Posted on 04/28/2009 5:54:25 AM PDT by Natty Bumppo@frontier.net
It has become fashionable in conservative circles to pull out old copies of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, and make references to the character John Galt, who engineered a “strike” of all the captains of industry to protest a socialist and confiscatory government in America. While that may seem a bit over the top, it’s clear from the news this week that the Obama Administration and Congress are trying to make Ms Rand a prophetess.
After a week of sham outrage over bonuses at AIG, Congress has taken action that even the Washington Post called pandering, spineless, and irresponsible – enacting a confiscatory and retaliatory tax to re-coup monies contractually guaranteed to people who have the duty to unwind the economic woes of their company (and the entire American economy).
The bill could easily be seen as an attempt to cover up the culpability of Congress in allowing such bonuses in the first place. Sen. Chris Dodd put the language into the hastily enacted and poorly staffed Stimulus bill that allowed the bonuses, and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, contrary to his feigned surprise, was informed about the situation at least two weeks ago, and arguably knew about them last November. Sen. Frank spent the week hammering the man the Fed enlisted to fix AIG (who works for $1/year), and threatening to make public the names of AIG employees for having done nothing more than cashed their contractually-agreed paychecks.
Syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin and others suggest that this is all smoke and mirrors to draw the public eye away from the widening fiscal feeding frenzy in Congress – an additional $5 billion for the auto industry, a $6 billion community activist give-away, $10 billion in another pork-laden lands bill, and another expansion of the stimulus bill. The Congressional Budget Office continues to ramp up the cost of the Obama budget, now estimating a trillion dollar increase in the national debt each year. Whether the misdirection is deliberate or not, the pattern certainly looks familiar.
Picture this: a populist president takes on the supposed moneyed elite, enacts laws that confiscate their property, and addresses an economic collapse with fear-mongering and printing money – all the while he hits the campaign trail and brokers his personal popularity to ram through punitive legislation that obviates the normal legal protections of contracts and other Constitutional guarantees.
Now picture this: Zimbabwe.
In a country where a contract no longer means anything, where property law is discarded, and where legislation is punitive, and narrowly focused against selected groups of people, the results have already been demonstrated: runaway inflation, fear, and complete withdrawl from the economy by those most able to stimulate it.
No one should be surprised if the financial staffs at AIG and other institutions turn in their bonus stapled to their resignations. No one should be surprised if confidence in American markets and American contracts continues to deteriorate. No one should be surprised if the former captains of American industry drop off the radar completely, and open ceramic shops. No one should be surprised if the economy continues to contract. No one should be surprised when Obama breaks the Carter record for stimulating nothing but the rate of inflation.
When the nation that arguably leads the world both economically and politically begins to act like a third-world banana republic, something is seriously wrong. When a Congress, sworn to support the American Constitution, starts to behave in clearly un-Constitutional ways, something is seriously wrong. When contracts in the American marketplace are no longer considered binding, and when political leaders start leading lynch mobs against private citizens, something is seriously wrong.
If Atlas has not yet shrugged, it is only a matter of time. Rather than encouraging the American marketplace to heal and restructure, the Obama Administration and Congress seem intent on making sure no one ever wants to be part of it again. They will have no-one to blame when that happens.
John Galt lives, and he will not stay hidden much longer. When the government breaks trust, it forfeits trust. When that forfeiture becomes wide-spread, we’re all in trouble.
We can only hope the President is doing something other than Leno should that happen.
From WND:
Obama walks into a bar with a parrot on his shoulder.
Bartender says, “Where’d you get that?”
Parrot says, “Kenya. They’re all over the place!!”
Atlas has begun to shrug. Then he’s going to pick up a gun.
During the Thrift crisis (caused by Congress removing the tax benefits of owning commercial property - immediately after the Federal Regulator went around the country telling the Savings and Loan Associations that he wanted them to make commercial loans instead of home loans) we learned not to trust Federal Regulators.
They would promise directors of S&L’s if they would put up several millions of new capital, the bank would be left alone. Six months later, the feds would take it over (we know of some cases where the takeovers were motivated by the Resolution Trust Corps’ need for cash to pay their payroll).
Every business generation must learn the same lessons over and over again. NEVER put your future in the hands of anyone who works for the Federal Government.
LOL!!!
Excellent indeed!!!
I just e-mailed it forward.
Chrysler and GM were predicted in the book. Car companies run by unions. How absurd. Our taxes will prop them up for years. Communism only works as long as there are Capitalists around to support it. We are not long for total collapse.
The book also had that socialized company where everyone made the same money and all employees had an equal say in all decisions, made by popular vote. Crazy, couldn't happen in the real world, right?
In his first few days in office, Obama visited a company that made solar panels and was being run in the same way. Too bad they aren't publicly traded, I'd be shorting their stock like you wouldnt believe!
I think they even have a five year plan to pacify the faithful useless idiots. I remember all the Soviet five year plans. I wonder how they will use the flu scam to increse control?
Let's see, what could they do? Hmmm. Just some of the possibilities:
Or. A Swine Flu Treaty. Turn over control of the USA to the UN. That seems to be where all this is leading anyway.
Go John Galt now, Henry Bowman later (stolen from MrB).
I have my list of local gun-grabbers to feed to the hogs....do you?
I have a list of Places to Go, Things to Do and People to Meet. We’ll know when that Day arrives.
The first American Revolution began on April 19, 1775, but it took three strikes of the match that day to set the country ablaze with resistance.
As long as I have a rifle, I STILL have a vote...
—Ward
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