Lincoln as exemplar for GOP today

If Republicans are serious about recovering constitutional government, it's hard to imagine how they would be successful without Lincoln. Editor: So writes Prof. Tom Krannawitter of Hillsdale College in an IBD opinion piece today. Amid a news cycle now measured in minutes, we need the perspective of the centuries to realize Lincoln's relevance for the momentous decisions of 2009. Here is the article in full:

Lincoln's Defense Of Constitution Is Moral For Today's Republicans By THOMAS KRANNAWITTER

This is the 200th birthday of the first Republican to win a national election, Abraham Lincoln. It is good for Republicans today to remember Lincoln, not to be antiquarians, but to learn from his principled defense of the Constitution.

By becoming students of Lincoln, Republicans can win elections and would deserve to win by helping America recover its constitutional source of strength and vitality.

The greatest political crisis America faces today is neither the recession nor Islamic terrorism; it's not health care, education, immigration or abortion. It is that the United States Constitution has become largely irrelevant to our politics and policies.

All three branches of government routinely ignore or twist the meaning of the Constitution, while many of our problems today are symptoms of policies that have no constitutional foundation.

If we are to recover the authority of the Constitution and the many ways it restrains and channels government power, someone or some party must offer a principled defense of the cause of constitutional government.

They must understand not only the Constitution, but also the principles that informed its original purposes and aspirations, principles found in the Declaration of Independence among other places.

No one understood that better than Lincoln.

Employing a biblical metaphor, Lincoln once described the leading principle of the Declaration of Independence — equal natural rights — as "the word fitly spoken which has proved an apple of gold to us," while the Constitution stands as "the picture of silver, subsequently framed around it.

"The picture," Lincoln argued, "was made not to conceal or destroy the apple, but to adorn and preserve it."

Lincoln's right. The declaration's assertion that legitimate governments derive "their just powers from the consent of the governed" because "all men are created equal" is precisely why "We the people" are authorized to "ordain and establish this Constitution."

Further, the Constitution limits the power of government because, as the declaration makes clear, the purpose of government is limited to securing the God-given, not government-granted, rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And a government of limited purpose should be one of limited power.

The Constitution, however, has suffered two nearly fatal criticisms: It's old and it's racist.

The former was launched by "progressive" thinkers more than a century ago and backed up by sophisticated theories of social and political evolution. Woodrow Wilson, for example, once compared the Constitution to "political witchcraft."

The charge of racism, mainly due to the Constitution's accommodations for slavery, found its loudest voice during the civil rights movement in the 1960s and following decades. Justice Thurgood Marshall voiced this critique in a 1987 Bicentennial essay when he refused to celebrate the original Constitution of 1787 because, he alleged, it was racist and therefore immoral.

The progressive and civil rights critiques have given us a century of New Freedom politics, New Deal politics, Great Society politics, Third Way politics, Compassionate Conservatism politics and now Responsible politics.

What we need, however, is a revival of constitutional politics. But the Constitution cannot be defended against these powerful criticisms unless someone can demonstrate that the Constitution incorporates principles that are both timeless and good.

And any such defense must confront two stubborn facts: The Constitution was indeed written long ago, and it did offer certain protections for slavery.

It was Lincoln's purpose to remind all Americans, white and black, that political freedom rests on an "abstract truth applicable to all men and all times."

That "abstract truth" is the principle of equal natural rights, a principle that cuts across time and space and is, contrary to progressive opinion, valid always and everywhere.

Regarding slavery, Lincoln explained that a constitutional regime dedicated to the declaration's principle of equality is a regime where slavery must be "placed in the course of ultimate extinction."

"If we do this," Lincoln said rightly, "we shall not only have saved the (constitutional) Union. . . . We shall have so saved it as to make and keep it forever worthy of the saving."

At Gettysburg's cemetery, as he struggled mightily to save the Constitution, Lincoln rededicated America to its original noble purpose in one of the most beautiful speeches of all time.

Lincoln understood that slavery did not make America unique. America's uniqueness is being the first constitutional government built on a foundation of equality and the terrible price America paid for ridding itself of slavery.

Lincoln's constitutionalism, I believe, is the only effective rebuttal to progressive and civil rights criticisms. Thus if Republicans are serious about recovering constitutional government, it's hard to imagine how they would be successful without Lincoln.

With Lincoln, it's hard to imagine how they would fail.

