Taking stock: things look different to a radical than they do to a liberal...

American capitalism’s decline and the tasks of the working class

2. It has been nearly three years since the unraveling of the subprime mortgage bubble in the US, which prompted the collapse of Wall Street firm Lehman Brothers in the summer of 2008 and ushered in the worst breakdown of the world capitalist system since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

At the time, the Socialist Equality Party in the US warned that “economic restabilization on a capitalist basis could be achieved only through … a catastrophic lowering of the living standards of the working class....” At the same time, we insisted “the improvisational responses of the American ruling class to the economic upheaval will solve nothing. ”

3. Despite the sincere sense of relief in the world’s population over the departure of the Bush administration, and the hopes and illusions generated by the media and the middle class “left” groups over Barack Obama’s election, we insisted that the new occupant in the White House would seek a “solution to the crisis that does not touch the foundations of capitalism and the interests of the financial elite”.

This prognosis has been vindicated in spades. Since coming to office, Obama has been an unabashed servant of the Wall Street bankers and speculators, and has escalated the attack on the American working class carried out by his Republican predecessor. No one has been held accountable for the criminal and semi-criminal activity of the financial elite that brought the US and the world economy to the brink of collapse. The only exception was Bernie Madoff, whose pyramid scheme cost money for some relatively prominent members of the ruling class.

4. In defiance of the sentiments of the vast majority of the American people, Obama handed the keys to the US Treasury to the most powerful financial interests. Trillions in public resources were used to bail out the banks and assure the personal fortunes of billionaires and millionaires. Rather than checking the speculative activities of the banks, let alone restrict the massive salaries of its executives, Obama’s “financial regulatory” measures strengthened the monopoly of the four largest banks—Bank of America, JPMorganChase, Wells Fargo and Citibank—and led to the resumption of the speculation casino. While millions suffer from unemployment, and owe more money on their homes than they could possible get from selling them, the top bankers, executives and traders are once again rewarding themselves with multi-million salaries and bonuses.

Few progressives would take issue with the argument that, significant accomplishments notwithstanding, the Obama presidency has been a big disappointment. As Mario Cuomo famously observed, candidates campaign in poetry but govern in prose. Still, Obama supporters have been asked to swallow some painfully "prosaic" compromises. In order to pass his healthcare legislation, for instance, Obama was required to specifically repudiate his pledge to prochoice voters to "make preserving women's rights under Roe v. Wade a priority as president." That promise apparently was lost in the same drawer as his insistence that "Any plan I sign must include an insurance exchange...including a public option." Labor unions were among his most fervent and dedicated foot soldiers, as well as the key to any likely progressive political renaissance, and many were no doubt inspired by his pledge "to fight for the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act." Yet that act appears deader than Jimmy Hoffa. Environmentalists were no doubt steeled through the frigid days of New Hampshire canvassing by Obama's promise that "As president, I will set a hard cap on all carbon emissions at a level that scientists say is necessary to curb global warming—an 80 percent reduction by 2050." That goal appears to have gone up the chimney in thick black smoke. And remember when Obama promised, right before the election, to "put in place the common-sense regulations and rules of the road I've been calling for since March—rules that will keep our market free, fair and honest; rules that will restore accountability and responsibility in our corporate boardrooms"? Neither, apparently, does he… Indeed, if one examines the gamut of legislation passed and executive orders issued that relate to the promises made by candidate Obama, one can only wince at the slightly hyperbolic joke made by late night comedian Jimmy Fallon, who quipped that the president's goal appeared to be to "finally deliver on the campaign promises made by John McCain."