Some truly remarkable things happened this past week or so.
The government announced that they are printing $1.2 Trillion
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected that the President's proposed budget will create a $1. 8 Trillion deficit in 2009, and a $1.4 Trillion deficit in 2010...much larger than the administration's projections.
GM releases a statement that they don't need anymore Government bailout money in March, but a day later, the administration (Stephen Rattner, Auto Task Force Leader) says that "GM and Chrysler could end up needing a considerably higher amount" and that the administration is looking into it's "role in managing the resolution".
The Congress votes to approve legislation to retroactively tax, at a confiscatory rate, bonuses contractually paid to AIG executives.
The Administration floats a trial balloon to, for the first time in history, have the government stop paying for health care of wounded veterans, and pass it to the private sector.
Several state governors announce that they will reject part of the "stinkulous" pay out for their states as they discover that taking the money requires them to adopt unemployment and contract provisions dictated by the central government.
Wow! These are some issues with profound effect and implications about where our country and society are going. And to me, they represent alarming changes to our economic and political system. But what is the media reporting? The big issues of the week for the media are:
Did Laura Ingraham (conservative talk show host) imply that Megan McCain was overweight, and is that a major women's rights issue?
Aren't we all outraged that those executives at AIG got big bonuses?
The President picks his teams in the NCAA basketball tournament.
The President is going on the Jay Leno show!
Should the Secretary Geithner resign?
The government is printing massive amounts of money...more than at any time in history. The economic reaction (but not the media's) was swift: Gold up 8% and oil up 7% in 24 hours; the dollar lost 4% of it's value vs. the Euro the next day; the stock market stopped it's brief rally and continued it's plunge since the beginning of the year. Can anyone else out there see "stagflation" coming? This government spending binge is insanity. It may reduce the relative cost of the massive government debt being created, but it is a cruel tax on those middle class, working americans, as commodities (like heating oil or gas, gas for their cars. food and hard goods inflate faster than their earnings in a high unemployment environment, at the same time that their pensions, savings and 401ks get decimated.The "cap and trade" legislation would make this inflation even worse. It may (or may not) make people feel good about trying to be more "green", but this is a thinly veiled tax on everyone who uses oil or gas or electricity to heat their homes or gas to drive their cars...and it is a bigger percentage of the disposable income of middle and lower income families.
Is anyone in the media (including self appointed Paul Revere O'Reilly) sounding the alarm about what a $1.8 Trillion deficit, and printing money probably means for the economy and our standard of living? We can't possibly pay down that size mortgage on our future for a generation (it's roughly equal to the GDP of the whole world, just for reference)."It is incumbent on every generationto pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which, if acted upon, would save one half the wars of the world." (Thomas) Jefferson. Where is the "responsibility to future generations" cited in the campaign?
The AIG bonuses are repugnant. But, hell, the Congress spent more than those bonuses on things like studying pig odor, and a bridge to nowhere in Robt Byrd's home turf.The much bigger issue is ignoring the Bill of Attainder provision in the constitution. Before you get glassy eyed, it simple says that the legislative branch can't act as prosecutor, judge and jury by passing "ex post facto" laws to (essentially) "get" a group of people they want to "get". (Article 1, section 9provides that "No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law will be passed". "The Bill of Attainder Clause was intended not as a narrow, technical prohibition, but rather as an implementation of the separation of powers, a general safeguard against legislative exercise of the judicial function or, more simply...trial by legislature." (U.S. v. Brown 1965). This is a core value of our society in danger of being swept away by one party rule, that the congress can effectively change a contract made in the private sector after the fact, and pass legislation to punish or confiscate money from a targeted group of people. Further, Senator Dodd has now, live on CNN yesterday, admitted that his staff, reacting to concerns from Geithner's office, amended language in the AIG bailout to allow the bonuses to be paid. That's right, both the Congress and the Administration knew about and were involved in changing language to allow the very AIG bonuses that they then expressed outrage about and passes legislation to take away. (By the way, the Congres also approved a large raise for the Postmaster General whose taxpayer funded operation lost a record amount of money, and approved large retention bonuses for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, taxpayer funded enterprises that were at the epicenter of the subprime mortgage collapse, and are taking billions of dollars of bailout money.
And, with our soldiers bravely sacrificing for us, the Administration flew a trial balloon proposal to take away government responsibility for healthcare for wounded veterans (and tell them to use their own private insurance). The President, I'm afraid with a sense of politics instead of compassion, decided to reject that plan.
Socialism..."A system of social organization in which private property and the distribution of income are subject to social (state) control." (Encyclopedia Brittanica). America's changing , comrade. But, hey...did you hear the big news? It appears that Laura Ingraham implied that Megan McCain's fat!