Krannawitter teaches political science at Hillsdale College in Michigan and is author of "Vindicating Lincoln: Defending the Politics of Our Greatest President." This article appeared in the Investor's Business Daily on 2/12/09.

Four objections - and a better way

America is at a crossroads. Congress, pressed by President Obama to act quickly to prevent “catastrophe,” is on the verge of spending more than $800 billion on a “fiscal stimulus package” intended to jumpstart the economy, with roughly $300 billion in tax rebate checks and $500 billion in infrastructure spending. Hundreds of economists, however, have expressed their deep concerns about the government’s plan for dealing with the recession, and a review of the effectiveness of such policies as those proposed reveals the folly of tax rebates and government spending as fiscal stimulus.

1. Tax rebates do not boost consumer spending. According to economist Martin Feldstein, CEO of the National Bureau of Economic Research, when tax rebates went out as economic stimulus last spring, only around 16% of the checks were actually spent, with nearly five times that amount going into savings. Most of the rebates were used to pay off loans, not to buy new products and services, and the stimulus package utterly failed to preclude the recession.

In 2001, tax rates were reduced and tax rebates went out to make up the difference. While the economy improved after the tax changes, evidence suggests that the rate reductions, not the rebates, did the trick. A late-2001 study conducted by economists Matthew Shapiro and Joel Slemrod of the University of Michigan and NBER found that only 22% of those households receiving stimulus checks spent the money.

Furthermore, by the time the checks would be in the mail, the economy may be improving, as happened, according to Steven Weisman and Edmund Andrews of The New York Times, in the 1970s. If implemented now, the benefits of a tax rebate stimulus—a small burst in increased consumer demand—are minimal at best and will not outweigh the substantial costs.

2. Faulty policy is not worth the debt risk. While the value of the dollar has lately gained in strength, it still has the potential to continue its recent decline. As its value goes down and creditors like China see their own GDPs shrink, creditor concerns over their holdings of U.S. bonds will rise, resulting in the likely increase in interest as they rethink their holdings. By spending $800 billion on a stimulus package that will likely have minimal effect, the U.S. government is essentially assuming even more debt, which is already at $10.7 trillion, at greater national risk.

3. Infrastructure projects will not work. Obama intends to spend around $500 billion on infrastructure projects and public works programs, including transportation projects, intended to create jobs and boost consumer confidence. Yet when Herbert Hoover and FDR tried such programs in the 1930s to tackle the Great Depression, unemployment remained in the double digits up to World War Two, averaging at 17.2%.

According to the Heritage Foundation, federal spending rose from “3.4% of GDP in 1930 to 6.9% in 1932 and reached 9.8% by 1940. That same year—10 years into the Great Depression—America's unemployment rate stood at 14.6%.” In sum, massive increases in government spending did not result in noticeable economic improvements.

Even if infrastructure spending were to have positive effects, an early analysis of the Congressional Budget Office found that just 7% would be spent by next fall, with only 64% reaching the economy by 2011—likely after the country has entered into recovery.

4. Japan’s “lost decade.” Japan’s “lost decade” of economic growth of the 1990’s presents an excellent case study for the suggested package. Over a period of seven years, the government implemented eight different, large stimulus packages much like Obama has proposed.

According to The Wall Street Journal, during the 1990’s, the Japanese government, faced with many of the problems we are confronted with today, tried giving out loans to businesses, boosting infrastructure spending, buying bad assets off of banks and distributing tax rebates, among other Obama-esque policies.

These policies resulted in an increase in Japan’s debt-to-GDP ratio from 68.6% in 1992 to 128.3% in 1999. In essence, government spending in Japan skyrocketed in ways very similar to Obama’s proposals, yet the economy did not experience noticeable improvements until the current decade.

5. An alternative proposal. The government must instead institute wide-ranging, permanent, pro-growth tax rate cuts, starting with making the Bush tax cuts permanent and expanding them. Beginning in 2010, the Bush rate reductions on income, capital gains (investments) and the estate tax will start to dissipate. With the dire need for capital injections into the market, allowing the 15% capital gains rate to return to the 20% rate would discourage investment in the economy. Instead, the capital gains tax should at least be cut in half to 7.5%, if not temporarily expunged for all investments begun this year and kept for no less than two years, so as to incentivize greater investment.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has proposed that the 25% income tax rate be reduced to 15%, thereby “establish[ing] a flat-rate tax of 15% for close to 90% of workers.” Such targeted tax cuts would give the economy the boost it needs to create jobs and increase consumer demand and investment. We must then slice the corporate tax rate from 35%, the second-highest in the world, to 25%, the average in Europe. This would expand incentives for businesses to create jobs in America and lessen the enticement to outsource.

