Just the other day I wrote a blog post Big jets, big government and our bigger demons where I used a personal phone call by President Obama made to argue against CITI accepting a previously purchased Jet to give my prediction that further demands would come. Today Obama took the next step by signaling he would like to see compensation for executives of institutions that receive bailout money to be regulated.
As I said about the jet I say about this move, I don’t necessarily care about the number and I actually believe a company would be wise to limit its compensation in these tuff economic times. Good for the bottom line, good for consumer relations, good for America all around. That is their decision though and not the government’s, but ah yes they chose to get nationalized and when you let the dirty hands of a politician into your affairs they will immediately start making demands.
The day will come and it will come soon when we move from the issues that are in the headlines to the kinds of issues the government truly shouldn’t be involved in; the direction of production, who should be employed, where they can setup shop and how these institutions are funded.
We are erasing the line between the role of government and the role of business and I blame business more than government for their slow demise. We have all of human history to show us what happens when big brother gets involved in our lives; many of these businesses ran themselves into the ground with nowhere else to turn but the deep pockets of the American taxpayer offered up by celebrity and power hungry bureaucrats. The CEO’s and the boards didn’t want to face defeat or give up their chance at raising a little personal capital before walking out, now they are balking at the notion that government is stepping in and trying to take all the treasury away.
As citizens it is time we all prepare for this is not the end but the beginning. Government now has its claws in our business and it is moving further into our lives too, enticing us with bailouts sold on fear and telling us socialism is the only way to save capitalism.
