The teacher wants you distracted from the major economic tax crimes that have been going on under everyone's noses for at least the last twenty years and parallel the crimes committed by Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, and dozens of other publicly held corporations. Crooked bookkeeping, hidden debt, fraud, deception and greed that has caused the loss of retirement funds for thousands of employees and investors in the private sector but pales in comparison to the trillions lost by 141 million American workers sending the government money, many of whom will be entirely dependent on the sort of retirement funds absconded by the government.

While the amount of fraud involved in the government's scam is certainly enormous ($2.6 trillion or in their double dealing almost 40 percent of the national debt) the money stolen isn't the greatest consideration. The real problem is the possible loss of power.

Just as the Arthur Andersen accounting firm could have easily paid the fines imposed by the Justice Department and the Security & Exchange Commission, probably by simply giving up their Christmas bonuses, the real problem was the client base lost by the exposure and notoriety of the scandal. With the exception of the government itself, Andersen lost its major clients and is just about out of business.

So too, it is with government. Just as the Beltway Bandits could have easily rescinded the tax overcharges or placed the surplus in real trust funds, if the working stiffs of this country ever fully realize the portion of their retirement and health care money that has been absconded by the government and the double taxation with interest involved in what has been libelously labeled as trust funds, the Beltway Bandits would have a revolution on their hands.

Every pirate with his or her fingers in the pie knows and fears this exposure, even though and perhaps because there is little alternative for citizens to turn to. Exposure could be the end of their public service careers or worse.

The guilty knew this before 9/11 when in the months immediately preceding the heinous attack it was becoming painfully obvious that the Social Security Trust Funds were fraudulent. When every economist in the country with a head on his shoulders was openly telling us that the value of these so-called trusts was nothing more than double taxation with interest added. And that was just the tip of the iceberg.

Before the public fully understood this, we were attacked by Osama bin Laden's suicide forces and the subject has since been buried. You can make what you want of the deeper and more sinister implications here, but it's obvious to me that most politicians in the country either hope that the subject rests in peace forever or that it's now safe to return to the old fables about "saving" Social Security.

From September 11, 2001 forward, we've been engaged in a never ending war and the American people have been expected to give up liberties in favor of national security. Our lives have truly changed. The Patriot Act was dragged out of mothballs and signed into law before most even had a chance to read it. Plans for the New World Order went into high gear ahead of schedule.

When things finally calmed down a bit, many people including some in Congress began to question who knew what before September eleventh. The Bush administration consistently reacted with evasion and by stonewalling inquiries just as they had with the minutes and attendance at energy meetings demanded by their own General Accounting Office (GAO). After 9/11, it was painfully obvious our intelligence had been woefully inept and, since defense is an expensive prime directive, such inefficiency or neglect seemed to border on treason.

In reaction to this criticism, President Bush declared a "first strike" initiative, laid out the new Homeland Security Office that was purported to solve our information problems, started a "tips" program reminiscent of Nazi Germany, and directed federal attorneys to find loopholes in the 1886 Posse Comitatus Act that prohibits the use of the military to conduct police activities against U.S. citizens. The New World Order plans are now in overdrive.

Then came the flood of corporate scandals. Not just Enron that had been building for a year, but dozens of other companies and what is feared to be widely spread throughout much of the private sector.

When just a few people began lightly comparing government bookkeeping with corporate malfeasance, the Bush administration and only God knows how many others in the background went into panic. Allowed to develop, such comparisons could put the government right back in the same position it had been in before September 11, 2001. Inevitable exposure was knocking at the door once again.

On top of that, mid-term elections were only a couple of months away and the government's fiscal year ends on September thirtieth. Conducting the war against terrorism might be an asset to republicans, but the massive amount of debt (real deficit) incurred in the process would soon be obvious and disproportionate to the results. Defeating a small third world nation with no infrastructure and a defense of camels and caves without finding bin Laden was simply not going to stand out as a great achievement.

To create a significant diversion, the Bush team quickly scanned other targets like Saudi Arabia or the "Axis of Evil," but settled on Saddam Hussein and Iraq, our old enemy that could be accused of all sorts of evil.

Now, our President not only wants war with Iraq—he wants it now—two, three, or six months from now isn't going to cut it. He also wants complete authority to make the call himself just as he wants complete authority over the new Office of Homeland Security. If it goes to committee or drags out at all, the spotlight will shift and that's much too dangerous for the government—not for you and me, for the government. And this, only because of the economic crimes they've been committing.

Bush can only afford to play nice for a little while telling us that he's "a patient man" or that there are no plans for an invasion on his desk, but the troops are already in Iraq softening up enemy resistance and building facilities in the "no fly" zones. The war is already underway and there's no time to stall.

God only knows what will happen if our president doesn't get his way.