Legal Plunder

My quote today comes again from Bastiat, normally I will not repeat an author so soon but because of the current financial disaster being hoisted upon the American public in the form of a $700 billion bailout for Wall Street I felt that the words of Bastiat would be appropriate for the situation.

"It is impossible to introduce into society a greater change and a greater evil than this: the conversion of the law into an instrument of plunder.

What are the consequences of such a perversion? It would require volumes to describe them all. Thus we must content ourselves with pointing out the most striking.

In the first place, it erases from everyone's conscience the distinction between justice and injustice."

When the government talks about a bail out they are talking about plunder, stealing my money and giving it to a company I would not choose to invest in normally. This is redistribution of wealth and has no place in a lawful society. During the Cold War America stood against Communism yet less that thirty years after the fall of Communism we are adopting many of their economic positions.

Many of these bailouts the government is doing are in the form of buyouts meaning that the government is nationalizing these companies and running them. This is of course what started the whole problem; Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were quasi government agencies who started the practice of risking loans and mortgages because the government wanted more low income and minority families to own homes. Because these companies were subsidized by the government they controlled a large part of the industry and could preform risky business procedures, however everyone else in the industry had to start preforming similar risky business procedures or risk being put out of business by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. When their risky business procedures caught up with Fannie Maw and Freddie Mac they started the collapse of large parts of the industry; what is not needed at this point is more government intervention but less; government intervention is what started this mess.

Unfortunately neither of the Presidential candidates realize this and talk of more government regulation and intervention. I recently got a call from the Obama campaign asking me if I was supporting Obama and whether I had any questions about the issues. I asked what was going to be done about the economic crises and the Obama person said that they were going to be taking money from CEO's of oil companies because of all the money they make that we the consumer have to pay them when we need relief because of high oil prices. At this point I said "No thank you I don't believe in theft." And I hung up the phone. Unfortunately McCain is no better he also believes that the "crooks" on Wall Street can't be trusted and that Wall Street needs more oversight from Washington.

There is no Hope, there will be no Change in our future if most American's can no longer tell the difference between Justice and Injustice. If CEO's of oil companies can have their money stolen is our money any safer?