By STEPHEN MOORE
In the book, these relentless wealth redistributionists and their programs are disparaged as "the looters and their laws." Every new act of government futility and stupidity carries with it a benevolent-sounding title. These include the "Anti-Greed Act" to redistribute income (sounds like Charlie Rangel's promises soak-the-rich tax bill) and the "Equalization of Opportunity Act" to prevent people from starting more than one business (to give other people a chance). My personal favorite, the "Anti Dog-Eat-Dog Act," aims to restrict cut-throat competition between firms and thus slow the wave of business bankruptcies. Why didn't Hank Paulson think of that?
These acts and edicts sound farcical, yes, but no more so than the actual events in Washington, circa 2008. We already have been served up the $700 billion "Emergency Economic Stabilization Act" and the "Auto Industry Financing and Restructuring Act." Now that Barack Obama is in town, he will soon sign into law with great urgency the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan." This latest Hail Mary pass will increase the federal budget (which has already expanded by $1.5 trillion in eight years under George Bush) by an additional $1 trillion -- in roughly his first 100 days in office.
Some of us could see this day coming like a freight train. The problem for us is that we have no power to print money like the government does, but we do have the power to get ready for the trouble that faces us as a nation. If we can not pay our debt now, what really does raising the limit mean but more debt we can not pay?
I still see people, including myself, struggling to define socialism as it applies to America and how much, if any, they are willing to accept. Seems like this topic always goes back to how much one is "willing to accept"
ReplyDeleteSeems to me the question is how much is one willing to "give up"
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