Love this guy! Travis wrote: > > > > > From: Travis > Subject: Cheap Political Theater > Date: Tuesday, March 24, 2009, > > > *Cheap Political Theater > *Thomas Sowell > Tuesday, March 24, 2009 > > Death threats to executives at AIG, because of the bonuses they > received, are one more sign of the utter degeneration of politics > in our time. > > Congressman Barney Frank has threatened to summon these executives > before his committee and force them to reveal their home > addresses-- which would of course put their wives and children at > the mercy of whatever kooks might want to literally take a shot at > them. > > Whatever the political or economic issues involved, this is not > the way such issues should be resolved in America. We are not yet > a banana republic, though that is the direction in which some of > our politicians are taking us-- especially those politicians who > make a lot of noise about "compassion" and "social justice." > > What makes this all the more painfully ironic is that it is > precisely those members of Congress who have had the most to do > with creating the risks that led to the current economic crisis > who are making the most noise against others, and summoning people > before their committee to be browbeaten and humiliated on > nationwide television. > > No one pushed harder than Congressman Barney Frank to force banks > and other financial institutions to reduce their mortgage lending > standards, in order to meet government-set goals for more home > ownership. Those lower mortgage lending standards are at the heart > of the increased riskiness of the mortgage market and of the > collapse of Wall Street securities based on those risky mortgages. > > Senator Christopher Dodd has played the same role in the Senate as > Barney Frank played in the House of Representatives. Now both are > summoning government employees and the officials of financial > institutions before their committees to be lambasted in front of > the media. > > Dodd and Frank know that the best defense is a good offense. Both > know how hard it would be to defend their own roles in the housing > debacle, so they go on the offensive against others who are in no > position to reply in kind, given the vindictive powers of Congress. > > This political theater is in one sense cheap beyond words. In > another sense, it is costly beyond words. > > It is cheap because the politicians who are creating this > distraction from their own role also voted for the very > legislation that enabled contracted bonuses to be paid by > companies like AIG that received government bailout money. If > members of Congress can't be bothered to read the laws they pass, > then they have no basis for whipping up lynch mob outrage against > people who did read the law and acted within the law. > > Just as everyone seemed to be a military expert a couple of years > ago, when it was chic to say that the "surge" in Iraq would not > work, so today everyone seems to be an expert on executive pay. > > Whether the particular executives who received bonuses were the > ones responsible for AIG's problems, or were among those who > warned against those problems, is something that those of us on > the outside don't know. That includes those in politics and the > media who are making the loudest noise. > > The politicians claim to be protecting the taxpayers' money. But > having politicians trying to micro-manage any business is far more > likely to make those businesses lose more money, including the > taxpayers' money. > > Securities based on risky mortgages are what toppled financial > institutions but it was the government that made the mortgages > risky in the first place, by making home-ownership statistics the > holy grail, for which everything else was to be sacrificed, > including commonsense standards for making home loans. > > Politicians and bureaucrats micro-managing the mortgage sector of > the economy is precisely how today's economic disaster began. Why > anyone would think that their micro-managing the automobile > industry, or executive pay across a wide sweep of other > industries, is likely to make things better in the economy is a > mystery. > > The real point is to pander to envy and resentment against people > who make a lot of money. Envy is always referred to by its > political alias, "social justice." But to put the lives of the > wives and children of executives at risk for the sake of Beltway > grandstanding shows how low our political saviors have sunk. > > > http://townhall. com/columnists/ ThomasSowell/ 2009/03/24/ > cheap_political_ theater > > <http://townhall.com/columnists/ThomasSowell/2009/03/24/cheap_political_theater> > > __._,_.___ > Messages in this topic > > <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tsowell/message/5738;_ylc=X3oDMTM0Z2hnMjRpBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzQzNDQyNTUEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDYwMzc1BG1zZ0lkAzU3MzgEc2VjA2Z0cgRzbGsDdnRwYwRzdGltZQMxMjM3ODk3MzM0BHRwY0lkAzU3Mzg->(1) > Reply (via web post) > > <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tsowell/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJwYjRiMWNwBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzQzNDQyNTUEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDYwMzc1BG1zZ0lkAzU3MzgEc2VjA2Z0cgRzbGsDcnBseQRzdGltZQMxMjM3ODk3MzM0?act=reply&messageNum=5738>| > Start a new topic > > <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tsowell/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJlaWIwMGcxBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzQzNDQyNTUEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDYwMzc1BHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA250cGMEc3RpbWUDMTIzNzg5NzMzNA--> > Messages > > <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tsowell/messages;_ylc=X3oDMTJlY2VhNXNkBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzQzNDQyNTUEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDYwMzc1BHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA21zZ3MEc3RpbWUDMTIzNzg5NzMzNA--> > | Files > > <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tsowell/files;_ylc=X3oDMTJmcGFjb2JzBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzQzNDQyNTUEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDYwMzc1BHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA2ZpbGVzBHN0aW1lAzEyMzc4OTczMzQ-> > | Photos > > <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tsowell/photos;_ylc=X3oDMTJlZWQxazBlBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzQzNDQyNTUEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDYwMzc1BHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA3Bob3QEc3RpbWUDMTIzNzg5NzMzNA--> > | Links > > <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tsowell/links;_ylc=X3oDMTJmaDI5bnViBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzQzNDQyNTUEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDYwMzc1BHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA2xpbmtzBHN0aW1lAzEyMzc4OTczMzQ-> > | Database > > <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tsowell/database;_ylc=X3oDMTJjbmJjNGlyBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzQzNDQyNTUEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDYwMzc1BHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA2RiBHN0aW1lAzEyMzc4OTczMzQ-> > | Polls > > <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tsowell/polls;_ylc=X3oDMTJmN283aHA1BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzQzNDQyNTUEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDYwMzc1BHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA3BvbGxzBHN0aW1lAzEyMzc4OTczMzQ-> > | Members > > <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tsowell/members;_ylc=X3oDMTJlNzZtMXF0BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzQzNDQyNTUEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDYwMzc1BHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA21icnMEc3RpbWUDMTIzNzg5NzMzNA--> > | Calendar > > <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tsowell/calendar;_ylc=X3oDMTJkaG12aDMyBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzQzNDQyNTUEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDYwMzc1BHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA2NhbARzdGltZQMxMjM3ODk3MzM0> > > Yahoo! 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