Naomi Klein has an excellent article in the Nation "All of Them Must Go" (republished at CommonDreams) that points out the global protests against governments responding with the same old "business as usual" approach to the global economic crisis.

In Iceland, Latvia, France, Italy, and elsewhere, people are loudly saying "NO" to spending billions on the corporate gangsters and cutting vital social spending (education, agriculture, health, etc.). For example:

In Greece, December's riots followed a police shooting of a 15-year-old. But what's kept them going, with farmers taking the lead from students, is widespread rage at the government's crisis response: banks got a $36 billion bailout while workers got their pensions cut and farmers received next to nothing. Despite the inconvenience caused by tractors blocking roads, 78 percent of Greeks say the farmers' demands are reasonable. Similarly, in France the recent general strike--triggered in part by President Sarkozy's plans to reduce the number of teachers dramatically--inspired the support of 70 percent of the population.

What is striking to me is the general passivity of the people of the U.S. in the face of a crisis which our nation caused, and which is causing a national economic meltdown putting every worker at risk and many out of their homes. I am not hearing of massive pot pounding crowds in D.C. or any state capitol. Instead, there is virtual public silence while the Republican's block a stimulus package while arguing for the same economic strategies which got us into this mess. It is insane. Where are the calls for recall elections for those arguing for tax cuts?

Both the Congressional Budget Office and Moody's did an analysis of return on stimulus dollar investment. As reported by Reuters, the two most effective programs on return per dollar expended are food stamps ($1.73 for each dollar) and Unemployment Insurance ($1.64 for each dollar). Meanwhile, tax cuts for businesses would cost states "at least $4 billion in state revenue," and "accelerated depreciation of assets" only returns .27 (yes 27 cents) for every dollar.

Yet, there is apparently insufficient public pressure to get legislators off the "negotiation" phase of the stimulus package which is gutting those components that would give significant return, and adding in corporate and high income "stimulus" which costs us. When a stimulus for banks gain us only 27 cents on the dollar, that extra 73 cents is going straight to the coffers of the banks. Not only can we not afford that now, it is part of what has gotten us into this mess.

So when are we going to pick up our pots and raise a ruckus?