Monday, April 4, 2011

Welcome to the Third World, America

We're focused on rotten statist regimes in the Middle East, while ignoring the one that is growing right here in the land of the free and the home of the brave

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.

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)
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.

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)

With over $80 billion of taxpayer money sucked into GM’s corrupt, mismanaged maw, the state-sponsored Chevy Volt has become our version of the Communist East German Trabant.  Heavy government subsidies + anemic sales = Third-World Government Failure.  And the much ballyhooed GM bailout payback was a scam.

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?

10 comments:

Fredd said...

At what point do the wagon wheels fall off when everybody is in the wagon, and nobody is pulling the wagon?

Christopher - Conservative Perspective said...

It's going to be a long and hot summer,,,,,,,,

Anonymous said...

I'm in a third world country, and yes our corruptions is almost the same.

Jersey McJones said...

The percentage of people working for the government hasn't changed all that much over the years since WWII. The percentage of people working in manufacturing has dropped because of Free Trade.

JMJ

Anonymous said...

Well said, Silver. Here in Venezuela it just the way you described. I've written before comparing Obama and Chavez. In many areas Chavez is way ahead of Obama but in other areas Chavez is playing catch-up. I think the criminal was crossed some time ago. But who is going to prosecute? Not our DOJ. They couldn't get a conviction against those thieves at Goldman Sachs. What a joke!

The Wool Cupboard said...

Excellent post, Silver. (My recent post focuses on the same article by Stephen Moore.) As to your point about criminality, I'm sure that an honest investigation into this administration (not likely to happen) would reveal things that would make all of us worry for the future. The sheer number of Marxist and Socialist affiliates should sink the whole sorry lot of them, but with no responsible press at the helm, they will, no doubt, continue to circumvent the Congress and the
Constitution...unless the American people wake up and see them for who and what they really are.

Anonymous said...

"F" the Bobblehead-in-Chief.

Finntann said...

To paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen:

Mr. President, I served in the Third World, I knew the Third World, the Third World was a friend of mine. Mr. President, you're no Third World... Second World would be a more apt description.

I sometimes wonder if I ought to go back.

Maggie@MaggiesNotebook said...

The Fractional Banking piece is excellent. The Soros Bretton Woods II is coming up on Friday and goes on for several days I believe. I'm not clear enough on the World Bank and the Federal Reserve to know what evil Soros can put into place to reach his One World currency and bank, but I know it is possible today.

Questions I have: is it possible to get back to the Gold Standard. I know it cannot be done overnight, but is there a solution?

To your $80 GM bailout, add the $19 million in health care bribes.

Silverfiddle said...

Maggie, add in also Government Electric (GE) buying Government Motors (GM) Chevy Volts, with the taxpayer giving them the subsidy on each one of course!

Even enthusiasts concede it would be very hard to get back to a pure gold standard, but the currency needs to be pegged to something, which would prevent manipulating it for political gain.

What Soros wants actually sounds good (fixed currencies), which makes me suspicious. He's made his trillions on international currency manipulation, and his idea would basically make such financial shenanigans much harder. There must be a back door in the plan. Hmmm...