Blind Eye

It is a stark and brutal reminder of our failures to act as guardians for those who need our help. " Where the Bailout Went Wrong" is Mr. Barofsky's lament that he was helpless to stop the misuse of the TARP funds that left banks bigger and wealthier than ever while the Home Affordable Modification Program lay in shambles. While the goliaths of industry feasted, david had his home foreclosed.

So too, "Why We're Fasting" is Mr. Bittman's plea for a moral structure in our economic dealings. We constantly read of the enormous disparities that leave a few economic giants both with enormous wealth and the capability of shielding that wealth from the clutches of the tax man, while millions are left figuratively and, in many cases, literally starving. And so Mr. Bittman, and others like him, fast in symbolic solidarity with those that are without.

And in the face of all of this inequality, the government continues down the wrong path. "The High Price of Rigidity" speaks of how we have allowed the concept of debt reduction to take hold, and permit the decimation, step by step and inch by inch, of programs that are the lifeline for those in need. We have been hijacked by the ludicrous concept that this nation can only right itself by taking from the least among us. Mr. Barofsky and Mr. Bittman both see the folly and the tragedy in this. It is inconceivable that Congress does not notice. Yet it turns a blind eye, and continues on the wrong path. Shame on those who see but do not look, or worse, do not care.