GREEDY BASTARDS How We Can Stop Corporate Communists, Banksters, and Other Vampires from Sucking America Dry

Ratigan’s opus is a manifesto rant that obnoxiously crusades for the inarguable necessity of separating U.S. money policy from U.S. politics. The cable television financial reporter and host speaks loudly, literally and figuratively, explaining his theory of “extractionism”—our government’s taking of money from others without creating anything of additional value. The provocative title and comic-book-styled jacket support Ratigan’s crusade, a crusade not served well by his pedestrian, alarmist, and uninspired narration. In fact, listening is unpleasant and assaultive. Few will take issue with the author’s spotlighting of our country’s failing educational system, problems with accessibility to healthcare, addiction to foreign sources of energy, and acceptance of the revolving door between politics and lobbies, but the less-than-cogent remedies suggested here are suspect—and certainly not factually or appealingly presented either in the writing or the frantic narration. W.A.G. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine [Published: MARCH 2012]