Long String of Unprintable Obscenities!

Today, when logging on, two Newsweek headlines caught my eye:

1. "Nationalization is not Un-American"

2. "We are all Socialists Now".

Now, I stopped buying Newsweek years ago, having lost the desire to spend money on a magazine slightly to the left of the old Soviet Pravda. Still, they magically (through no conscious effort of mine) appeared on my home page, and I occasionally clicked through to an article now and then. NO MORE! This is over the top and I shall forthwith banish them from my life for good. I won't read their articles, or look at their Ads (which obnoxiously seem to hang my browser about 25% of the time to boot!).

Nationalization first. Quite frankly Mr. Parker "nationalization" doesn't summon up images of.... IT IS "the Soviets, or the French, of inefficient factories, incompetent managers, bloated bureaucracies, long lines, and surly service." For government is a lot like a black hole, the more mass it gets, the more it eats. It is the most inefficient and bloated self-licking ice cream cone ever conceived by the mind of man.

Let me point out a few key facts of Fannie Mae, one of your central examples:

1. It was created in 1938 under FDR and his "Old Deal"... I say 'old' because the "New Deal" is about to become the multi-TRILLION dollar fiasco advanced by the current administration.

2. It was privatized in 1968 under Johnson and his "Great Society"

3. It was under Clinton in the late 1990's that Congress relaxed the mortgage standards fostering the sub-prime crisis.

DEMOCRAT, DEMOCRAT, DEMOCRAT, need I say more? If you actually believe that the blame for the current crisis can be assigned to the previous administration, keep typing... eventually you will pound out one of William Shakespeare's plays, and maybe get a nice banana.
That you compare the Northwest Ordinance and Louisiana Purchase (territory acquisition) to government takeover of private corporations illustrates the naivete of your understanding of economics, as does your comprehension of wartime acts (WWI Railroad Nationalization, and WWII Economic Controls). One might even argue that Reconstruction Finance Corporation lengthened the Great Depression, the end of which was only obtained by the start of WWII. So, who you planning on starting WWIII with to get us out of this government mess?

The socialist agenda has failed repeatedly throughout history and your only answer to these failures is more, more, more. Like the doc said to the man who claimed "it hurts when I do this"... "THEN DON'T DO THAT"!

Plain and simple, the current crisis was caused not by greedy CEO's, but by greedy CEO's in bed with congress who relaxed mortgage standards to allow people who weren't qualified to buy a piece of the "American Dream". Rather than point and blame, congress ought to admit it's mistake, isolate those sub-prime mortgages caused by it's relaxation of standards, buy them, apologize and promise it will never happen again, and move on. The government assumes the risk, enforces payment plans to mitigate the loss, and allows the market to stabilize itself.

Second, "We are all Socialists Now"... insert long string of unprintable obscenities here.

The "S-Word"... yes, I'll use the *#%!ing S-Word all I want. A socialist by any other name is still a socialist, and the avowed enemy of a free society. In the interest of maintaining a proper family atmosphere, I'll simply ask you to go use a mechanical fastener on yourself. I'll admit that America of 2009 is heading towards a "modern European state"... in fact I'll scream if from the mountaintops and fight you every inch of the way. I acknowledge the role of a growing government...ITS THE PROBLEM! And pointing at the Bush administration's role in the start of it does not somehow magically make it more appealing to conservatives. I supported the Bush administration and the Republican party through thick and thin, from 9/11 til Nov 2008... and I will continue to support it, not because I believe in everything it does, but because it is the lesser of two evils! More government is NOT the answer! More effective government is! Pointing towards Europe 2009 doesn't bolster your position... it just illustrates how absurd it is.

The US government under a Republican administration did not "effectively nationalize the banking and mortgage industry", the US government under a Democratically controlled House and Senate with a lame duck Republican president did! Pointing to the fact that the United States is closing in on the Europeans in the arena of government spending as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is not justification for pursuing further closure... it should be the scream of STOP! Bush laid the foundation with a $700 Billion dollar bailout of the financial sector? I didn't realize he was that wealthy. Need I point out that CONGRESS controls the political honey-pot that is our national treasury?

I am somewhat glad to see you admit that government intrusion in the economy will limit growth "(as it has in Europe, where a big welfare state has caused chronic high unemployment)".
What? You think Obama can juggle those knives better than the Europeans? We are doing nothing more than paving the road to hell with borrowed asphalt... but hell! At least it's creating jobs in the construction industry.

As I sit here writing, the Presidential news conference is on TV, and I am flabbergasted at some of what I am hearing. I inherited the deficit...and what? don't blame me for doubling or tripling it? It is reassuring to hear him state that their are portions of the stimulus package, that while he won't call them pork... do not belong there. President Obama would earn my deepest and undying respect if he would put (our) money where is mouth is and veto the bill. Send it back to Congress with the instructions to eliminate non-stimulus money. I have seen estimates on what's stimulus in the bill ranging from a low of 12% (Wall Street Journal), to 25% (US News), to 40% (Congressional Budget Office). Hell... let's consider an unrealistic 75% is stimulus... so what? $250 Billion is not? Would you buy a $100,000 house for $125,000? Exercise your Presidential authority, VETO! Show us that the old ways are over and that this is a "new" government, not the same old crap in a new bright and festive bag.

"The Party is Over", so it is said, so it is written, so it is done. I am beginning think the man is politically schizophrenic, uttering as he seems to do, mutually exclusive positions. We must pass this flawed financial bailout loaded with non-stimulus money. "We must eliminate our bad habits in order to get out of this mess". But to do so we must expand them first? I'm going down to the bank tomorrow!

Look Mr. Banker, I know I've been paying my bills and managing my money... but I'm experiencing somewhat of a crisis... In order to avert complete catastrophe I'm going to need a lot of money. I need to make infrastructure improvements and pave my driveway... and of course the existing house won't do. I'll need to at least triple it in size and cost. By making it more energy efficient all these improvements will pay for themselves. I mean if Obama can spend a few hundred billion to save 50 billion in energy costs, well there it is! That's the only rational way to go. While the well has been producing through this past drought...what with global warming and all I'm going to need to install a bigger deeper well, and a water storage tank. While we're at it... I could use some money for security... chain link fence, guard shack... and of course a few hundred thousand to pay for the guard over the next five or ten years. I'm also somewhat concerned about my carbon foot-print... it could be smaller. Could I have $100,000 to convert my roof into a giant solar cell so I don't have to buy electricity? Think of the long term savings! Ooh! and can I have some wind turbines too? It's kind of windy here right now... think of all that energy going to waste.

Yeah, ask yourself... how far do you think I'd get with that approach?

Socialist my ass! Don't you dare to presume to lump me into that crowd! Your big government socialist nanny state approach is DEAD WRONG! It is not the answer, it is the problem, and is just digging us deeper into the hole we are in.

I AM NOT A SOCIALIST. I am not now, nor have I ever been, a Socialist... nor do I ever see myself being a Socialist. You might be a Socialist... 52% of Americans might be Socialist (I doubt it)... but WE ARE NOT SOCIALISTS!

HEY! Red Banner on the magazine, and the top of your website? NOW I GET IT!!!

Another long string of unprintable obscenities...