Elvis Costello - New Amsterdam (Single)

Now I have absolutely no expectation that Georgie Osborne and Ordinary Dave are going to do anything to reduce bankers bonuses this year. After all, why would they? It's not like they are answerable to the angry mob is it? They will make noises about how nothing is "off the table" unless the banks heed the government. They will talk about encouraging lending once again, especially to small businesses ( they're the OK ones. It's the BIG businesses that are bad apparently.) Oh, and lots of fairness. They're big on fairness are Dave and Georgie.

Oh ye, nearly forgot, same goes for Clegg.

But to have to listen to Labour's Alan Johnson ya-boo-ing about how the ConDems "bow to the rich and powerful" is just farce. Labour bailed the banks out in the first place! They will say they had to for the sake of the economy and a whole load of other guff but isn't that really just doing the same thing: bowing to the rich and powerful?

Especially when you consider that Johnson had to admit that Labour had signed a deal, at the time of the bailouts, that ensured that part State-owned banks could pay bonuses at the market rate because "we cannot disadvantage those banks which the public has a share in".

Well that's just fucking brilliant.

The banks always trot out the same reason: they have to pay ridiculous money to attract the best staff. If they didn't then all this talent would flee to competitors. Is that the same talent that created all these insane debt products and then sold them to each other like debt junkies? The same talent that feeds on hype bubbles in the financial markets until they burst over somebody else's face? 'Cause if it is then Labour really have reached dizzying new heights in the exposure of our sham democracy.

Johnson and Osborne shout at each other across the floor but you really just have two men pretending that they have differing views while looking after Number One. Johnson is part of a party that gave the banks shitloads of tax payers money while agreeing they could go on doing what they liked. Osborne is part of a government that would like to let the banks go on doing what they like while blaming Labour for giving the banks shitloads of tax payers money. (It could just as easily have been the other way around). Both men know the deal exists and both have to sound outraged about bonuses while really doing fuck-all about any of it. Easy money.


Elvis Costello - New Amsterdam (Single) (F-Beat XX5P 1980) 320kbps

1. New Amsterdam
2. Dr Luther's Assistant
3. Ghost Train
4. Just A Memory

New Amsterdam - pwd: c4ctusm0uth