Let's all sing Handel's Messiah! Corporations! Corporations!

Handel's Messiah is one of the great holiday traditions. We can't let the holiday season pass without an updated version of the classic. This version extols the real saviors of our era -- corporations! They must be singing Hallelujah as the political season approaches and the gift of Citizens United begins to really give them what they want -- total economic domination and the political power that comes with it.

Enjoy! (And remember, it's satire.)

To whom much is given...

Take a look at these headlines:

"Banking Industry Showing Signs of Recovery" (NY Times)

On Thursday, JPMorgan Chase became the latest bank, after Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo, to announce blockbuster profits in the first quarter. The reports fed a rally in financial stocks that began more than five weeks ago, when Citigroup and Bank of America, two of the banks hit hardest by the crisis, suggested the worst might already be over.

Banks are enjoying a fresh wave of profits from the government’s efforts to nurse the industry back to life

"Rescued Banks Balk at Chrysler Deal" (Washington Post)

Privately, the lenders contend that the government offer was unfair.

"Ironically, politicians are accusing us of not wanting to lend more," said a source at one of Chrysler's creditors, referring to criticism that the reluctance of financial firms to make loans has stalled the economy. "But what's the incentive to provide loans if the government can come in at any time and trump you?"

Don't know about you, but I can come up with about $700 billion incentives...

Rep. Gary Peters put it quite nicely:

"These are banks that have received substantial investments from the government," said Rep. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), whose district includes Chrysler headquarters. "We hope they will understand that what was given to them was not for their benefit, but to get the economy moving again and maintain American jobs. People are angry that again it seems like the banks are standing in the way."

Learn how Progress Michigan and FireDogLake have teamed up to remind JPMorgan/Chase of that old saying, "To whom much is given, much is expected."  

In Case You Didn't Know Whose Side They Were On...

Just in case you haven't been paying attention and weren't really sure which political party is on the side of the averaging working person, consider this.

When America's automakers needed a loan to stay out of bankruptcy, Republicans insisted that any measure loaning them money include a provision mandating pay cuts for union workers. The provision would have cut workers' pay to the same rate as the foreign auto companies pay their non-union workers.

That never happened, of course, because George Bush finally came out of his coma and decided to make the loan from the $350 billion set aside for aiding the nation's banks.

The banks, of course, did not have to agree to do anything in exchange for their federal money, not even agree to actually make loans with the money, let alone cut anybody's pay.

So of course, they took the completely logical step of giving themselves big bonuses. Demonstrating yet another way in which he is smarter than George Bush, President Obama said that's not happening on my watch and is set to impose a $500,000salary cap for workers at companies that take funds from the federal government in future bank bailouts.

So how did the Republicans react -- the same Republicans who wanted to cut autoworkers' pay to $14 an hour?

Well, they said it was un-American for government to tell business how much to pay their workers.

Yeah, I know. But here's part of the piece from Huffington Post:

"Because of their excesses, very bad things begin to happen, like the United States government telling a company what it can pay its employees. That's not a good thing in America," Kyl told the Huffington Post.

"What executives have done is troubling, but it's equally troubling to have government telling shareholders how much they can pay the executives," said Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL).

Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) said that he is "one of the chief defenders of Obama on the Republican side" for the president's efforts to reach across the aisle. But, said Inhofe, "as I was listening to him make those statements I thought, is this still America? Do we really tell people how to run [a business], and who to pay and how much to pay?"

That makes it pretty clear. Republicans want one standard for working people and another for their buddies the bankers.

More Bank Bailout vs. Auto Industry Loan Unfairness

While auto industry execs are working for $1 a year and giving up their corporate jets, the Associated Press, via Huffington Post, has an update on how the banks are receiving their bailout money.

So far, they have spent $1.6 billion in bonuses to top officials.

And still there's no foreclosure relief.