Chapter 12
Matt was nervous as he got off the big jet after landing at Baltimore Washington International Airport. He had never even visited Capitol Hill before, yet in just a few hours he was scheduled to testify before the Senate Banking Committee. Fortunately, Professor Swensen was also going to testify, so he'd be there to help him answer the senators' questions. Lynn stayed home to help Tom as the volume of bankruptcies was still climbing. As they got off the plane, they saw a man holding up a sign with their names on it. They went over to him.
"Hi. I'm Matt Coleman."
"Welcome. My name is Arthur. I’ll be your driver while you’re in town."
"Good,” Matt said. “This is Professor Swensen."
"Nice to meet you. I've been instructed to drive you to Capitol Hill at once."
"All right. We'll need to go get our luggage."
"Of course."
After getting their luggage, Arthur drove them to Capitol Hill. An aide showed them to a small conference room where they would wait. She told them it would be thirty minutes to an hour before they would be called.
"So why do you think they subpoenaed me, Professor?"
"Oh, they just wanted to see you in person to size you up. You started this flood of bankruptcies so they figured they’d better study you to see if you'd give them some insight into how to stop it."
"So they're trying to figure out my weaknesses?"
"Exactly. If they can discredit you in any way, it will help to get everybody back in line."
"Great . . . and I have to put up with this shit."
"They have the tanks, remember."
"Umm."
"You might have a friend or two on the committee, though."
"Really?"
"Yes, Senator Goss from New Jersey is a big consumer advocate. He's never had any support from the financial sector. He might stick up for you. In fact, he said he was going to try to stop by and say hello before the hearings began."
"Who should I be worrying about?"
"Senator Bennington. He's the senator from Delaware."
"That makes sense. Delaware's the credit card capital of the world."
"Exactly. So he'll be out to eat you alive."
The two men turned as they heard the door open.
A short grey-haired gentlemen and a pretty young lady walked in. Matt and the professor stood up.
"Hello, gentlemen. I'm Senator Goss and this is my aide, Sandy."
"Hi, nice to meet you," Matt said.
"I just wanted to personally thank you for what you've done these past few months. It's about time somebody stood up for the consumer. I just hope you can keep your momentum going so finally Congress will do something to protect the American people from the banking and finance industries.
"They control the American people today like a cocaine dealer controls an addict," Senator Goss continued. "They brainwash us with their media campaigns and then pick our pockets without us even realizing it. At least with the cocaine dealers there are no hidden charges or fees. You know exactly what you are buying and what it costs. These people are greedy bastards who will stop at nothing to pillage the American people.”
"Are there others in the Senate who feel like you do?"
"Yes, but most are afraid to speak out. They know what will happen to them if they join a movement against the people who control the purse strings, and then fail. The people who control the finance industry are an invisible government. What you've launched, Mr. Coleman, whether you know it or not, is the beginning of a coup. If you fail, you and everyone associated with you could be killed."
Matt stood silently for a moment and then replied, "So what can I do to be sure I don't fail?"
"Evidence. You've got to provide evidence that there is an illegal conspiracy against you. Evidence that the invisible government is at work trying to silence you. Then the Senate will have no other choice but to investigate."
The door opened again and a member of the committee staff entered the room.
"Are you ready, gentlemen?"
Matt looked at Senator Goss and replied, "Yes, I suppose so."
"Good, follow me."
The two men followed the staff member into another conference room where the hearings would take place. Matt was directed to a table and he and the professor took a seat. The chairman banged his gavel and the hearing came to order. The clerk administered the oath to the witness.
"All right. If everyone will come to order, we'll commence our questioning of Mr. Coleman." The room became quiet and the chairman continued, "Thank you, Mr. Coleman for appearing before this committee today," the chairman said.
"It's my distinct honor, sir."
"I'll start off by asking you a few questions that have been bothering me ever since you started your highly successful advertising campaign."
"I don't consider it an advertising campaign, sir. I'm just speaking out on issues that are important to me."
"You may have convinced the Dallas court of that, Mr. Coleman, but I'm not that naive. It's obvious you’re speaking out for one reason and one reason only . . . and that is to enhance your business."
"You know, to be honest with you it might have started out that way. But early on I abandoned the original profit motive. You see, I've come to realize that what's more important here is to set the American consumer free."
"You sound very sincere, Mr. Coleman, but forgive me if I don't believe that you're not motivated by profit. You've admitted it was a scam in the beginning. Now you expect us to believe everything's changed."
"I didn't say it was a scam. I said in the beginning profit was an important element of what I was doing. Now profit is the least important aspect of what's going on at the Debt Relief Centers. What is important is that every day we help dozens of Americans regain their freedom and I'm proud of that."
"It sounds good, Mr. Coleman. But I still don't believe that profit is your last priority."
