Still a train wreck
By Carol Devine-Molin
web posted September 29, 2008
In the end, the House Republicans got some of what they wanted on this bailout scheme that would ostensibly avert economic collapse in the wake of the subprime mortgage meltdown. The financial sector would have to provide insurance for their mortgage-backed securities at no expense to the taxpayers, and Leftist activist groups such as voter fraud-perpetrating ACORN would be shut off from monies in this particular bill. But rest assured, the Democrat politicos are not going to abandon their brethren.
You can bet your bottom dollar that these Leftist "community organizers" from ACORN and La Raza will find other means of accessing government slush funds thanks to their pals in the Democrat Party, who are well capable of adding provisions to other legislation that fund Leftist political action organizations. Oh, I guess we're not supposed to remind our fellow Americans that Barack Obama had close links with the reprobates over at the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). But that, as they say, is a conversation for another time.
Apparently, this "comprehensive" bailout bill will provide Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson with immediate access to $250 billion, $100 billion upon "report to Congress" and another $350 billion upon "Congressional action". Call me skeptical, but I have no doubt that there will be other taxpayer monies funneled to this debacle before all is said and done. Without exaggeration, this will wind up costing the taxpayers in excess of a trillion dollars. And what of the consequences?
So let's examine the insane choice that was offered up by the government: Either we taxpayers quickly ante up Beaucoup Bailout Bucks or face a severe economic depression that would impact the entire globe. Just lovely! Beyond the incredible pressure to come to grips with this warp speed "rescue", Americans were deprived of the opportunity to fully think through the implications of the deal that includes handing over unprecedented authority to the Secretary of the Treasury and moving inexorably toward socialism as we nationalize Wall Street's toxic debt. Moreover, our economy will be subjected to hyper-inflation and further debasement of our currency that's surely part and parcel of spending a trillion dollars that we simply don't possess. This is not the end of our economic turmoil, but only the beginning.
Implicit in this kabuki dance is that we're all supposed to put on our tinfoil caps and pretend that power-grabbing Big Government can solve our economic woes, even though it was instrumental in creating this fiasco. Conservatives, who believe in free market capitalism and empowering individuals, are particularly sickened by the current course of events. The Right-leaning crowd understands that government has a fiduciary responsibility to facilitate liquidity in the markets and relieve the credit crunch, but, by the same token, the government should be utilizing pro-growth, free-enterprise reforms that protect the taxpayers, rather than reverting to socialist initiatives that will ultimately harm the economy.
Unfortunately, Henry Paulson is not a conservative, and he's viewing this economic mess through his liberal prism. I'm not saying that Paulson is a Trojan Horse bent on moving this nation closer toward socialism, but it was simply inevitable that he would address any crisis from his Left-leaning perspective. Frankly, President Bush never should have selected him as Treasury Secretary. But then again, President Bush is now largely devoid of conservative principles.
It's also worth noting that Paulson is a consummate Wall Street insider, having been the chief executive at Goldman Sachs. Certainly, Americans are thinking that cronyism has, in part, spurred this bailout, and they're not feeling kindly toward Wall Street that's eager to glom onto what's essentially corporate welfare. Sure, the bureaucrats will try to recoup some monies from these subprime mortgages, but whether they succeed or not remains to be seen.
For me, the current situation is somewhat reminiscent of the hoopla surrounding the comprehensive immigration reform bill [AKA the "Amnesty Bill"], when President Bush put forth a palpably Left-leaning stance on the subject matter that he's maintained to this day. That being said, it would have been better if the president had consulted with conservative ideologue Newt Gingrich or The Heritage Foundation on our economic plight before going public with any type of remedial plan. As Gingrich notes, "They [the politicians and the Wall Street types] broke it, you bought it." The American public is now mind-numbed and disgusted by all that's transpired, and the mantra of "transparency, accountability and oversight" of the bailout process sounds like the empty blah-blah-blah of the politicos. 
Carol Devine-Molin is a regular contributor to several online magazines.