The People On Wall Street Are Beautiful Human Beings

The Washington Post pointed out something interesting yesterday:

President Bush's political allies are raising millions of dollars for an election-style campaign to promote private Social Security accounts... likely contributors include the financial services and securities industries.

"It could easily be a $50 million to $100 million cost to convince people this is legislation that needs to be enacted," [Stephen] Moore [head of the Club for Growth] said.

What's so profoundly moving about this is that Wall Street will not make any money off Social Security privatization. As I've mentioned before, the Wall Street trade group, the Security Industry Association, has researched this. And it turns out there's no windfall in it for Wall Street!

I find myself tearing up as I think about this. These people, these good, good people, are spending all this money for Social Security privatization, purely for OUR benefit. They have no other reason to do so. It's just because Wall Street CARES about us, their fellow citizens. How lucky we are to share this planet with people so full of public spirit.

Now, it's true there are some cynical bastards out there who'll tell you different. One of these jackasses has said things like:

"When these political action committees give money, they expect something in return other than good government."

Indeed, this guy even calls this kind of thing "sewer money."

But what does he know about politics and money? He was only a senator for 28 years, and the Republican candidate for president in 1996, and named Bob Dole.

We must pay no attention to such uninformed conspiracy theorists. Just sit back and enjoy the beautiful humanity of Wall Street.

UPDATE: Sadly, the world is full of ignorant assholes like Bob Dole. At least the guy who said this is dead:

Merchants and master manufacturers are, in this order, the two classes of people who commonly employ the largest capitals, and who by their wealth draw to themselves the greatest share of the public consideration... The interest of the dealers, however, in any particular branch of trade or manufactures, is always in some respects different from, and even opposite to, that of the public... The proposal of any new law or regulation of commerce which comes from this order ought always to be listened to with great precaution, and ought never to be adopted till after having been long and carefully examined, not only with the most scrupulous, but with the most suspicious attention. It comes from an order of men whose interest is never exactly the same with that of the public, who have generally an interest to deceive and even to oppress the public, and who accordingly have, upon many occasions, both deceived and oppressed it.

I urge you, if you want to understand economics at all, to NEVER read anything by this douchebag. Just so you can avoid him better, I will mention that his name was Adam Smith, and he wrote that in some dumb book called The Wealth of Nations.