In just 3 months, the government has radically increased its power and control. First it was Fannie and Freddie, which many did not mind because they was government backed. Then there was the AIG, where the government replaced its CEO, instead of the companies directors. Then came TARP to bailout the banks. And then there was the Auto Bailout, where the White House asked GM's CEP Rick Wagoner to step down as a precondition for government aid. Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm called the chairman and CEO of General Motors a "sacrificial lamb."
Now the Treasury Secretary wants more authority. He wants it expanded to include oversight over, essentially, anything financial. He wants an agency similar to the FDIC, to regulate insurance companies and other such businesses. Geithner said Washington alone was equipped to salvage an economy that has seen jobs lost and credit shrink. "The market will not solve this. And the great risk for us is we do too little, not that we do too much," he said.
If this keeps going, the government will be forcing its way into brokerage firms, real estate companies, and any other industry it feels a need to do so, all under the guise of "preventing an economic meltdown".
What ever happened to bankruptcy? Bankrupt, does not mean out of business? While some may go out of business, many of these companies could file for bankruptcy, reorganize and be able to compete once again in the future. By preventing bankruptcy, you either deny, or delay, the cleansing that bankruptcy would mandate.
But the scary thing is, the strings attached to government assistance. The potential is the socialist model of Government run companies and banks. The other question would be, if they are willing to use this much control for companies on government assistance, what about people who are on government assistance? Are they going to start mandating to foods, you eat, the clothes you wear, what leisure activities are acceptable, etc.?
A wise man once said "The more you rely on the government, the more enslaved you become to it." Also, Alexis de Tocqueville once said "The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money." I fear this is where we are heading now.
Beware of Government Takeovers !!!!
Member #: 51908
Registered: 4/10/2007
Posted:
518
Occupation:
Not sure anymore
Location:
FLORIDA
Experience:
~35 years
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