”Frontline,” which I praised so highly last week on the occasion of the beginning of the PBS program`s 10th season, is the place where, for better or worse, we can find America`s dirty laundry.
”The Great American Bailout” (9 p.m. Tuesday, PBS-Ch. 11) is the latest in the program`s continuing series of examinations of the nation`s banking crisis. It`s a dirty and scandalous story that focuses on how the Resolution Trust Corp., the agency in charge of managing and selling off the hundreds of billions of dollars in failed savings and loan assets, has been doing. Poorly, thank you.
”This is the mother of all government mistakes,” says L. William Seidman.
And who better to make such an assessment? Seidman recently stepped down as head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Resolution Trust Corp. This is the clearly delineated story of a financial Frankenstein, complete with botched deals, bureaucratic buck-passing, dizzying numbers (how about $600 billion?) and perhaps political shenanigans that cast a sad light on the current administration.
The presence of Robert Krulwich as correspondent is especially beneficial. Though this program shows how his talents are being relatively wasted in the new PBS series called ”Edge,” he has displayed for years an ability to make the most stultifying statistics clear and meaningful.
He introduces us to Joe Smith, a real estate speculator with a bumper sticker that reads ”Happiness Is a Positive Cash Flow.” He says boldly,
”When I heard about the Resolution Trust Corp.-knowing it was going to be a government operation-I saw nothing but dollar signs.”
He has made a mint buying property from the agency at ridiculously low prices.
Others have not been so fortunate, such as the homeowners of the Circle C Ranch, a housing development that is getting royally shafted by unethical governmental sweetheart deals.
The U.S. banking problem is shown here to be immense, frightening.
”We won`t know if the banks can solve this problem by themselves without a taxpayer bailout until after the 1992 elections,” Krulwich says.
Says Seidman, chillingly: ”The good news is that the government stands behind every deposit, and the bad news is the taxpayers stand behind the government.”
”THE GREAT AMERICAN BAILOUT”
A ”Frontline” presentation. A co-production of ”Frontline” and the Center for Investigative Reporting. Executive producer for ”Frontline” is David Fanning. This program produced by Glenn Silber. Correspondent is Robert Krulwich. Airing at 9 p.m. Tuesday on WTTW-Ch. 11.
Channel hopping …
– Schemes get a bit confused in ”Blackmail” (8 p.m. Wednesday, USA cable), a modestly diverting tale of doublecrosses and murder.
You may need a scorecard to keep track of the tangled doings of Dale Midkiff and Susan Blakely, who are having an affair (unbeknown to hubby John Saxon), once a private eye played by Mac Davis gets involved.
Is Davis working with Blakely? Is Beth Toussaint, as Midkiff`s moll, getting too cozy with Davis? Is Saxon in on the deal?
While you try to figure out all that, try to remember when Blakely seemed to be an actress of some promise. Here she`s so dour that even during a couple of steamy sex scenes she looks as bored as if listening to a seminar on geo-politics.
– ”Just Plain Hardworking . . . Ten Good Lives,” an edition of ”WTTW Journal” (8 p.m. Wednesday, PBS-Ch. 11) is a visual and verbal extension of a recent Chicago Historical Society exhibit of the same name that celebrated 10 Chicagoans older than 65 who have had an impact on the city`s life.
They are, for the most part, unsung heroes, who have quietly shaped the fabric of the city. The show lets us meet them briefly and explains, with well-constructed segments, their contributions.
Community activist-restaurateur Florence Scala was fun to revisit, but I liked best what Frank Lumpkin-former steelworker and union activist who has spent years fighting for justice from corporate bad guys-had to say: ”If you try long and hard enough you`re gonna win.”
– Either he and his staff have a way of selecting the most articulate and moving interview subjects, or there`s just something about Bill Moyers`
presence that makes people want to talk. People have a way of talking to Moyers in the most intimate, revelatory way.
The seven black men who talk to him in ”Moyers/Circle of Recovery” (10 p.m. Wednesday, PBS-Ch. 11) are a fascinatingly vociferous bunch.
All are former addicts, banded together in search of self-help and healing. They began meeting on Sundays ”with no real agenda” and eventually were able to show, for the first time, emotion to other people.
They confront their addictions and the issues-racism, self-image, struggles with women, with their fathers-that they feel they must also deal with to stay clean. It`s an affecting hour.
