The Heavy Hand of Obama and the Czars

Three news items:

Item Number 1:

“The nation’s top bankers walked away from a summit with President Barack Obama pledging broad support for his bank-bailout program and efforts to revive the economy, but the meeting failed to resolve tensions over executive pay and the president’s tough rhetoric of recent weeks.”

All of the banks have received federal bailout cash- in some cases after being told they must– and some have openly bristled over mounting public criticism of their pay and their banks’ lending.”

“Some of the chiefs told the president they want to return their bailout money later this year, but Mr. Obama told them that regulators would permit such a move only if the banks were truly healthy.” All quotes are from WSJ, March 28, 2009.

I italicized the phrases that ring alarm bells in my mind. These enterprises are now captives.  They were captured and they will be released when their captors decide the time is proper. They are being dictated to. Who decides when a bank is healthy? Why, the Finance Czar, or the president.

Item Number 2:

“Government Forces Out GM CEO Wagner” WSJ March 30, 2009.

“The Obama administration used the threat of withholding more bailout money to force out General Motors Corp. Chief Executive Rick Wagoner, marking one of the most dramatic government interventions in private industry since the economic crisis began last year.” “Mr. Wagoner was asked to step down on Friday by Steven Rattner, the investment banker picked last month by the administration to lead the Treasury department’s auto-industry task force.”

This is draconian intervention. The Car Czar is at work. Didn’t the age of Czars end with the fall of Nicholas and Alexandra of Russia in about 1917? The proletariat is on the move. But this time it is led by a Czar.

Item Number 3:

“Two Montana Democrats are leading the charge against gun control- even helping force the military to continue selling surplus brass to gun aficionados who want cheaper ammunition.” Their moves are “credited with overturning a short-lived brass ban.” AP in Bozeman Daily Chronicle, March 30, 2009

The Hammer is Coming Down!!!