If the Bush tax cuts expire, taxpayers will reduce spending in anticipation of the expirations, stunting the benefits of the rebates further. Alternatively, the knowledge that tax rates will be cut and individuals will be permitted to keep more of their income will give a sense of comfort to the beneficiaries.

By cutting marginal tax rates now, the short-term effect will be a rise in consumer confidence, resulting in a boost in consumer spending. The long-term relief that came in the form of broad-based tax cuts in 2003 resulted in the largest single-quarter GDP growth in 20 years, 7.2%, and the creation of 8 million new jobs through 2007.

The president has disappointingly labeled such contentions against his plan “old,” “phony,” “worn out” and “tired.” Yet history has shown that the net benefit of such stimulus packages is minimal, and he who does not learn from history is doomed to repeat it.

A fiscal stimulus of tax rate cuts, not tax rebates or infrastructure spending, would stimulate an economic recovery by putting more money in people’s pockets long-term and increasing demand in the short-term. That is the kind of economic policy that would do America the most good.

Jimmy Sengenberger is a political science student at Regis University in Denver, a 2008 honors graduate of nearby Grandview High School, a national organizer for the Liberty Day movement, online radio host, and a columnist for the Villager suburban weekly. He is also College Liaison for BackboneAmerica.net, working through the Backbone Americans group on Facebook.

Obama hits the trail again

Polls show not all Americans are onboard for the President's stimulus bill, and reports are that folks like us who have flooded the hallowed halls of Congress with emails, faxes and phone calls in dissent surely have been a cause for concern. Mr. Obama is a president that seeks to be popular.  After all, he entered the Oval Office as an icon.  There remains not a rock star, professional athlete or Hollywood heart throb that can hold a candle to Mr. Obama's appeal. The rubber has hit the road and the real work of being president took an early toll.  Just days into the grind, he took some time of, claiming to be tired of being in the White House, and headed to a school to read to children.  Good thing a Republican isn't president!  Walking away from duties and needing time off so soon would have ignited outrage and days and days of humilitation and taunting from late night TV personalities and news anchors.  It sure pays to be a super hero; you don't have to be subjected to that kind of thing.

Yesterday Mr. Obama visited Elhart, IN., a community that has prospered due to the recreational vehicle and boat industries.  The Left has long looked down their noses at the big gas guzzling motorcoaches that lumber down our highways and byways.  They frown at man littering and destroying the environment by setting up campsites, running around on ATV's, supporting big business with the purchase of outdoor gear of any kind. Certain lakes and reserviors have banned motorized boats for a variety of reasons, but in some cases its because of they use fuel and pollute the waters, not to mention, put money in the pockets of Big Oil.  The point is, recreational vehicles of many kinds have fallen out of favor and when gas prices hovered at $4.00 this past summer and marine fuel was significantly more than that, sales fell sharply.  People in Elkhart lost a tremendous number of jobs.  Yesterday, their president came to town to tell them that when his stimulus bill is passed, he's going to right the ship in Elkhart.  Jobs will come and if people are concerned about how money is being spent, they can go to his website and report what they don't like. 

Mr. Obama is out doing town hall meetings already.  Apparently, there isn't enough important business on his desk right now, so getting out among the people, plying the best trick of his trade which is his eloquence and articulation, he launched his 2012 re-election campaign yesterday.  He will thrill the throngs with his speeches.  He'll dodge difficult questions and give everything except a direct answer.  This first stimulus package contains much to bring a smile to some of his special interest groups.  Meanwhile, back in Washington, his staff stealthily puts together plans to take over the census and redistricting process which will also be very helpful in moving toward a one-party political system for a very long time, if not permanently.  As the CEO of GE signs on to the economic advisory team, TV  (NBC)  networks get an even brighter green light to increase the intensity of pro-Obama programming of every kind. 

Just when we thought we had a break in campaign promises and fainting crowds and women revealing their fantasies, it appears we are already back in an election season.  I was expecting weekly televised fireside chats to start soon, but hadn't expected full fledged campaign stops, replete with hecklers drowning out voices that attempt to ask legitimate questions; at least not yet.

