Constantine the Great
May 11th, 2009, 10:31 pm
Beginning with his presidential campaign, President Obama has called for Americans of all walks of life to make sacrifices during these tough economic times. For many of us, sacrifice in the context of an economic recession or depression usually means the government and the citizenry both make tough decisions. We the people might decide to cut back on frivolous spending, or eat less, or drive less or overall learn to do with less in order to save money for the even rainier days the government promises will come before the clouds part and the sun returns. On the government's side, we normally would expect our leaders to cut back funding to certain programs programs or perhaps increase or extend unemployment and other welfare benefits to those who are struggling the most through these times. Statistics show that true to form, Americans have been making sacrifices as they have understood it for generations. Retail sales are down, major purchases are down, investments are down, the only thing on the rise is unemployment. President Obama however has a different idea of sacrifice. He has been making sacrifices with the prodigious skill worthy of a pagan high-priest trying to appease a vengeful deity that has imposed a punishment on this nation for its (perceived by Obama) past evils. The list of sacrificial victims is a long one and is growing with each Obama press conference or trip abroad.
One of the earliest sacrificial victims of the Obama Administration was a campaign promise, along with honesty and integrity. Candidate Obama said there would be no lobbyists in his administration. Of course, he must have forgotten to add, except the ones he nominates and appoints to his administration. From William J Lynn III's nomination to Deputy Secretary of Defense, to Mark Patterson as Treasury Secretary Tim Gheithner's chief of staff, this campaign promise was slated for sacrifice almost as quickly as it had been conceived by Obama and his staff. The appointment of Patterson to Treasury is in itself quite interesting. As a former lobbyist for Goldman Sachs, he is now more able to influence the Treasury Dept, which controls TARP funds, in favor of his former client than at any other time during his tenure as a lobbyist. Of course Goldman Sachs has already received $10 billion in funds from the federal government. Interesting coincidence isn't it?
Another sacrificial lamb to find its way to Obama's altar was insurance giant AIG and its employees that received the now infamous retention bonuses. Back in March of this year, AIG paid a number of its employees a total of $165 million dollars after having received $170 billion dollars in taxpayer bailout money (funny how it is always taxpayer money, until it comes time for tax cuts, in which case it's Washington's money). When news of these payouts broke, President Obama and others within his administration along with members of Congress railed against AIG with faux indignation. The U.S. Government threatened private citizens directly and indirectly. Senator Schumer (D-NY) said that the employees should give the money back or face 90% taxation of those bonuses. Union and left wing community agitator groups linked to ACORN led protests against the company and their executives, sometimes outside their very homes. These same executives received death threats and became pariahs in the neighborhoods they had lived in for years. Let's forget for one moment the fact that AIG was CONTRACTUALLY OBLIGATED to pay the bonuses. The best part is, the Obama government KNEW these bonuses were going to be paid out well before AIG did so. In fact, Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), one of the Senators who feigned outrage over the bonuses WROTE THE BONUSES INTO THE BAILOUT BILL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Treasury Dept. and Federal Reserve officials said they knew the bonuses would be paid out as early as Fall of 2008! Yes, honesty, integrity, and AIG were paraded up the temple steps, straight to Obama's altar where the high-priest himself dispatched them post-haste.
So what is the purpose for all these sacrifices? Where does it end? For the high-priest Obama, these acts, these sacrifices all lead up to one major opus, one grand act of hubris and blasphemy. The high priest wants nothing less than to sacrifice the most prized and precious victim of all; capitalism. It has been the driving force of this county's wealth, advancement, military, and political might, advancement, and preeminence for over a century. He has already stated that his goal is to remake America. What could be more transforming than to abolish the entire socio-economic system that has made this country what it is and instead embrace the lack-luster, mediocre system of European style socialism? Do we want to live in a country that rations health care like Canada or the United Kingdom? Do we want a financial system that resembles the EU, where high taxes and rampant social spending is the norm? Do we want a social system where God, faith, and Judeo-Christian values are quickly replaced by secular values and a relativism where all beliefs are considered valid as long as they are secular in nature?
