Global Grab and Rape

Global climate schemes destroy wealth and displace productive economic activity, enriching international shysters who produce nothing

The biggest lie about Europeans is that they are unconcerned about wealth.  Remember the UN "Oil for Food" scheme they had going with Saddam?  It allowed the dictator to starve his people while providing cheap oil to Europe and under-the-table bribes to the continent's crooked politico-business class.

Massive Fraud in European Carbon Credit Market

Well, another decade, another scandal, this one involving massive fraud in Europe's carbon credit markets (The ridiculous practice of buying and selling of pollution)

This resulted in losses of approximately 5 billion euros for several national tax revenues. It is estimated that in some countries, up to 90% of the whole market volume was caused by fraudulent activities.

Crafty people who produce nothing of value find ways to insert themselves into the revenue stream and exact their parasitic toll.  It's called Rent Seeking.  Think DC politicians. 

The NY Post editors get to the crux of it:

The whole point of the exercise is to transfer a trillion bucks from the economies of the world's developed nations to Third World kleptocrats -- with God-only-knows how much cash sticking to the fingers of well-connected UN bureaucrats.

Global climate treaties are stick-ups perpetrated by international shysters to enrich themselves while assuaging liberal guilt.

Cap and Trade market schemes waste money in the form of transaction fees gobbled up by people trading smoke. 

Smoke and mirrors is more like it. 

Volokh

SOCIALISM: Masturbation in a Closet

The media is all a flutter about the upcoming release of Michael Moore's Capitalism: A love story.

Michael Moore's overly simplistic definition of Capitalism is "legalized greed". He uses the example of a pie on a table cut into ten slices and one guy at the table says "Nine of those slices are mine... and the other nine of you can fight over the last slice, that's the kind of economy we have now".

But honestly, look at the pie... someone grew the fruit in the pie, someone grew the sugar, someone grew the wheat in the crust. If I go to the store, buy the canned fruit, sugar, flour, eggs... spend two hours in the kitchen whipping it all together, bake it in the oven, and put it out on the table before you...

ALL TEN OF THE SLICES ARE MINE YOU COMMUNIST ASSHOLE!!!

The government that we have today is completely out of control and the problem isn't capitalism, it's socialism. The founding father's understood well the dangers of Democracy, which is why they established a Republic. In Michael Moore's deranged world-view a majority vote is a moral vote... it's the classical example of "tyranny of the majority" and why we have a constitution in the first place.

Michael Moore's problem is he thinks he's entitled to the pie at all! In Michael Moore's world, the government comes by and takes half (or more) of the farmer's fruit, half of the farmer's grain, half of the farmers wheat, and when you're done, comes and takes half your pie.

Moore: "Some things are just wrong. And this capitalist economic system that we have, it might have been right at one point, it's not right now. And I don't think we are ever going to put the genie back in the bottle. So we need to come up with something new to replace it. And I'm not talking about... This isn't a debate between capitalism versus socialism."

No Michael? What is it? Moore says "I'm actually suggesting go [sic] back to the roots of this country, democracy." Democracy? But democracy is not an economic system. What exactly is it that you are proposing? I bake the pie and the neighbors come over and vote on who gets a slice? One is left wondering, if it isn't socialism, exactly what is Michael Moore advocating?

Socialism: Masturbation in a closet. It feels good, but doesn't really do anyone any good.

AND MICHAEL.... STAY AWAY FROM THE PIE!

~Finntann~

The Nation

LA Times

Is Socialism "Cannibalism Lite"?

A Modern Day "Modest Proposal"

With each new Trillion dollar bailout and public give-away, lots of us taxpayers are getting uncomfortable. We used to see ourselves as productive citizens; now we wonder if we are being looked at as mere monetary food. Someone has to pay off this massive debt!

This is what cannibalism is at its core: societal self-consumption. In this case, national self-consumption. Very soon, tax-suckers will outnumber tax payers. What's worse, those on the dole have a powerful entitlement mindset about your wallet. It's stealing with a muscular middleman.

Imagine a FEMA pamphlet from the future that illustrates this concept. And oh, by the way, it seems that life sometimes reflects art!

Bon appetit!
-- Hugh Farnham

Name Than Socialist Tune!

Here's a fun game!

Who made the following statements, Communist Dictator Fidel Castro or a Democratic party spokesperson?

