Henry Lamb
It's all about control
By Henry Lamb
The people who created the government were absolutely convinced that the people had to control the government. The people who now run the government are absolutely convinced that the government has control the people. This transformation of the function of government is the primary reason why America's manufacturing industry has moved offshore; it has created an "entitlement" society; and it has made America's educational system devolve into an embarrassment.
And it is getting worse.
Every day, the Obama administration announces some new way to expand the power of government to control the people in new ways. It was bad enough to see the government disregard the enumerated powers set forth in the Constitution when it poured billions of dollars into the banking and auto industries. It was mind-boggling to see the government fire the CEO of a private corporation and set salary limits on others. Government has no legitimate reason to be involved in the affairs of these corporations.
The "too-big-to-fail" claim offered an excuse to pour tax dollars into AIG is bogus; the bankruptcy laws were designed to handle this kind of situation. AIG could have been reorganized, or dismantled in an orderly fashion, with a judge overseeing the proceedings and protecting the rights of those involved. But no, the new, transformed, omnipotent government that thinks it knows best rushed in to control the situation. As usual, when the government rushes in, the situation got worse.
This new crowd in Washington, supported by an expanded majority in Congress, can't wait to expand its control over the people. The Secretary of the Treasury has asked Congress for authority to manage all non-bank financial institutions. Imagine, this government that has a horrible track record of managing its own affairs, now wants to manage the affairs of private businesses.
This new crowd in Washington has announced to the world its intention to control the kind of automobiles that the people may buy, and the type of energy that the people may use. Government — not a free market — will dictate what the people may have. There is no authority in the Constitution for the U.S. government to usurp this power from the people.
Neither Obama, nor his congressional majority, care about the limits the Constitution imposes on the federal government. What they do care about is forcing their values and procedures on everyone else.
Neither Obama, nor his congressional majority care about the rock-solid evidence which proves that increased atmospheric carbon increases the productivity of all plant life, and has little, if any, impact on climate change. Instead, Obama, and his congressional majority, are hell-bent on forcing people to stop using fossil fuels by raising the price beyond affordability, and using the revenue to subsidize higher-priced energy from wind and solar.
Obama, and his congressional majority, couldn't care less about the free market, or what the people may want — they think they know best what the people need, and they intend to shove it down the throat of society, one way or the other.
This new crowd in Washington is licking its chops over the possibility of limiting free speech by reinstating some form of the so-called "fairness doctrine." They have several bills floating around in congress that seek to control what food may be produced, by whom, and only with the permission of government. The National Animal Identification System, and the Food Safety Modernization Act (HR875), and other similar initiatives destroy individual freedom and give government control over even the production of food for family use.
This new crowd in Washington has already reinstated some of the environmental controls relaxed by the Bush administration. Private property rights appear to be less of a concern to the current crowd in Washington than to previous administrations. In the first few weeks, this crowd expanded wilderness designations by two-million acres and imposed land use restrictions on dozens of new locations across the country, in one enormous "Omnibus" land bill.
As flagrantly as this crowd expands government control over people, it is less frightening than Obama's apparent willingness to submit the United States to the control of an international government. At the recent G20 meeting, there was consensus on creating a Financial Stability Board, a new international mechanism to "coordinate" global finance. The word "coordinate" is a compromise with France and Germany who demand that the mechanism regulate global finance. Obama has already declared his intent to join the international regulatory regime to control energy use. And his apologies to the world for what he termed America's "arrogance" by George Bush, strongly suggests that he is ready to subject the U.S. to the world bankers as well.
To Obama, and his congressional majority, individual freedom is not endowed by the Creator; it is whatever is left over after all the government regulations have been met.
© Henry Lamb
April 12, 2009
The people who created the government were absolutely convinced that the people had to control the government. The people who now run the government are absolutely convinced that the government has control the people. This transformation of the function of government is the primary reason why America's manufacturing industry has moved offshore; it has created an "entitlement" society; and it has made America's educational system devolve into an embarrassment.
And it is getting worse.
Every day, the Obama administration announces some new way to expand the power of government to control the people in new ways. It was bad enough to see the government disregard the enumerated powers set forth in the Constitution when it poured billions of dollars into the banking and auto industries. It was mind-boggling to see the government fire the CEO of a private corporation and set salary limits on others. Government has no legitimate reason to be involved in the affairs of these corporations.
The "too-big-to-fail" claim offered an excuse to pour tax dollars into AIG is bogus; the bankruptcy laws were designed to handle this kind of situation. AIG could have been reorganized, or dismantled in an orderly fashion, with a judge overseeing the proceedings and protecting the rights of those involved. But no, the new, transformed, omnipotent government that thinks it knows best rushed in to control the situation. As usual, when the government rushes in, the situation got worse.
This new crowd in Washington, supported by an expanded majority in Congress, can't wait to expand its control over the people. The Secretary of the Treasury has asked Congress for authority to manage all non-bank financial institutions. Imagine, this government that has a horrible track record of managing its own affairs, now wants to manage the affairs of private businesses.
This new crowd in Washington has announced to the world its intention to control the kind of automobiles that the people may buy, and the type of energy that the people may use. Government — not a free market — will dictate what the people may have. There is no authority in the Constitution for the U.S. government to usurp this power from the people.
Neither Obama, nor his congressional majority, care about the limits the Constitution imposes on the federal government. What they do care about is forcing their values and procedures on everyone else.
Neither Obama, nor his congressional majority care about the rock-solid evidence which proves that increased atmospheric carbon increases the productivity of all plant life, and has little, if any, impact on climate change. Instead, Obama, and his congressional majority, are hell-bent on forcing people to stop using fossil fuels by raising the price beyond affordability, and using the revenue to subsidize higher-priced energy from wind and solar.
Obama, and his congressional majority, couldn't care less about the free market, or what the people may want — they think they know best what the people need, and they intend to shove it down the throat of society, one way or the other.
This new crowd in Washington is licking its chops over the possibility of limiting free speech by reinstating some form of the so-called "fairness doctrine." They have several bills floating around in congress that seek to control what food may be produced, by whom, and only with the permission of government. The National Animal Identification System, and the Food Safety Modernization Act (HR875), and other similar initiatives destroy individual freedom and give government control over even the production of food for family use.
This new crowd in Washington has already reinstated some of the environmental controls relaxed by the Bush administration. Private property rights appear to be less of a concern to the current crowd in Washington than to previous administrations. In the first few weeks, this crowd expanded wilderness designations by two-million acres and imposed land use restrictions on dozens of new locations across the country, in one enormous "Omnibus" land bill.
As flagrantly as this crowd expands government control over people, it is less frightening than Obama's apparent willingness to submit the United States to the control of an international government. At the recent G20 meeting, there was consensus on creating a Financial Stability Board, a new international mechanism to "coordinate" global finance. The word "coordinate" is a compromise with France and Germany who demand that the mechanism regulate global finance. Obama has already declared his intent to join the international regulatory regime to control energy use. And his apologies to the world for what he termed America's "arrogance" by George Bush, strongly suggests that he is ready to subject the U.S. to the world bankers as well.
To Obama, and his congressional majority, individual freedom is not endowed by the Creator; it is whatever is left over after all the government regulations have been met.
© Henry Lamb
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