Led To Fiscal Slaughter

I wish I could proffer a bountiful, positive post in reference to Christmas. It just isn't in me right now. For that I apologize up front though, truthfully, I'm surprised if anyone is really trolling the internet for anything but gifts at this point. Thanks for stopping by; I'm about to depress you.

To start, a wonderful quote from National Review editor Jonah Goldberg:

For the more historically minded, it's a time for nostalgia. The past comes alive as Chicago 's grand tradition of corruption is sustained for another generation. As the Chicago Tribune once wrote, 'corruption has been as much a part of the landscape as corn, soybeans and skyscrapers.' According to the Chicago Sun-Times, as of 2006, when Blago's predecessor, George Ryan, was sent to prison for racketeering, 79 elected officials had been convicted of corruption in the past 30 years. ... The New York Times -- which, according to Wall Street analysts, is weeks from holding editorial board meetings in a refrigerator box -- created the journalistic equivalent of CSI-Wasilla to study every follicle and fiber in Sarah Palin's background, all the while treating Obama's Chicago like one of those fairy-tale lands depicted in posters that adorn little girls' bedroom walls. See there, Suzie? That's a Pegasus. That's a pink unicorn. And that's a beautiful sunflower giving birth to a fully grown Barack Obama, the greatest president ever and the only man in history to be able to pick up manure from the clean end."

In regards to Blagojevich, the investigation is creeping closer, ever-closer to our president elect.

The president-elect himself was questioned by federal investigators.

In terms of spending, the president-elect advocates a stimulus plan that could total as much as $1 trillion dollars.

We've already, literally, pissed away billions and billions of dollars to ungrateful, arrogant and irresponsible banking institutions, investment firms and corporations (see my post here), to the point where I believe, if this trend continues, there could be actual public insurrection in this country.

And will the trend continue?

Robert Romano from GetLiberty.org writes:

George Bush has made a gentleman’s agreement with robber barons and union thugs. And there is no question that after the Big Three automakers are done pouring through the $17.4 billion in “bridge loans” they have soaked from the Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)—i.e., the taxpayers—that they will again return to the federal government on their knees, begging for more.

There is no reason to believe that either these companies’ managements or the union bosses will ever honor the original terms of the loans. After all, that would involve concessions. And why concede anything when the American taxpayer is on the hook—and can’t get off?

Isaac Macmillen, also from GetLiberty.org writes:

The 2008 deficit is already at a projected $1 trillion—with the potential to reach $1.5 trillion, if Congress passes the massive stimulus bill now under consideration. Jobless rates—and claims—continue to rise. Over 11,600 pork projects—costing upwards of $17 billion—were included in bills this year. . .

And Congress just ended the year by giving itself a 2.8 percent pay raise.

The $4700/member raise would go into effect in January of 2009, raising the average congressional salary to $174,000. The raise is part of an automated process incorporated in a bill Congress passed in 1989.

For how long can this stand? For how long can we as a country stand? How long will we consent to be sheep led to Fiscal Slaughter? How long will we allow the political fat to become fatter, the political rich to be richer, behind irresponsible, inconsiderate fiscal policies and spending packages, heedless of the source?

You, me, we, are all viewed as nothing but endless founts of labor from which Washington and other government entities may tap at any time for any sheer whim. There need be no real reason or need other than "we want to" or "my political friends would like more" or "I owe a debt to another politician across the aisle."

There is no accountability, there is no stopping this Juggernaut because, quite frankly, at this time No One Cares.

And I do not see it getting anything but worse for 2009.

Merry Christmas, America. Now bend over and grab your ankles.

BZ