"President Barack Obama is trying to make positive changes in the United States, but is being fought at every turn by right-wingers who hate him because he is black..."

Still can't decide? Here's some more...

Obama does not want to change the U.S. political and economic system, but "in spite of that, the extreme right hates him for being African-American and fights what the president does to improve the deteriorated image of that country"

"I don't have the slightest doubt that the racist right will do everything possible to wear him down, blocking his program to get him out of the game one way or another, at the least political cost," he said.

Who said these things? Hugo Chavez? Or angry nutroots at Daily Kook or HuffPo?

Although the Republicans ... claimed they oppose President Obama's health care plan because it would increase the nation's debt, the real reason is driven by racism and the fact that the majority who would benefit from health care reform are minorities, the poor and families burdened by uninsured health challenges

So why was it okay to raise the debt when Bush was in power but not okay to raise the debt when Obama is in power?

Because of racism...

Fidel Castro wrote the first three (Source: Reuters), but the last two came from a flaming red Hopium smoker at HuffPo.

The Democrats and their Nutbag fringe are in big trouble when you can't distinguish their rhetoric from that of a murderous Communist.

It's all Fun and Games until somebody loses an Island

WestPac Press: June 19, 2052 – With the final passage of the Treaty of Oahu in the Senate following the walk-out of the remaining 7 Republicans and accompanied by muted protests in Honolulu, the USS Government today transferred sovereignty of Hawaii to China in exchange for 500 trillion (US) in debt relief. With the national debt at 857 trillion dollars and the GDP hovering around 141 trillion, the United Socialist States was unable to maintain the minimum required annual payments of 54 trillion to the IMF. This action is forecast to reduce this year’s deficit from 57 down to 13 trillion barring any further currency devaluation.

While the Anglo-Polynesian and Anglo-Nippon minorities in Hawaii still maintain a slight combined majority, the vote for unification with China paralleled Chinese ownership of property with some 73 % of citizens voting for unification. Despite the overwhelming support, the outlawed Pelean Liberation Front (PLF) claimed responsibility for Post Office bombings in both Lahaina and Kailua. The People’s Liberation Army representative assured concerned citizens that peace and tranquility would soon return.

President Alexandra Pelosi in an interview on Larry King Junior Live said that despite the recent vote rescinding Alaskan statehood, there was no truth to the rumors that the government was in negotiations with the Greater Islamic Republic over the transfer of the Alaskan Territory in exchange for further debt relief and additional petroleum rations. Ending her interview on a positive note she said that everyone should be pleased with the recent fall of Billings and that if the oil held out Big Timber and Livingston should be next. With the projected transfer of another division out of Iraq, USS forces should have the rebels bottled up in Helena by first snowfall.

With the price of gas approaching six dollars a liter and last years poor harvest severely impacting ethanol supplies Congress announced that Government Motors would get another infusion of cash to support the all electric GM Plug-n-Play Fleet. The Plug-n-Play lineup of vehicles has been hard hit by National Electric’s rationing, limiting the electric supply in the city-states of the east and west to the hours of 7 AM to 7 PM. National Electric’s “Patriots go down with the Sun” campaign has done little to alleviate fuel supply problems rampant in the highly urbanized east and west coastal corridors.

In the southwest, Homeland Security announced new efforts to clamp down on the flow of illegal immigrants over the border following the fourth protest this year by Mexico to the United Nations. Facing the possibility of additional sanctions for lack of border control HS was stepping up enforcement in south Texas and California, while the governors of New Mexico and Arizona called up additional National Guard troops. The Mexican ambassador’s protest to the UN was focused on the unreasonable burden imposed on his country’s medical system by undocumented Americans seeking care.



See! You can have fun as the opposition!



~Finntann~

GM...Government Motors

Nationalization: alteration or assumption of control or ownership of private property by the state.

Tom Raum of the Associated Press called it "a defining moment of American capitalism"... capitalism Tom? I think you were napping in that poli-sci class.... it's the defining moment of American socialism!

Obama called it a "viable, achievable plan that will give this iconic American company a chance to rise again" what? Like Leyland Motors?

Meanwhile, as part of it's turnaround program GM released it's new line of GAZ automobiles with the models Zvezda "Star" (red I presume), Volga...er I mean Potomac, and announced that its new Chaika limousine would be put into presidential service.