Candidate Obama was elected on a platform of change and so far, that is one of the few campaign promises he is willing to sacrifice. In fact, “Change”, is the sacred cow that must be protected at all costs. Candidate Obama ran on “change”, and partially won based on that promise. While change as an abstract concept may seem appealing to many, like always the devil is in the details. Under this administration, the United States is quickly marching towards a socio-political system that has produced mediocre results at best, disastrous at worst. Post WWII Western Europe has been unable to to achieve the economic success of the United States, while the Soviet Union collapsed under its own unsustainable communist weight, Cuba remains underdeveloped, while starvation has ravaged North Korea for decades. Of all the communist nations, only China has been able to sustain a growing economy, and it has done so by injecting aspects of capitalism into its economy. There is no reason to believe that a leftist, top heavy socio-economic system will serve this country better than capitalism has.
One of the earliest sacrificial victims of the Obama Administration was a campaign promise, along with honesty and integrity. Candidate Obama said there would be no lobbyists in his administration. Of course, he must have forgotten to add, except the ones he nominates and appoints to his administration. From William J Lynn III's nomination to Deputy Secretary of Defense, to Mark Patterson as Treasury Secretary Tim Gheithner's chief of staff, this campaign promise was slated for sacrifice almost as quickly as it had been conceived by Obama and his staff. The appointment of Patterson to Treasury is in itself quite interesting. As a former lobbyist for Goldman Sachs, he is now more able to influence the Treasury Dept, which controls TARP funds, in favor of his former client than at any other time during his tenure as a lobbyist. Of course Goldman Sachs has already received $10 billion in funds from the federal government. Interesting coincidence isn't it?
Another sacrificial lamb to find its way to Obama's altar was insurance giant AIG and its employees that received the now infamous retention bonuses. Back in March of this year, AIG paid a number of its employees a total of $165 million dollars after having received $170 billion dollars in taxpayer bailout money (funny how it is always taxpayer money, until it comes time for tax cuts, in which case it's Washington's money). When news of these payouts broke, President Obama and others within his administration along with members of Congress railed against AIG with faux indignation. The U.S. Government threatened private citizens directly and indirectly. Senator Schumer (D-NY) said that the employees should give the money back or face 90% taxation of those bonuses. Union and left wing community agitator groups linked to ACORN led protests against the company and their executives, sometimes outside their very homes. These same executives received death threats and became pariahs in the neighborhoods they had lived in for years. Let's forget for one moment the fact that AIG was CONTRACTUALLY OBLIGATED to pay the bonuses. The best part is, the Obama government KNEW these bonuses were going to be paid out well before AIG did so. In fact, Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), one of the Senators who feigned outrage over the bonuses WROTE THE BONUSES INTO THE BAILOUT BILL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Treasury Dept. and Federal Reserve officials said they knew the bonuses would be paid out as early as Fall of 2008! Yes, honesty, integrity, and AIG were paraded up the temple steps, straight to Obama's altar where the high-priest himself dispatched them post-haste.
So what is the purpose for all these sacrifices? Where does it end? For the high-priest Obama, these acts, these sacrifices all lead up to one major opus, one grand act of hubris and blasphemy. The high priest wants nothing less than to sacrifice the most prized and precious victim of all; capitalism. It has been the driving force of this county's wealth, advancement, military, and political might, advancement, and preeminence for over a century. He has already stated that his goal is to remake America. What could be more transforming than to abolish the entire socio-economic system that has made this country what it is and instead embrace the lack-luster, mediocre system of European style socialism? Do we want to live in a country that rations health care like Canada or the United Kingdom? Do we want a financial system that resembles the EU, where high taxes and rampant social spending is the norm? Do we want a social system where God, faith, and Judeo-Christian values are quickly replaced by secular values and a relativism where all beliefs are considered valid as long as they are secular in nature?
Candidate Obama was elected on a platform of change and so far, that is one of the few campaign promises he is willing to sacrifice. In fact, “Change”, is the sacred cow that must be protected at all costs. Candidate Obama ran on “change”, and partially won based on that promise. While change as an abstract concept may seem appealing to many, like always the devil is in the details. Under this administration, the United States is quickly marching towards a socio-political system that has produced mediocre results at best, disastrous at worst. Post WWII Western Europe has been unable to to achieve the economic success of the United States, while the Soviet Union collapsed under its own unsustainable communist weight, Cuba remains underdeveloped, while starvation has ravaged North Korea for decades. Of all the communist nations, only China has been able to sustain a growing economy, and it has done so by injecting aspects of capitalism into its economy. There is no reason to believe that a leftist, top heavy socio-economic system will serve this country better than capitalism has.