"You don't have to believe anything I say. I'm here because you asked me to come. I'll try to answer any question you might have for me, but I'm not here to try to convince you of anything."
"Very well. I'll yield the floor to the senator from Delaware since he has informed me he has quite a number of questions for you."
The gallery erupted in conversation as everyone's attention turned to Senator Bennington. The chairman banged his gavel and the talking stopped.
"Thank you, Senator. Mr. Coleman, so you'd like this committee to believe that profit isn't your primary motive in what you've been doing these past few months?"
"That's the truth."
"I'm curious. Just how many bankruptcies have you filed this year so far?"
"The last count I saw was 4,201."
"That's amazing! How do you keep up with all of them?"
"Well, before we started our practice, we hired a consultant to help us set up a very efficient bankruptcy plant to process a large volume of business. The system has worked very well."
"The committee has viewed several of your TV spots, as you call them, and I find your conspiracy theory quite imaginative but bearing little resemblance to reality."
"You're entitled to your opinion and I'm sure you'll agree I'm entitled to mine."
"Of course, but that doesn't give you the right to slander the fine financial institutions of this nation and brainwash the American people."
"No sir. It's not slander if it's the truth. Professor Swensen has very carefully documented the conspiracy over the past forty years. All this time people have believed that good credit is the most important thing in their life, next to good health. But this a fallacy. People would be much better off without credit. We've done calculations to show that more than one third of the average American citizen’s income goes to paying interest. Interest that often is totally unnecessary if the consumer had the self-discipline to save rather than borrow."
"Have you ever studied economics, Mr. Coleman?"
"Yes
, in college."
"Then you should know that spending is what fuels our economy and credit greatly enhances the amount consumers spend."
"Maybe so, but I don't think people should be forced into economic servitude just to provide giant corporations big profits."
"Okay, Mr. Coleman. If there's a conspiracy, could you identify for the committee all those involved in this conspiracy?"
"That would be impossible. There are too many of them."
"Then tell us who the leaders are so we can subpoena them and get to the bottom of your accusations."
Matt leaned over and whispered to Professor Swensen. He shook his head affirmatively. Matt stood up straight, looked Senator Bennington in the eye and said, "Do you really want to know?"
"Mr. Coleman, if you think this is all some kind of joke, please let me assure it is not. Now if you have information about a conspiracy to enslave the American people, this committee demands that you give it to them."
"Very well. Then all you have to do to see the conspiracy is to open your eyes and look around. It’s open and obvious. Just turn on the radio, watch television for a few minutes, open your mail, or surf the internet. Every day the American people are barraged with a relentless campaign to entice them into buying things they don’t need with money they don’t have."
"Good God! Mr. Coleman," Senator Bennington exclaimed. “That’s no conspiracy, that’s capitalism!"
"Exactly. And just as the conspirators have the right to try to enslave the American people, so do I have the right to try to set them free."
"That is nonsense, sir. There are no conspirators and there is no conspiracy. I am outraged by your frivolous accusations."
Matt smiled. "I'm not surprised by your outrage since you are part of the very conspiracy that I've been warning people about."
"Mr. Chairman, Mr. Coleman's behavior is contemptuous. He has slandered this committee and I demand he be sanctioned."
"Mr. Chairman," Senator Goss said. "If I could have the floor, I believe I can help Mr. Coleman clarify his position."
"Mr. Bennington, will you yield?" the chairman asked.
"Yes, I should like to hear this explanation."
"Very well, Senator Goss. You have the floor."
"Thank you. Mr. Coleman, let me see if I can help you clarify your position."
"Certainly."
"Do you really think that the members of this committee are consciously a part of this so-called conspiracy of yours?"
"I'm sure many of them don't realize it. This conspiracy is very subtle. They influence Congress with their lobbyists, big campaign contributions, and with the help of Madison Avenue, through their manipulation of public opinion."
"So you're saying over a period of time through the use of television, motion pictures, advertising, and the print media the American people have been convinced that they should live above their means and finance the deficit on credit cards."
"Yeah, kind of the way Congress operates this country."
Several members of the gallery burst out in laughter. The chairman gave them a dirty look.
"Exactly, but do you think bankruptcy is the only way out for these people?"
"Not for everyone, but there are a lot of people out there who could never pay off their credit card debt in a million years. For these people bankruptcy is their only hope."
"I understand you blame a lot of the social ills of this country on excessive credit. Is that true?"
"Most definitely. The high divorce rate in the country can be directly tied to the increased stress level in the home due to inadequate income or the excessive use of credit. And we all know the consequences of the breakup of the family unit; a decline in moral values, increased use of illegal drugs, gang activity, promiscuity, and a decline in religious affiliation."
"Aren't you oversimplifying it?"
"Obviously, but excessive credit has been a very important element in producing all of these social ills."
