heart surgery with my Medicare plan."

 

"So, you must think at least that one government program works?"I asked.

 

"Medicare ain’t government, it’s Medicare!"he snorted as he stomped off into the night muttering to himself.

 

Well, in these situations you win some and you lose some. Of course, Medicare is a government program. And it does work. Not perfectly, and not without modifications from time to time, but time and time again it outperforms private health care when it comes to cost and efficiency. But in the years since then I have thought a lot about that old man and his anger about government and what it means for our country.

 

While skepticism is required of citizens these days, the loss of trust between Washington, D.C., and people like Ernie is troubling. Government has long been a target of critics and comedians, and I believe this is not only often well deserved but also healthy. But it is easy to lump all of it into one mass of human incompetence. And believe me, I have seen plenty of government waste and incompetence and spent much of my time in Congress trying to stamp it out. But I have also seen so many examples of people working together through government to move our country forward.

 

Our 24/7 media and talking-head culture help reinforce the notion of government’s incompetence. However, life is never as black and white as it seems. Gray areas abound.

 

When have you ever heard the evening newscast begin with a positive story about a government program that worked to help a family get through tough times with food stamps or unemployment benefits? Have you heard a news story about the young man or woman who was able to go to college only because there was an opportunity for a Pell Grant from the government? Or perhaps the government researcher at the National Institutes of Health who makes a breakthrough discovery of a vaccine that provides a cure for a disease? No. Good news doesn’t sell. The evening news largely reports accidents, crime, scandal, incompetence, and what doesn’t work. I understand that it is all news, but it leaves the impression that everything is wrong and nothing is right. And, of course, that is not accurate.

 

Skepticism in America is necessary. But if we allow it to destroy our capacity for optimism, we cannot maintain any measure of greatness. I am not speaking about false optimism. I’m talking about the enlightened involvement by the people of this nation that I believe offers nearly unlimited potential. My belief has never changed. But after these years in the U.S. Congress I understand more than ever that our government has a lot of work to do to regain people’s trust and help restore that optimism.

 

And in 2008, when the American people most needed a government they could trust and leaders they could count on to steer us through the economic and financial crisis, the distrust in government undermined the ability of the government to lead.

 

For the sake of our country, this has to change. And it starts with each of us. It is our job to create a government we can trust and rely on to represent the real "public interest."

 

MY JOURNEY TO THIS PLACE

 

Let me share with you just a portion of my journey from a town of three hundred people in rural North Dakota to the U.S. Senate. It has been one that helped form my values and passions about public service and public policy.

 

When I left my small hometown to go off to college and then left my home state to get a graduate degree, a political career was the last thing on my mind. I grew up in a family with a progressive philosophy rooted in the Farmers Union movement. And while in college and in graduate school I became increasingly interested in government policies—especially prompted by the controversial debates about the war in Vietnam.

 

It was for that reason I moved back to my home state at age twenty-five and accepted an offer to work in state government with a new, interesting thirty- eight-year- old Harvard Law graduate who had just been elected State Tax Commissioner (an elective office in my state). He was from a small town of eighty people in northwestern North Dakota. He had gone off to study at Harvard and had come back determined to make a difference for our state, and when invited by him, I decided to move back and become a part of that effort as his deputy in a sizable agency in the State Capitol Building.

 

During the following year and a half, we became good friends as we worked together on tax and economic policies. I admired him a great deal.

 

A phone call I received early one morning changed everything for me. It was a call from the tax commissioner’s father asking me to check to see if his son was in his capitol office. He had been staying temporarily at his parents’ home because of some marital difficulties and his father said he had not returned home the past evening. I told his father I doubted he was in, because his office lights were not on. But I would check.

 

As I unlocked his office door in the State Capitol Building that morning at about eight o’clock, I sensed something was wrong. I could not possibly have known how what I was about to discover would change my life for decades to come.

 

I was stunned by a sight that took my breath away. My boss, my friend, was slumped over his desk with his hand on the telephone. I could tell immediately that he was dead. And I could tell by other things in the room that he had taken his own life.

 

I was devastated.

 

First, and foremost, he was my friend. And I was filled with grief.

 

We had over a hundred people in the State Capitol Building office that morning, and I knew as his deputy I had responsibilities to find a way to take care of things in the middle of what was sure to become a shocking, sensational statewide news story. I was twenty-six years old at the time. When it was all over, I felt a whole lot older.

 

Medical teams and people from law enforcement and, finally, the coroner’s office converged on the eighth floor of the State Capitol. I called the Governor, and he and I called the employees of the agency together to tell them of the tragedy. It was one of the saddest, most chaotic, and tragic mornings of my life.

 

Six weeks later, the Governor called me to his office and asked me to accept an appointment to fill the vacancy as state tax commissioner.

 

It was both an unexpected and bittersweet opportunity, born of sorrow at the loss of a friend. But I hope my years of public service are recognized to be an extension of the work of both my friend the tax commissioner as well as the Governor who gave a very young man a chance.

 

In the ensuing years, I stood successfully for election as state tax commissioner. Then I ran successfully for the U.S. House and finally for the U.S. Senate, pinching myself along the way to make sure it was all real.

 

The memories I have of the man I succeeded under those tragic circumstances serve as a reminder to me that an elected position makes one neither greater nor less human and vulnerable.

 

While the majority of my compassion is reserved for the people I represent, I save some for my colleagues and opponents whose work is not easy or often appreciated. I try not to lose sight of the fact that most of us want what is best for the country. We just don’t always agree on the method.

 

THE UNSHAKABLE FAITH IN THE FUTURE OF OUR FOREFATHERS

 

My roots in a small farming community have also been a steadying force in my public service in the intervening years. I learned a lot even if I did not realize it at the time. Almost all of my public service has been informed and influenced by the culture I grew up in.

 

I realize now that although the immigrants who came to settle the northern Great Plains had faced much harder times than most of us, they possessed an unshakable optimism about this young country. Those pioneers who came to the prairies to raise a family and work a farm as a result of the Homestead Act had to fight hard to overcome the challenges of the weather and the elements. But they also had to battle the big banks, the railroads, and the large grain companies that wanted to overcharge and underpay them. It wasn’t a fair fight, but as long as they felt there was someone else fighting for them, they trusted that things would work out in the end.

 

One of the populist political warriors in the early part of my state’s history was Governor "Wild Bill"Langer, who later in life became a U.S. Senator. He was born...

About this edition

• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0312383037
• ISBN 13: 9780312383039
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288