Abolishing it's employee and family discount programs, the new "party member" discount plan and six year waiting list is projected to be announced soon.

Now, if the Ford advertising folks have any sense at all they will abandon the "Built Ford Tough" campaign... as the only legitimate "American" automaker and replace it with:

BUILT FORD FREE


Cheers!

~Finntann~

The World Turned Upside Down

The world is now facing the first truly global economic crisis, which is continuing to develop at an unprecedented pace. The current situation is often compared to the Great Depression of the late 1920s and the early 1930s. True, there are some similarities.

Naturally, all national governments and business leaders must take resolute actions. Nevertheless, it is important to avoid making decisions, even in such force majeure circumstances, that we will regret in the future. We must not revert to isolationism and unrestrained economic egotism...Although additional protectionism will prove inevitable during the crisis; all of us must display a sense of proportion.

Excessive intervention in economic activity and blind faith in the state's omnipotence is another possible mistake. True, the state's increased role in times of crisis is a natural reaction to market setbacks. Instead of streamlining market mechanisms, some are tempted to expand state economic intervention to the greatest possible extent. The concentration of surplus assets in the hands of the state is a negative aspect of anti-crisis measures in virtually every nation...

Nor should we turn a blind eye to the fact that the spirit of free enterprise, including the principle of personal responsibility of businesspeople, investors and shareholders for their decisions, is being eroded in the last few months. There is no reason to believe that we can achieve better results by shifting responsibility onto the
state...

And one more point: anti-crisis measures should not escalate into financial populism and a refusal to implement responsible macroeconomic policies. The unjustified swelling of the budgetary deficit and the accumulation of public debts are just as destructive as adventurous stock-jobbing.

What makes this speech all the more amazing is that it comes from Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister of Russia, and former KGB officer. Being an old Reagan era cold-warrior, who manned this nations ballistic missile early warning system from the height of the cold war to the after the collapse of the Berlin wall and the Soviet Union... I never, in my wildest dreams, thought I would live to see the day that that an ex-KGB officer, President of Russia, and current Prime Minister would lecture, and rightly so, the United States on the dangers of Socialism and the Socialist state. I now know how General Cornwallis felt as he surrendered at Yorktown as the band played "The World Turned Upside Down". All I can say in absolute astonishment and amazement is:

LISTEN TO THE NICE RUSSIAN MAN, HE KNOWS WHAT HE'S TALKING ABOUT!

The serving men doe sit and whine, and thinke it long ere dinner time: The Butler's still out of the way, or else my Lady keeps the key, The poor old cook, in the larder doth look, Where is no goodnesse to be found, Yet let's be content, and the times lament, you see the world turn'd upside down.

Cheers!

~Finntann~

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123317069332125243.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

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...

The Nationalization of America

Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merril Lynch, to name some of the more recognizable institutions that you, the American taxpayer now own part of, Federal investments for the above institutions range from 10-25 billion each.

Ask most people what the bailout is, and chances are they won't answer with: The partial nationalization of the banking system. To speed the plan through congress the administration said the money was needed to purchase bad mortgage-related assets, and said nothing about direct stock purchases.

Most of the Treasury's investments so far have been in preferred bank stocks and most of them thus far have been losing investments.

The government has thus far given Citigroup 45 billion dollars, aside from preferred stock at $1000/share, the government deal included warrants for 210 million shares at $17.85 and 254 million shares at $10.61, Citigroup closed today at $7.02, a potential loss of over 3 billion dollars.

Today, the President offered a 17.4 billion dollar bailout to the auto industry, declaring, in a gesture worthy of Hugo Chavez, Public Law 110-342 to be 'non-binding'. The bailout demands concessions similar to those rejected by the Senate a week ago.

If you'd like to read what the law says:
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ343.110.pdf

Some of the terms include a requirement to cut compensation for rank-and-file workers, executive compensation restrictions, sale of aircraft or interests in aircraft, detail spending on holiday parties, travel and new real estate, and get White House approval for asset sales and other transactions of more than $100 million. Nothing like a free market, eh?

The question that remains, is why is this all silently passing by?

Socialism by any other name...

~Finntann~

Fidelito's in Trouble

El Generalisimo Hugo Chavez's Movement Towards Socialism is becoming less a march and more a stagger, according to the Daily Telegraph.

