The re-making of America

Have you been paying attention to what the Democrats are now doing? Why have they been cramming new legislation through the system so fast that no one precisely knows what is being enacted into law?

First, the left-wing of the Democrat party is fully in charge. They now -- especially with the recession -- have the opportunity to covert the United States to a socialist model. But they know they must do it quickly before the majority of Americans realize what they are doing. Once the public does wake up, the chances are great the Democrats will lose power. And the Dems know it. But if they can get enough people dependent upon the teat of government handouts, watch out...

What exactly does the left-wing so highly desire, besides power? Victor Davis Hanson puts it better than I can come up with on a coffee break:

Soon we will all end up after each April 15 making about the same, driving the same sort of cars and using the same sort of mass transit, living in about the same sorts of houses, and having about the same sorts of “‘they’ will take care of it for me” philosophies — all overseen by brilliant, but highly ranked and exempt Platonic Guardians who suffer on our behalf as they jet and limo at breakneck speed ensuring our welfare.

If this is the kind of European-type socialism that you want, then you'll be happy. I'll bet the majority of Americans do not.

Besides, the economic model will create a endless recession. Instead of just a few of us being poor, all of us will be poor.

Hanson comes to the same conclusion I have:

This recovery cannot work, other than a brief spurt that results from trillions in printed money, because we are rewarding unproductive areas of the economy (federal money for more wind farms, federal hurdles for pumping more known natural gas or nuclear power construction; more of the community-organizing model, less of the productive small business model) and punishing the engines of the economy.

Ignoring the Constitution: Our Congress

People are still arguing over the "facts" of who got us into this mess. Most of the blame, at least by the left, has fallen on .... drum roll, please ... you got it: Bush.

But the facts, for those of you who are interested, paint a different picture, one based in reality. David Young, a Constitutional scholar, on his blog On Second Opinion, could not have summarized it better:

The current economic situation is largely the result of two separate problems. The first is government policy that has forced lending institutions to loan money for homes to those who cannot actually repay the loans. Due to the government's policy requiring unsound loans for housing, many people have purchased homes much more expensive than they would otherwise have bought. Others have purchased more than a home, they have engaged in extensive speculation in the housing market, buying up houses, especially in a few parts of the country, to make extensive profits.

The second problem involves some of the largest financial institutions that have engaged in what amounts to gambling or blatant speculation through the medium of credit default swaps, betting on the likelihood of various large
businesses failing. Because of the failure of Freddie and Fanny due to unsound loans caused by equally unsound public policy, the failure of various major financial institutions has become likely, and as a result of a possible string of failures, literally trillions of dollars may be owed to those speculating in credit default swaps.

The insanity of the whole affair is that the people who caused this -- both government and private -- are the ones who are attempting to fix the problem. Does this make sense to you?

Young writes: "Apparently it is simply the result of politicians ignoring the power actually given them in the U.S. Constitution and doing whatever they please whenever they want."

Victor Davis Hanson is also worth reading on these -- indeed, most -- issues. (In fact, if you're not a regular reader of his columns and books, you should become one now.)

We had a 9/11 Commission; we formed the Baker-Hamilton Commission on Iraq (never mind the utility of the conclusions). So let us try a bipartisan investigatory commission on the autumn financial meltdown. Thus far the mainstream media narrative is a reductive “Bush did it.” But let us examine past bundling of subprime mortgages, and derivatives, and who introduced more regulation of banks, who opposed it; who tried to restrain Freddie and Fannie, who fought that tooth and nail, what the SEC did and did not do — and why. Let us collate all the campaign contributions from the failed banks, Madoff, the entire open sewer of politics and high finance, and then let those of the commission, both Democrat and Republican, issue a white paper on when, why, and how it all went down.

In the meantime, let's just keep doing the same thing, and hope for different results.

This are truly insane times.

What You Won't Read

Reviewing Victor Dale Hanson's blog earlier today, I came across a couple of items entitled, "What You Won't Read."

I like and admire Hanson's work. He has a Ph.D. in classics from Stanford and is a military historian. I've read a couple of his books, and many of his articles, and if you want a solid, well-grounded take on today's affairs, his website and blog should be on your must-read list.

What You Won't Read (from his June 28, 2008 blog on Pajamas Media):

Two of the Three in the Axis of Evil — Korea and Iraq – seem no longer to be acquiring weapons of mass destruction. Throw in Libya as well, and the end of Dr. Khan’s proliferation business, and things have gotten at least a little better.

I say that because I keep reading about nuclear proliferation and America’s asleep-at-the-wheel posture, when in fact we alone supplied the pressure to stop a lot of it.

Meanwhile, the Iranian theocracy will continue to issue existential threats to Israel, hint that it is nearing completion on enrichment, and rattle more sabers in hopes of creating continuing tension that helps spike oil prices and land it another $10 - $15 million a day in revenue.

And You Won't Read This Either:

That the World’s Saint, Mr. Gore, who lectures on carbon emissions and green behavior, built an ecological monstrosity of a castle that gulps energy at gargantuan rates; while the world’s villain, George Bush, built an eco-friendly, far more modest house that uses a fourth less power than the average home.

But then when one compares the Kerry homes, the Edwards playhouse, and all the other liberal mansions, it makes sense. Modern liberalism for our elites is really a psychological state, in which an individual crafts an all-encompassing world view in the abstract to offset a rather materialistic and self-centered desire in the concrete.

Here in California Sens. Boxer and Feinstein, and Rep Pelosi live like the privileged they are, while decrying the plight of the less fortunate. Someone who forbids drilling in ANWR rarely decides to down-size her home. A Senator Dodd who rails at the mortgage lenders’ greed has no problem taking a cut-rate loan from them–if it is a question of buying appropriate homes for his sixty-something efforts at establishing a young family.

Hypocrisy is a human, not a political sin per se, but something about the combination of neo-socialist politics and extremely elite personal tastes suggests that there is a direct rather than an accidental connection—in the mind at least the former making possible the latter.

There are well-educated people who still make sense, and have an honest view of reality. Hanson is one of them.