The Politics of Envy and Stupidity
In Barack Obama’s deceptive, disingenuous and self-congratulatory speech today, he declared, “we want our money back.” Which is really ironic, considering the fact that 9 months ago, we didn’t want our money back. With no hint of irony, Obama also proclaimed that “my commitment is to the tax payer” and managed to stifle his laughter. Referring to the TARP program, Obama’s plan is to tax companies that didn’t get TARP funds and companies that already paid back their TARP funds (funds that many companies were forced to accept). And how are these companies going to pay back this money that they don’t owe? Well, of course the President expects them to break their contracts and withhold compensation to executives. Nevermind the legal consequences or the business consequences of such bad faith actions. From his imaginary post of supreme ruler of everything within the USA, Obama stated “I’d urge you to cover the costs of the rescue not by sticking it to your shareholders or your customers, or fellow citizens with the bill, but by rolling back bonuses to top earners and executives. And more broadly, I’m continuing to call on these firms to put greater effort into helping families stay in their homes, to provide small businesses with needed loans, and to embrace, rather than fight serious financial reform.”
So let’s put this all together and see if we can make any sense of it. First, we got into a financial crisis because banks were making bad loans. Second, the Bush administration and congress develop TARP to keep banks from going under, and Fed Chairman Bernake forces Banks to take TARP funds. Third, the government refuses to accept TARP repayment. Fourth, Barack Obama plays the populist envy card because some people are making money and says “we don’t care if you took our money, or if you only took our money because we made you take it, or if you already paid us back with interest, WE WANT OUR MONEY BACK!!! Such great political courage. But the populist rant neither started or ended with this stupid proclaimation. Obama told the banks they should accept regulations that will make them less profitable, take risks that would make them more likely to end up causing the financial system to collapse once again, and not to pay their most valuable employees what they’re worth. Makes perfect sense to me.
