I have lived in the third world (I know, it’s a politically incorrect term, so sue me), and this land that I love is starting to resemble it. It started before Obama, but he is hastening the downward swirl.
Our central bank, The Federal Reserve, handed out almost $100 Billion to Foreign Banks
We are too reliant on foreign bankers, as evidenced by the Fed handing out hundreds of billions of our tax dollars to them in the name of bailouts, economic stability, unclogging the system or whatever the latest alibi is.
Meanwhile, US owned mainstreet banks who weren’t big enough to earn a place at the DC-NY hog trough were left to die. Thank George Bush and Dirty Hank Paulson for that one. International fractional reserve banking is a shell game, and when the jig is up, the taxpayer bails out the cartels, who turn around and give the politicians their cut.
Government Grows, Private Sector Shrinks
Third world regimes are famous for a one-party state. If you don't belong to the state-approved political party you get no job, no goodies, no nothing. The more sophisticated regimes form a couple of parties to maintain the facade of choice, but the aim is the same: Expand the power of the state by handing out government jobs and government assistance.
“Today in America there are nearly twice as many people working for the government (22.5 million) than in all of manufacturing (11.5 million). This is an almost exact reversal of the situation in 1960, when there were 15 million workers in manufacturing and 8.7 million collecting a paycheck from the government.This is a favorite game of rotten statist regimes: Put 'em on the dole and put 'em on the public payroll! Tax credits, legal exemptions, food stamps, welfare. This builds a reliable voting block eager to pull the lever for more and bigger government. It's a reliable scheme until the axles on the gravy train snap.
Even Michigan, at one time the auto capital of the world, and Pennsylvania, once the steel capital, have more government bureaucrats than people making things.” ( WSJ – We’ve Become a Nation of Takers, Not Makers)
Crony Crapitalism is Another Hallmark of Third-World Statist Regimes
The GM bailout actually cost the taxpayer over $80 billion...
"a March 16 Congressional Oversight report [...] estimates taxpayers will be out of $25 billion. Additionally, the report points out that “full repayment will not be possible unless the government is able to sell its remaining shares at a far higher price.”
That's only the beginning. Both the White House and the Congressional Oversight report omit the fact that during its bankruptcy, GM got a $45 billion tax break, courtesy of the American people.
Over one year after the promises President Obama and his administration made about the auto bailout, a February piece on AutoBlog also confirms that GM will also get a $14 billion dollar domestic tax break. (Washington Times – Losing $84 Billion is Big Success)
Government rewards failure with million dollar bonuses
Government pet projects Fannie and Freddie gave their executives tens of millions of dollars in bonuses while we were bailing them out to the tune of hundreds of billions...
The top six executives at the companies received $35.4 million over the two years. Since Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were taken over in September 2008, the companies’ mounting mortgage losses have required a $153 billion infusion from taxpayers. Total losses may reach $363 billion through 2013, according to government estimates. (MSNBC-Fannie and Freddie Bonuses)At what point does venal and incompetent cross the line and become criminal?
