I couldn’t have said it better myself, so I stole this headline from the bottom of the screen on TV.
We realize these go together, right? I mean, I know at least a couple people that read my blog probably voted for Obama, which is fine, but I’m just saying that we realize that with more government involvement and funding and the nationalization of things that is happening under our noses, more of our freedoms get taken away with it, right?
They have to go together. It is the nature of things. In the hopes of forcing the rest of the country (the rich, those EVIL corporations, etc) to help those in need, or at least a perceived need, you have to put more laws and rules on them. And the government has to be the one to do this.
Let’s look at the recent GM situation for an example. The government gives them money to help them out. Fine. They blow that money, too, so we give them more. Well, Obama doesn’t like that his “just give them money” idea isn’t working (did he really think it would?), so he removes the head of GM and picks his own guy.
Obama has now tied his success with the success of GM. If GM continues to fail, and I predict that it will, Obama will have to get more involved. I won’t even tackle the outrageousness of the government removing the head of a private enterprise … because that goes with it when you take the gubmint’s money.
At some point you have to deal with the fact that GM cannot, in its current form (tied to the unions as they are) produce a competitive product for a competitive price … in their own country.
What happens next? Well, Obama has more options. He can put a salary cap on the executives at GM, or maybe all employees … but I doubt that happens. The unions would scream. But maybe he stands up to his own party and the source of millions of campaign contributions. Maybe he surprises me.
What then? Well, we could place overwhelming tariffs on Japanese and Korean cars, the ones that are kicking GM’s tail out of its own country. Of course, then Obama would have friends and allies screaming at him about his unfair trade policies. Oh, not to mention the inflation that goes along with a cornered auto market … unless the government takes up the slack there, too … which means more taxes on everybody, and then less money to spend.
I’m not saying all this will happen … only what choice does Obama have? If he lets GM fail at this point, he cannot blame Bush (although he will try) or Republicans or evil corporations. GM is now the gubmint’s company, and Obama is making the decisions. If GM continues to fail, he will either go down with the ship or continue to place more rules and taxes and blame to force success of a company that deserves to fail, since the unions and the executives would not adjust while foreign competition had vision and competence.
And GM is just one example. It is already happening with the banks and health care, and other places I don’t even know about. To fix this “economic crisis” (Obama’s words), he feels he needs to take more and more control and Americans lose more and more of their freedoms. There are other leaders of other nations who have done the same throughout history … I wouldn’t want to be on that list.
Peace.