It probably makes good political sense to keep the folks distracted with the hope that the president might be stopping soon in our towns and cities. Normally in this environment, people still working wouldn't dare take a day off to go see a celebrity for fear of losing their job, and those not working and living in fear of what tomorrow will bring usually would spend their days looking for work. But, hope and change has come to America. The people voted for it. Now, when given the chance to see our leader, we go forth in joy, giving no thought to whether our job is in jeopardy, or whether a job was waiting for us that day but we failed to show up and apply.

The campaign slogan of Hope and Change has ironically been replaced recently with Fear and Things Are Going to Get Worse. Any day now we'll probably start seeing the '12 bumper stickers, and I wonder what the catch phrase will be this time around.

Give the Senate a shout out

Here are email addresses for over 500 staff contacts in US Senate offices in Washington DC. Let's make our voices heard in opposition to the "stimulus" bill that will do so little for our prosperity and so much TO our liberty. ==================================

SAY NO TO THE PORK BILL CONTACT THEM ALL

Note: These are listed alphabetically by staffers' first names. If your email browser permits, send to all of them. If you want to pull out by a specific Senator's office, copy into Word and search by that individual's last name.

aaron_mckay@grassley.senate.gov, aaron_saunders@landrieu.senate.gov, aaron_whitesel@lugar.senate.gov, Adam_Brake@LGraham.senate.gov, Adam_Howard@mcconnell.senate.gov, adam_noah@chambliss.senate.gov, adam_sharp@landrieu.senate.gov, Adelle_Cruz@reid.senate.gov, alan_hanson@sessions.senate.gov, alan_hanson@shelby.senate.gov, alex_swartsel@whitehouse.senate.gov, Alexander_McDonough@reid.senate.gov, Alice_Yates@levin.senate.gov, alison_pascale@levin.senate.gov, alison_warner@levin.senate.gov, allison_thompson@mcconnell.senate.gov, althea_stmartin@murkowski.senate.gov, amanda_clausen@begich.senate.gov, amanda_makki@murkowski.senate.gov, amanda_renteria@stabenow.senate.gov, amber_sechrist@bennett.senate.gov, amy_murray@harkin.senate.gov, Andre_Harper@Voinovich.senate.gov, andrea_mokros@klobuchar.senate.gov, andrew_grobmyer@pryor.senate.gov, andrew_person@baucus.senate.gov, andrew_wilder@kyl.senate.gov, andy_fisher@lugar.senate.gov, andy_fisher@lugar.senate.gov, andy_martin@klobuchar.senate.gov, andy_york@pryor.senate.gov, Angela_Mikolajewski@Voinovich.senate.gov, Angela_Youngen@Voinovich.senate.gov, angeline_macaspac@feinstein.senate.gov, ann_begeman@mccain.senate.gov, ann_norris@boxer.senate.gov, Anna_Levin@snowe.senate.gov, anna_taylor@lincoln.senate.gov, anne_caldwell@shelby.senate.gov, appropriations@martinez.senate.gov, arne_fuglvog@murkowski.senate.gov, ashley_ridlon@lincoln.senate.gov, ben_weiner@whitehouse.senate.gov, Ben_Widness@wyden.senate.gov, Beth_Hansen@Voinovich.senate.gov, Beth_Martens@Voinovich.senate.gov, beth_osborne@carper.senate.gov, beth_pellett_levine@grassley.senate.gov, Betty_Burger@Grassley.senate.gov, bev_schroeder@harkin.senate.gov, bill_ghent@carper.senate.gov, bill_lombardi@tester.senate.gov, bill_nelson@billnelson.senate.gov, Blair_Hinderliter@reid.senate.gov, bob_russell@pryor.senate.gov, brad_crowell@whitehouse.senate.gov, Brandon_willis@baucus.senate.gov, brendan_plack@thune.senate.gov, Bret_Bernhardt@demint.senate.gov, brian_hart@brownback.senate.gov, brian_mckeon@boxer.senate.gov, brian_robertson@brownback.senate.gov, Brian_Weiss@bayh.senate.gov, Brianne_Rogers@baucus.senate.gov, brianne_rogers@baucus.senate.gov, bridget_petruczok@boxer.senate.gov, Bridget_Walsh@tester.senate.gov, Brittany_Blanchard@reid.senate.gov, brownback@brownback.senate.gov, brydon_ross@martinez.senate.gov, brydon_ross@martinez.senate.gov, Bryn_McDonough@casey.senate.gov, bulletinfeedback@boxer.senate.gov, carbonbuster@klobuchar.senate.gov, carina_armenta@boxer.senate.gov, casework@grassley.senate.gov, Catherine_Henson@isakson.senate.gov, charlie_salem@bayh.senate.gov, Charvez_Foger@reid.senate.gov, chris_adamo@stabenow.senate.gov, chris_carr@isakson.senate.gov, chris_homan@durbin.senate.gov, Chris_Lanen@reed.senate.gov, chris_murray@bayh.senate.gov, Chris_Paulitz@Voinovich.senate.gov, chris_prendergast@carper.senate.gov, chris_thompson@feinstein.senate.gov, christiana_gallagher@bennelson.senate.gov, Christina_Martinez@reid.senate.gov, Christina_mulka@durbin.senate.gov, Christopher_Bradish@specter.senate.gov, christopher_day@billnelson.senate.gov, chuck_grassley@grassley.senate.gov, chuck_kleeschulte@murkowski.senate.gov, cictor_cervino@martinez.senate.gov, clarine_nardi_riddle@lieberman.senate.gov, clay_currey@sessions.senate.gov, Colin_Allen@LGraham.senate.gov, colleen_briggs@stabenow.senate.gov, colleen_briggs@stabenow.senate.gov, corene_ashley@specter.senate.gov, Courtney_Shadegg@Coburn.senate.gov, craig_ferguson@crapo.senate.gov, craig_wismer@kyl.senate.gov, ctrx4change@dodd.senate.gov, cynthia_bartel@johnson.senate.gov, Cynthia_Walker@Bayh.senate.gov, Daffnei_Riedel@thune.senate.gov, dan_mclaughlin@billnelson.senate.gov, Dana_Smullen@Voinovich.senate.gov, Danica_Daneshforouz@reid.senate.gov, darcie_tokioka@akaka.senate.gov, david_blair@wyden.senate.gov, david_cobb@baucus.senate.gov, David_Kronig@dodd.senate.gov, david_lazarus@durbin.senate.gov, david_lyles@levin.senate.gov, david_quinalty@ensign.senate.gov, David_Wade@kerry.senate.gov, david_young@grassley.senate.gov, Dayle_Williamson@bennelson.senate.gov, DCIntern4@klobuchar.senate.gov, Deborah_calvert@klobuchar.senate.gov, deran_atamian@feinstein.senate.gov, donalyn_delacruz@akaka.senate.gov, Drey_Samuelson@johnson.senate.gov, ed_french@lincoln.senate.gov, elissa.scannell@mail.house.gov, Eliz_King@reed.senate.gov, elizabeth_burks@lincoln.senate.gov, elizabeth_maier@kyl.senate.gov, Elizabeth_reed@levin.senate.gov, ellen_cahill@mccain.senate.gov, Ellen_Kinker@Voinovich.senate.gov, elyse_wasch@reed.senate.gov, energy@lugar.senate.gov, energy_prices@crapo.senate.gov, Eric_Hinten@Voinovich.senate.gov, Eric_Kleiman@bayh.senate.gov, Eric_Mogilnicki@kennedy.senate.gov, Erik_Johnson@Voinovich.senate.gov, erin_barry@johnson.senate.gov, Erin_Walls@carper.senate.gov, frank_rowe@lieberman.senate.gov, Fred_Karem@mcconnell.senate.gov, gabe_schneider@levin.senate.gov, Galen_Roehl@Brownback.senate.gov, Garrette_Silverman@Voinovich.senate.gov, Gary_Myrick@reid.senate.gov, Gavin_Parke@reid.senate.gov, gayle_mills@specter.senate.gov, george_callas@voinovich.senate.gov, georgiana_reynal@lugar.senate.gov, glee_smith@isakson.senate.gov, glen_chambers@brownback.senate.gov, Greg_bohrer@klobuchar.senate.gov, greg_chaney@stabenow.senate.gov, greg_gross@dole.senate.gov, gregg_richard@crapo.senate.gov, Hannah_Benton@mcconnell.senate.gov, hannah_herdlinger@pryor.senate.gov, hap_rigby@demint.senate.gov, healthsummit@klobuchar.senate.gov, Heather_Homan@Voinovich.senate.gov, Holly_Nesbit@collins.senate.gov, Holly_santry@bunning.senate.gov, Ida_Gaines@reid.senate.gov, Ileanexis_Deese@reid.senate.gov, inauguration@dodd.senate.gov, info@begich.com info@jeffsessions.com