On the table in Congress is a bill that will add $700 billion to the national debt and will effectively let the Federal Government consume the country's largest insurance firm and investment banks. And in the White House is a socialist who is backing this bill: George W. Bush.
I could talk about how terrible this bailout plan is; I could talk about how the actual crisis is actually not Bush's fault (completely); I could talk about how even though the mortgage lenders were corrupt and lacking scruples, the American people are also at fault for some of this. But instead, I'm going to talk about F.D.R.
Roosevelt's New Deal program increased the size of government to unprecedented levels. He offered programs to the American people that had never even been discussed in Congress and wouldn't have been thought of two decades earlier. Why? Because these were socialist programs and, as we all know, socialism has no place in the bastion of free-market capitalism: the United States of America. We were introduced to Social Security so we "wouldn't have to worry about taking care of our loved ones as they got old," and Welfare so that we wouldn't have to worry about charitably giving our own money to the poor; the government will do it for us. Roosevelt's New Deal was the biggest mistake any President has ever made in our nation's short history. And now the new Roosevelt, George W. Bush, is looking to one-up him.
What is ironic about this moment in history is that (real) conservatives have an opportunity to join with Democrats and oppose this bill. Of course, FDR was a Democrat. But when you have liberal economist Paul Krugman opposing this bill, not simply because it's being pushed by Bush but because it is simply wrong, you know we are in dire times. Jim Henley captures the severity of this moment:
"This loathsome bailout plan is a slap in the face to anyone who believes in either free-market principles or social justice. William Greider calls it “a historic swindle.” Paul Krugman says, “No Deal.” Radley Balko decries it. Arnold Kling says, dueting with Luigi Zingales (pdf), “the government officials making these decisions are seeing things from the perspective of Wall Street, which is kind of like seeing the auto industry from a Detroit viewpoint or seeing the movie industry from a Hollywood viewpoint or seeing elections from a Washington viewpoint. [...]
If libertarians fail to oppose this bailout, they stand revealed as the hypocritical apologists for corporate power their detractors have always accused them of being."
Well said. After the New Deal program and the huge increase in government's size, the Federal Government actually did shrink down in the years that followed. But President Bush increased the size of government once again, echoing Roosevelt. As he has been on so many other things, George Dubya is wrong on this bill. I think it has become remarkably clear this if you call yourself a conservative and still support George W. Bush, you are no conservative at all.
Call your Congressman. Write your Senator. Personally oppose this bill. Use the democratic gifts this country gave to you. We can still save this country from Bush.