"So this isn't an active conspiracy, right? It's just something that has evolved. Am I correct?"
"Yes, but it is active and it’s spiraling out of control. The finance industry has gotten so greedy they will do anything to lure innocent consumers into a lifetime of bondage. They start with high school and college students extending credit to them before they even have jobs. Many of these poor kids are candidates for bankruptcy before they are old enough to drink."
“Thank you, Mr. Coleman. I yield to Mr. Bennington.”
Mr. Bennington continued, “If it is an active conspiracy, who is its leader?"
"I don't know how it’s organized. I’m not sure if there is a single leader, a committee, or what."
"So you can’t give us a name?"
“I can’t give you a name, but there is someone directing the operation. I know that for a fact.”
“How is that?”
“As you know there have already been several carefully conceived attempts to compromise me. Luckily none of them has worked.”
"So you think we should get the FBI to investigate this conspiracy against you," he said facetiously.
“Actually, that wouldn’t be a bad idea.”
"I understand much of your theory has come from Professor Swensen at SMU?"
"Yes, he explained the conspiracy to me, but it doesn’t matter how it evolved or who controls it. The mere fact that it exists is the reason it must be destroyed.”
"If he is right, then why is he the only person in academic circles who holds this view? My research indicates he has been unable to get any support from his colleagues around the country. Isn't it true that the only reason you support him is that his theories help you sell bankruptcies?"
"No, none of his colleagues support him because they're afraid."
"Afraid of what?"
"Afraid of the conspirators coming down on them and ruining their lives."
"If this cartel exists why hasn't it come down on Professor Swensen already?"
"Because he has been so vocal about it, if something happened to him people would suspect he had been right. Their strategy has been to label him a paranoid eccentric. As long as no one believed him, he wouldn't be dangerous."
"But now you've brought him into the limelight. Millions of people believe his theory because you've convinced them it's true. If they are so powerful, why are you still alive?"
"Only by the grace of God. They tried to kill me last week."
The gallery erupted in excited conversation. The chairman smacked his gavel on the podium and demanded order.
"Someone tried to kill you?" the senator laughed.
"Yes, a group of street people tried to murder me in downtown Dallas."
"My word! And you can prove the banking industry was behind it."
"Obviously, Senator, I cannot."
"I believe your time is up, Senator," the chairman said.
"If you'll indulge me, Mr. Chairman, I have one last question."
"Very well, go ahead."
"Mr. Coleman, are you familiar with Professor Swensen's academic background?"
"Not intimately."
"Well, perhaps Professor Swensen hasn't told you why he never received his doctorate degree."
"No, he hasn't."
"Well, correct me if I'm wrong, Professor, but I believe his doctorate thesis was on this very topic. The control of the nation by a handful of wealthy businessmen and it was soundly rejected by the institution as rubbish!"
Matt looked over at Professor Swensen. He shrugged and took a deep breath. Matt turned back to the committee members.
"That doesn't surprise me, Senator. What educational institution would risk going against those who control their money? It would be financial suicide."
"Thank you, Mr. Coleman, for coming here today," the chairman said. "We'll be in touch if we need anything further from you."
As Professor Swensen and Matt left the hearing room, they were swamped by reporters. As they made their way through the crowd, many q
uestions were thrown at them.
"Who do you think tried to kill you?" a reporter asked.
"I don’t know, but I’m going to find out," Matt said.
"Professor Swensen, have there been threats on your life?" a third reporter asked.
"Yes, many times," the professor replied.
The committee aide finally got them out of the public area and escorted them back to the garage where a limousine was waiting. A tall man with short black hair was standing by the limo. The aide introduced them.
"This is Agent Paul Radcliff from the FBI," he said.
"Hello," Matt said as the two shook hands.
"If you don't mind, I'll ride with you to the airport."
"Sure," Matt said.
They all got in and the limo drove off.
"So, are the Dallas police investigating the attempt on your life?"
"Yes, they said they would."
"Do they have any leads?"
"Not really. All but one witness has disappeared."
"Who’s the witness?"
"A parking lot attendant. Luckily I knew him and he intervened when he saw me in trouble."
"Can I get his name? I’d like to talk to him."
"Sure, but why? It’s not your jurisdiction.”
"I've been instructed to verify the attack on your life. If someone is trying to kill you, the committee wants to find out who’s behind it.”
"Good. I’ll sleep a lot better once they are behind bars.”
Matt gave Agent Radcliff a long look, wondering if the FBI really would try to find his assailant. As the limousine pulled into the airport the three men were silent. Finally, the big limousine pulled up in front of the terminal and came to a stop.
"Have a good flight home, gentlemen," Agent Radcliff said as he fumbled to find a card. He handed each of them one and said, "If you find out anything about your assailant give me a call, okay?"