Wall Street Socialism Paves Way For Global Government
By Cliff Kincaid
November 15, 2008
Page 2 of 3
Now free to speak her mind, Alaska Governor and former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has weighed in, telling The Weekly Standard that she is getting tired of Paulson's changes to the bailout plan. "I think the surprises make the electorate distrust elected officials and their ability to appoint people who are to be looking out for the public's interest," she says. This is an understatement. People not only don't trust the government, they are getting angry at the reckless policies that threaten national bankruptcy and may consign generations of Americans to living under socialism.
However, Bill Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard, tried to convince House Republicans to vote for the plan that Palin now attacks in the pages of his magazine. Kristol endorsed Paulson's plan, saying "failing to pass it will exacerbate them [financial problems], and will keep the markets in a state of roiling uncertainty at best, and meltdown at worst." So what has happened since its passage? As you may have noticed, the markets have continued in uncertainty and we seem to be undergoing a meltdown.
Kristol added at the time that "House Republicans should help pass the bill. I think it's the only responsible thing to do in terms of the economy. But I also think it's the only way McCain has a chance to win." He added that, "Passing the bailout would give McCain a fighting chance to win, which in turn provides the best chance―the only chance―for conservative principles to prevail in the next few years."
In fact, the best chance for conservative principles to prevail was to follow the conservative principles embodied in the 2008 Republican platform. That document declared, "We do not support government bailouts of private institutions. Government interference in the markets exacerbates problems in the marketplace and causes the free market to take longer to correct itself."
You may have noticed that McCain, who followed Kristol's advice and voted for the bailout, went down to defeat on November 4. By the way, most House Republicans voted against the bailout. They have been proven right by events. It would be nice if Kristol would admit the error of his ways. But that is not a practice that is commonplace in conservative or liberal media circles these days.
Similarly, Paulson didn't really admit that he himself had made a mistake. Instead, he declared on Wednesday that "It was clear to me by the time the bill was signed on October 3rd that we needed to act quickly and forcefully, and that purchasing troubled assets―our initial focus―would take time to implement and would not be sufficient given the severity of the problem."
In other words, by the time that the bill had been signed, Paulson knew that the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) that he had proposed wouldn't work. That is why he quickly changed the plan to use the taxpayer money to buy stakes in banks. Now, "new strategies" are being tried and developed, he says. And it is all being done, of course, at our expense.
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