This is exactly why I was against the bailout plan from the start. Not only did the government give taxpayer's money to companies that already proved they cannot be trusted to use capital in an intelligent manner, it gives the government a foothold in private companies. This type of government involvement goes against the fabric of the free, capitalist ideologies that our country was founded upon. Once Obama beings involving himself in the operations of "newly-regulated" companies, what is to stop him from applying this authority to even more private entities. The term "slippery slope" was coined for precisely these kind of situations.
Update:
Obama is taking responsibility for the bonuses, not because he was invovled, but because he believes a leader should keep things like this from happeneing. This false sense of humility is simply another ploy to lend credibility to his efforts to place private businesses under governmental control.
Failing to regulate AIG's action is not the cause of the current fiasco. Agreeing to give them a handout was the mistake, and now Congress is trying to find a way to deal with it. The Dems don;t want AIG spending federal money without oversight...I simply don;t want AIG spending federal money.
ReplyDeleteAgreed.
ReplyDeleteAnd my concern beyond this is that once government starts to have some controlling interest in private companies, small business are next, and then the only left to control are individuals. Over simplified yes, but still a long slippery slope to be starting down when it could be avoided entirely.