intern_coordinator@johnson.senate.gov, internapp@feinstein.senate.gov, internships@brownback.senate.gov, isaac_edwards@murkowski.senate.gov, jack@reed.senate.gov, jackie_cottrell@roberts.senate.gov, jackie_erickson@casey.senate.gov, jackie_parker@levin.senate.gov, jacqueline_lampert@johnson.senate.gov, jacqueline_wood@demint.senate.gov, James_brown@casey.senate.gov, james_chang@inouye.senate.gov, james_wallner@sessions.senate.gov, james_wallner@sessions.senate.gov, jan_fowler@voinovich.senate.gov, Jane_Campbell@landrieu.senate.gov, Janice_Miller@reid.senate.gov, jason_matthews@landrieu.senate.gov, Jason_mulvihill@ensign.senate.gov, jason_vanbeek@thune.senate.gov, Jeff_Connaughton@kaufman.senate.gov, jeff_gohringer@johnson.senate.gov, jen_olson@lgraham.senate.gov, Jennifer_Barrett@markudall.senate.gov, jennifer_cook@roberts.senate.gov, Jennifer_Hensley@tester.senate.gov, Jennifer_Piorkowski@merkley.senate.gov, jennifer_romans@kyl.senate.gov, Jennifer_Sawaya@reid.senate.gov, Jennifer_swenson@roberts.senate.gov, Jesse_BroderVanDyke@akaka.senate.gov, Jesse_Walls@Voinovich.senate.gov, Jessica_Bantham@reid.senate.gov, Jessica_Satre@reid.senate.gov, jim_askins@bunning.senate.gov, jim_bunning@bunning.senate.gov, jim_fenton@dodd.senate.gov, jim_inhofe@inhofe.senate.gov, Jim_Manley@reid.senate.gov, Jim_Manley@reid.senate.gov, jim_molinari@feinstein.senate.gov, Jim_Reilly@carper.senate.gov, jim_stowers@lincoln.senate.gov, jim_turner@levin.senate.gov, joan_kirchner@isakson.senate.gov, joann_papenfuss@stabenow.senate.gov, joaquin_esquivel@boxer.senate.gov, Joe_Campbell@Klobuchar.senate.gov, joe_donoghue@mccain.senate.gov, Joe_Shoemaker@Durbin.Senate.gov, joel_shapiro@wyden.senate.gov, jofi_joseph@casey.senate.gov, john_lewis@baucus.senate.gov, john_lopez@ensign.senate.gov, john_rankin@brownback.senate.gov, John_Richter@snowe.senate.gov, John_Stilliana@Voinovich.senate.gov, john_watts@feinstein.senate.gov, Jon_Selib@baucus.senate.gov, jon_selib@baucus.senate.gov, jon_yoshimura@akaka.senate.gov, jonathan_becker@klobuchar.senate.gov, jonathan_coppess@bennelson.senate.gov, jonathan_graffeo@shelby.senate.gov, jordanna_levinson@whitehouse.senate.gov, josh_kardon@wyden.senate.gov, josh_sargen@bayh.senate.gov, joshua_blumenfeld@dodd.senate.gov, joshua_sheinkman@wyden.senate.gov, Joy_Mulinex@levin.senate.gov, judy_vrchota@thune.senate.gov, Julianne_Fisher@johnson.senate.gov, julie_adams@mcconnell.senate.gov, Julie_Blackorby@demint.senate.gov, Julie_Wirkkala@kerry.senate.gov, jurani@ensign.senate.gov, justin_clay@chambliss.senate.gov, justin_clay@chambliss.senate.gov, kara_stein@reed.senate.gov, kara_stein@reed.senate.gov, Karen_Silberstein@reid.senate.gov, kasey_gillette@casey.senate.gov, kassandra_cerveny@billnelson.senate.gov, kata_sybenga@levin.senate.gov, Kate_Howard@bennelson.senate.gov, Kate_Nicolai@landrieu.senate.gov, kate_nilan@klobuchar.senate.gov, kate_nilan@klobuchar.senate.gov, Katherine_Oh@reid.senate.gov, Kathleen_Amacio@johanns.senate.gov, Kathleen_Rozner@reid.senate.gov, Kathy_nuebel@grassley.senate.gov, katie_downs@crapo.senate.gov, katie_laning@lincoln.senate.gov, katie_platt@billnelson.senate.gov, katie_platt@billnelson.senate.gov, ken_lundberg@martinez.senate.gov, kendra_barkoff@casey.senate.gov, kenneth_martin@johnson.senate.gov, kevin_bishop@lgraham.senate.gov, Kevin_glandon@levin.senate.gov, Khisha_Fallon@Voinovich.senate.gov, kim_dean@bunning.senate.gov, kimberly_gluck@demint.senate.gov, kolan_davis@grassley.senate.gov, Kris_Sarri@commerce.senate.gov, krista_lamoreaux@johnson.senate.gov, kristen_daimler@murkowski.senate.gov, kristen_daimler-nothdurft@murkowski.senate.gov, kristin_wikelius@feinstein.senate.gov, kristina_ko@levin.senate.gov, kurt_kovarik@grassley.senate.gov, kyle_downey@thune.senate.gov, landon_fulmer@brownback.senate.gov, Laura_Bauld@lGraham.senate.gov, laura_friedel@shelby.senate.gov, Laura_Ochoa@reid.senate.gov, laura_schiller@boxer.senate.gov, laura_swanson@johnson.senate.gov, Lauren_Edwards@lgraham.senate.gov, Lauri_Hettinger@Voinovich.senate.gov, laverne_saulny@landrieu.senate.gov, leann_crosby@mcconnell.senate.gov, 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Wesley_denton@demint.senate.gov, Will_Sehestedt@baucus.senate.gov, Yolanda_Garcia-Banuelos@reid.senate.gov, yuna_jacobson@lautenberg.senate.gov,

