Can congress really do that?
I suppose another benefit of our troubles is the bright light being shone on the sausage factory of Washington. Apparently our courageous “leaders” in congress are trying to divert billions of dollars from the bank bailout at the even more hopeless cause of our automobile industry (labor and Detroit being two of the most special of the Democrat’s special interests) by revising the intent of the law after the fact. From today’s WSJ:
…This decision was made easier by the fact that the Big Three’s balance sheets have made even sympathetic Washington spenders worry about throwing money at a bankruptcy. Democrats decided it would be better to direct the funds in a way that allowed them to later deny fault.
The plan? Make it the Bush administration’s responsibility to give Detroit cash — namely by claiming after the event that the $700 billion rescue package for financial institutions was in fact a rescue package for auto makers. This was attempted with several hilarious “colloquys” — pre-scripted dialogues between members that were quietly inserted into the Congressional Record after the vote, all aimed at rewriting the “intent” of the law. Say, this one, from Oct. 1:
Michigan Sen. Carl Levin: “As Treasury implements this new program, it is clear to me from reading the definition of financial institution that auto financing companies would be among the many financial institutions that would be eligible sellers to the government. Do you agree?”
Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd: “Yes, for purposes of this act, I agree that financial institution may encompass auto financing companies.”
Fun. Meanwhile, Democrats passed $25 billion in aid for Detroit, though under the careful guise of “green” funds to help it meet new fuel-efficiency standards.
Damn. I’m becoming fairly convinced that in the long run history will look upon the likes of Dodd and Pelosi and Barney Frank and Bush in pretty much all the same light: fools and crooks, all. These are the guys that sat by term after term letting the federal defecit grow and grow while they bought votes with the money. They let the government enable our massive dependency on debt through the Federal Reserve; we talk about the finance “industry” as a private enterprise that got out of hand, but fractional reserve banking doesn’t happen without the government as a neccesary and willing partner. The buck stops (literally) at our government.
These corrupt traitors did much to help get us into this mess, and now we are trusting them with trillions (when all is said and done) to get us out? Having Barney Frank and Chris Dodd in charge of congressional finance committes during a crisis is like opening the cockpit door of a plummeting 747 to find, well, Barney Frank and Chris Dodd. Those two lawyers have about as much training in finance as they do in flying heavy transport aircraft. And their incompetence would be tolerable were it not for their corruption and allegience to the finance industry. It’s like the fox guarding the hen house, if the fox were a dull weasel.
