“No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on this Earth.”—Ronald Reagan, “A Time for Choosing,” October 27th, 1964.
Yesterday morning, following on the heels of European states nationalizing their banking systems, President George W. Bush issued a statement in the Rose Garden to announce that the U.S. would be “temporarily” nationalizing its banking system.
Which is kind of like a temporary cockroach infestation. Like a temporary toll bridge. A temporary life sentence.
According to the new “temporary” plan, the U.S. is going to, in Mr. Bush’s words, “use a portion of the $700 billion financial rescue plan to inject capital into banks by purchasing equity shares.” The President assures the American people that this “is an essential short-term measure to ensure the viability of America’s banking system. And the program is carefully designed to encourage banks to buy these shares back from the government when the markets stabilize and they can raise capital from private investors.”
He also announced a plan for the FDIC to “temporarily guarantee most new debt by insured banks…” and to “temporarily expand government insurance to cover all non-interest bearing transaction accounts.” And, the Federal Reserve will begin a “new program to serve as a buyer of last resort for commercial paper.” Temporarily, no doubt.
What should be disconcerting to the American people is that the President, no matter how sincere he may be, is really in no position to guarantee the temporal nature of these programs. He will be out of office in January, long before this crisis will pass. And far longer before the ensuing darkness clears.
These measures will only be temporary if the American people say so. And then, they will have to be permanently repealed. This task, as usual, will fall to conservatives throughout the nation to take back the reins of leadership and roll back Big Government.
So, just put it on the list of things to be permanently repealed from the Big Bailout of 2008 including, but not limited to: the nationalization of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the nationalization of Indy Mac, the nationalization of AIG, and the authority of the Treasury to purchase these toxic assets in the first place.
Those of course, should be tacked on to the longer standing list of policy to-do’s, such as bringing an end to the failing and soon-to-be-bankrupt entitlement programs Social Security and Medicare, repealing the dual mandate at the Federal Reserve, instating a modern gold standard, and generally speaking, putting choices back into the hands of the American people.
And, gets worse.
Education is practically state-owned. The mortgage industry has been federalized. The insurance industry is being socialized. Banking was just nationalized. If Americans do not like this command-and-control approach to the economy and to society at large, and prefer instead a government that in Ronald Reagan’s words recognizes that “you and I have the ability and the dignity and the right to make our own decisions and determine our own destiny…” now is their time. Now is their hour.
Now is the time to take back liberty. To take back these “temporary” government programs, powers, and “solutions” that otherwise will likely never be repealed, and never should have been implemented in the first place. To take back those stolen tax dollars and decades of inflation. Now is the time to take a stand, lock, and load.