Spare us the righteous indignation

The President's announcement that he'll crack down on evil CEO's and executives who are abusing their power and making too much money might be a worthwhile expenditure of his time in other circumstances. He promises to cap compensation to $500,000 until all federal loans are paid up, and he's taking 'the air out of golden parachutes'.  When Mr. Obama came out swinging the other day, declaring an end to what he considers to be Wall Street greed, he received loud applause and his minions in the media gave three cheers to the whole concept that big business was finally getting their comeuppance.  His fiery words ignited passion across the airwaves as America felt at least a little better, knowing the fat cats were finally getting their due.  The problem is, this bold new policy is not retroactive, and the righteous indignation is hollow. 

The stimulus package that Democrats will likely push through in the next few days does not provide for the bail out of any major corporations, banks or businesses.  I have not read the entire bill because my computer freezes up when I try to scroll through it (that may be why many legislators have failed to read it in it's entirely, as well).  Had the president imposed his policy retroactively to the banks and companies bailed out last fall, it would have had some viability.  Right now, he's talking about what will happen in the future.  He's apparently going to get tough at some point, but what has happened in the past is not important.

We learned yesterday that $78 billion of our hard-earned tax money used to bail out banks in October has been wasted.  The Treasury bought up stocks in failing banks and paid prices far above the value of those stocks and thus, the American taxpayer got taken to the cleaners. At the time, polls revealed approximately 70% of Americans were against bailing out any failed organization. Our voices were ignored.  Our new Secy of the Treasury, Timothy Geithner, apparently was involved in the entire bail out process, working hand in glove with Henry Paulson. We've been told he must be confirmed for his new position because no one else is qualified.  I think we expected someone with requisite qualifications to correct our problems, not make them worse and create more waste and debt.  Still, we are asked to have the utmost confidence in the direction our leadership is moving on economic matters.

The President is talking about applying his compensation rules from this point forward, so that must mean he has plans to do more bailing out of banks and major business that he hasn't told us about yet.  Is $500,000 now the standard for a year's worth of hard work? If so, will other hard working Americans get their pay raised to that level? What method was used to arrive at this amount? Will it go up when the economy improves or down if it doesn't improve? Will the salaries of other employees working for bailed out companies be mandated by the federal government, as well? Why didn't the president go back to the executives of the bailed out banks, insurance companies and automakers and require them to turn over any 2008 earnings above $500,000 to the Treasury Department in repayment?  We learned not to ask questions during the campaign, so I'm not expecting clarification any time soon.

Goldman-Sachs has apparently decided to back out of the socialist trend of our government taking over the financial sector and claims they will pay back all the money they received from the government.  Some are criticizing them, saying they just want to be able to pay their executives whatever they choose.  That's possible, but perhaps they also want to turn back a portion of the tidal wave of government take-over of every aspect of our lives.

Tax, spend and waste with fearmongering and class warfare as a political agenda. Righteous indignation, indeed.