This is a lesson to those who think state control is the answer. Chavez's stated goal was to pry the country from the greedy grip of the rich oligarchs, who had rigged the game to where they were the only winners, leaving the poor empty handed. Well, he routed the oligarchy, but now the game is rigged for his Socialist cronies and the poor are still empty handed. And the infrastructure crumbles...

Meanwhile, El Jefe Maximo has his state-run oil company producing food, furniture and domestic appliances since his socialism has destroyed the private sector economy.

Oil production has fallen from 3.2 million barrels per day to 2.4, due to mismanagement and crumbling infrastructure.

"There is a bottleneck in the Venezuelan production system," said Mazhar al-Sheridah, 68, an oil expert at the Central University of Venezuela. "It will cost at least $32 billion to build another three upgrading units and take some five years, meaning that Venezuelan production is stuck at current levels for a while yet."

State-sponsored populism, whether left or right, has failed everywhere it has been tried. Capitalism and democracy coupled with the rule of law works every time. Why are we clamoring for more of the former and less of the latter?

When Socialist Experiments Explode

In the James Dean movie "Rebel Without a Cause," reckless hoodlums steal cars and play chicken, racing them to the edge of a cliff. Whoever jumps out of the car first is the chicken. Sounds like Congress and the Wall Street bailout program.

House GOP members are trying to stick to their free-market principles and stay in the car, but the economy could end up going over a cliff. They're going to have to jump, and the Democrats will call them chicken when they do.

Democrats are keeping the pressure on because they don't want the truth to come out:

Democrats are the saviors of Wall Street fat cats and Republicans are looking out for the taxpayer.

Socialistic government intervention in private markets created this mess. This second truth explains the first truth. Jimmy Carter started a socialist experiment to allow more people to buy their own homes. Guilty do-gooder liberals in Congress loved the idea and forced lenders to relax their standard so more people could get loans. That is the "deregulation" that created all this bad debt that the President tells us is clogging the finance markets, bringing capital flows to a standstill.

Capitalism is apolitical and amoral. Government schemes of this magnitude need private sector cooperation, and Wall Street was happy to help. They funded Hitler, why not this? Wall Street would finance Satan's global takeover if they could make a profit. Fannie and Freddie greased the skids with political cash to its benefactors in Congress. Barney Frankenstein and Chris DodderingOldFool are swimming in political contributions from the same banksters they are now bailing out. See how this works?

This bailout maintains the status quo. Washington can continue to play Santa Claus with your money, and Wall Street can continue to profit from it.

Kevin Hassett at Bloomberg.com makes the best case I've seen for blaming the Democrats. See Jeff Jacoby's explanation of Barney Frank's guilt.

Socialism Disguised as Capitalism

People smarter than me are saying it so it must be true: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are socialist institutions nursing at the teat of government. They are privately owned companies backed by our tax dollars, which encourages the "capitalists" running them to take imprudent risks.

Here's an excerpt by Terence Corcoran's article in Canada's National Post.

...turns out not to be rampant capitalism but out of control back-door socialism.

There is nothing free market about the two American mortgage backers, hybrid institutions created by the U.S. government to support mortgages and make home buying easier and more affordable for Americans. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, prodded by Congress and regulators, socialized trillions of dollars of mortgage risk on the backs of U. S. taxpayers. Along with dozens of other U. S. government programs that lured American's into a home-buying frenzy, the two institutions -- now getting even more socialist backing from Washington -- stand among the leading creators of the U. S. mortgage and credit crisis.

So what do we do about them now? Kill them! (Freddie and Fannie, that is.) That's what Holman Jenkins suggest in his WSJ article.

The obvious solution is to nationalize Fannie and Freddie and break them up. Sell off their regional underwriting offices to private investors. Don't heed any guff about how Fannie and Freddie are "vital to the functioning of the U.S. housing market." Houses would still need to be financed, and the private sector would jump at a chance to get the solid, triple-A business that Fannie and Freddie now monopolize. Indeed, there's evidence that their implicit subsidy never flowed through to homebuyers anyway, but was captured by their shareholders and managers.

So how did these crony capitalists, these socialist welfare queen moochers disguised as free marketeers get by with it? They were in bed with federal government officials who love taking your money and giving it away to others, or in this case, using it to back shaky home loans to people who were not financially ready for home ownership. Politico breaks it down for us here.

If you want to know how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have survived scandal and crisis, consider this: Over the past decade, they have spent nearly $200 million on lobbying and campaign contributions.

They’ve stacked their payrolls with top Washington power brokers of all political stripes, including Repubican John McCain’s presidential campaign manager, Rick Davis; Democrat Barack Obama’s original vice presidential vetter, Jim Johnson; and scores of others now working for the two rivals for the White House. (Silverfiddle note: McCain's man lobbied for the institutions, but Obama's man was a little higher up the food chain: He was the CEO of Fannie Mae, leaving in 1998 with a golden parachute.)

Fannie and Freddie’s aggressive political maneuvering has helped stave off increased regulation and preserve special benefits such as exemption from state and local income taxes and the ability to borrow at low rates.

There you have it: State sponsored socialism, all in the name of doing good and helping people...

The crony capitalists and Wall Street banksters seem to be well served by our government. How about you?

Good News! We'll all be Millionaires Soon!

Bad News: A million dollars won't be worth a bucket of spit. Think it can't happen here?

Consider Argentina: The corrupt, incompetent colossus of South America. It has lucrative farming operations, abundant fertile land, natural resources and universities, but it is an economic basket case. It wasn't always like this. 100 years ago Argentina enjoyed one of the top 10 global economies and was a powerful, respected nation. Those evil twins, Corruption and Socialist Statism, got the best of them.

Still think it can't happen here? Consider what our Socialist Interventionist government is doing:

- Bailing out the Wall Street welfare queens (formerly known as capitalists)
- Bailing out people who bought more house than they could afford
- Bailing out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
- Bribing taxpayers with free money and calling it a "Stimulus Package"
- Putting our nation further in debt to continue this unbridled spending spree
- We're sitting on enough oil, gas and coal to tell the world to get bent, but thanks to congress, we continue to sit on it
- Wind, solar, hydrogen. Like the weather, everybody talks about it but nobody does anything. Hey government! Got Energy Policy?

Adding fuel to the fire, Senator Chuck Schumer, in an act both venal and stupid, caused a good old fashioned bank run. Panicked citizens, apparently not realizing their deposits were federally insured, lined up demanding their money, ala "It's a Wonderful Life," although I doubt this story will end with everyone happily singing Auld Lang Syne.

Speaking of bank runs, if Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac go under and require government money to save them, we are in big trouble:

"Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac own or guarantee $5 trillion of mortgages, nearly half of all U.S. mortgages." (Reuters)

This particular crisis was caused by, you guessed it, government policy. Presidents Clinton and Bush, egged on by congress, established irresponsible policies that encouraged home ownership by people who had no business owning one. Of course, this scheme was funded with our tax dollars. Here's an excerpt from reuters:

"Efforts that began in the Clinton White House and continued through the Bush administration to boost home ownership, particularly among Americans in minority groups and with lower incomes, were what helped drive a surge in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac activity. Supporters in Congress egged them on."

Oh, and Speaker Pelosi wants to hand out more free money. Congressional approval is below 10% and elections are less than 4 months away. Coincidence? You decide...

And for my progressive friends who want me to include "President Bush's wars" in the financial toll, I remind you that Democrats voted for both wars but then didn't have the rocks to back their vote when the Nut Roots went crazy. If these same politicians had stood up for what they voted for instead of stabbing the president in the back at every turn, both wars would be won now and our troops would be home.

Free Market Capitalism works. Socialism fails. History has taught us that. Capitalism built every successful economy on the globe, including ours. If you want to blame conservatives for something, blame them for a lack of regulation. They forgot that Capitalism without a moral code is a jungle. Adam Smith, the proto-capitalist of "Invisible Hand" fame, told us so 200 years ago.

So here's my suggestion. Let the greedy and the stupid fail: It will put them where they belong and serve as a lesson to the rest of us. Let the conservatives plan laissez fair economic policy and let the progressives be the watchdog. Having a liberal on each shoulder should teach those Wall Street Bankster pigs a lesson! And, as a bonus, liberals will be performing a useful function besides just nagging and protesting. Finally, American Citizen, have enough pride in yourself to tell your candy man congresswoman and senator to shove it next time they dangle goodies in front of you. You have to live by a budget, demand they do the same.

It beats the hell out of being an Argentinian millionaire.