Tell me, would YOU want to eat at this trough?

Maybe Obama is a blessing in disguise and is doing us more favors for the future than even he realizes. After watching his brief presidency play out, it appears obvious that Obama desires to build a “command and control” economy (though maybe not as far as some would lead you to believe) by throwing around trillions of taxpayer dollars.

During the current crisis, a lot of industries and states were hurting for cash. Banks had become over extended, trickling down the pain to others. Automakers have been building a fine mess of unprofitability for some time, and with increased spending during the good times, a sudden drop in the economy spelled disaster for many state budgets.

In comes the Federal Government, filling the trough for all the needful piggies to feed from. What these little piggies didn’t know, is how much eating from this trough would cost them!
Take the banks for example. TARP funds were sent out to inject liquidity and capital into the banks to increase credit and help the economy recover. In years past, such government actions have been done a bit like an investment; loan out some money now to get the economy going, then reap the benefits of increased government revenues. Not this time! Instead this money came with a multitude of strings attached, some which weren’t obvious from the start. These funds came with government meddling in the actual operation of private institutions! Sensing the danger, some of the healthier banks tried to get out. But what they found out was, instead of feeding from the trough until they were healthy and could move on, they had been penned with no escape, no way out.

GM learned this lesson well, with the President of United States actually ordering the GM board of directors what to do (fire their current CEO). Chrysler didn’t fare any better, with this enlightened government dictating how the company must restructure and to whom they must merge. But what could automakers do? They had eaten from the trough, and now they’re stuck.

Then came the states and the stimulus money. Take this money, but you have to do certain things (including changing YOUR STATE LAWS). Some sensible people, smelling the trap, tried to avoid the trough. Perhaps they will manage. But it seems many people, and state legislatures, or so eager to dive head first into the slop heap that there’s no preventing it. They too will become stuck.

A golden example for the future is the Golden State. California, with its tremendous outlays and the utter devastation that the housing crisis has caused, is in dire straits financially speaking. A recent study says that the California State Government will need to borrow an additional $20 billion dollars (on top of the $42 billion already received) just to meet outlays next year. Based on past hand-outs, Californian’s are well aware of what they’re up against. The study is quoted as saying, “The difficult decisions to balance the state's budget now are preferable to Californians losing some control over the state's finances and priorities to federal officials for years to come."

So maybe this is a blessing in disguise? The consequences of “Federal bailout” are appearing so dire, so anathematic to liberty and freedom, that maybe, just maybe, people will begin to lose the attitude that got as where we are today. The attitude that we’re “too big to fail” or that “if we fail, the government will save us.”

We can only hope.