The best thing about our government is that it never ceases to amuse me. It’s also continuously annoying, but I guess you have to take the bad with the good. It’s not the government itself that amuses me so much, but rather the absurd things that our illustrious Congresscritters do and say in an attempt to garner votes. The most amusing (and also the most frustrating) thing is that constituents continue to be taken in. Rather than making an effort to come up with a solution ourselves, we argue over which totally unworkable plan our elected representatives should vote on. This gives the leeches in Washington Congress incredible leeway to do anything, and then spin their positions to best advantage.
Examples abound. Let’s look at some of the more recent.
Dependence on foreign oil
Our country’s dependence on foreign oil has been a major problem since the Arab oil embargo of 1973. In the 35 ensuing years, Congress has put forth all manner of proposals to “fix” the problem. We’ve funded research into solar, geothermal, tidal, and other natural energy sources, provided incentives and subsidies for domestic oil exploration, coal, ethanol, and all manner of questionable energy saving technologies. Today our government has much more control over energy policy than it did in 1973 and yet we’re more dependent on foreign oil than we were back then.
Seven administrations and countless members of Congress have been “doing something about the problem” for 35 years, and the problem has gotten worse. And yet the vast majority of Americans look to Congress and the President for a solution to high gas prices, all the while cheering for or ridiculing the laughably simple minded, short term proposals that are put forth. Our representatives, of course, couldn’t care less. All they have to do is make themselves look good to their own constituents. As long as they can keep the voting public believing that government is the solution, their jobs are secure.
Every thinking American (and, sadly, I’m beginning to believe that the number is falling fast) knows that the solution to our energy problems requires conservation, domestic oil and gas production, development of nuclear plants, exploitation of wind, thermal, solar, and other natural sources, and research into more energy efficient transportation and buildings. We won’t solve anything unless we address all of those areas. And it’s going to take time. Government has proven that it’s incapable of formulating and implementing a workable energy policy. It’s time to get government out of the picture. No more subsidies, incentives, or preferential treatment. Let the market decide.
Tax Rebates
This is one of the dumber things I’ve seen Congress do. And, yes, I realize that both the 2001 and the 2008 rebates were initially proposed by President Bush. That doesn’t relieve Congress of their complicity and their ultimate responsibility. The 2001 rebate was “justified” by a “budget surplus”–a surplus that anybody with a fifth grade education knew was an illusion. This year’s rebate was “justified” by the current economic situation. Congress would have you believe that a windfall of a few hundred dollars (up to $1,200, as I recall) would “stimulate the economy” and soften the recession. Any thinking person could have told you that the result would be a short term spike in consumer spending, followed by a quick return to normal. I can’t prove this yet, but I suspect that it also resulted in people putting down payments on things they can’t afford, figuring they’d find a way to make the monthly payments.
Congress, of course, knew that the tax rebates wouldn’t have an effect on the economy other than to increase the size of the federal debt. But that’s okay. What’s a few billion more dollars compared to the time honored tradition of buying votes? It is an election year, after all. Besides, it made for good press coverage and retail store managers drooled over the prospect of Christmas in July. The rebates seem so popular that Senator Obama proposed a $1,000 rebate to fight energy costs.
The reaction of those receiving the rebates was predictable. Most squandered it like drunken sailors on leave. Those few who know the names of their Congressmen or Senators might have lifted a glass in salute, but most just thanked the government for the handout. That’s what surprises me the most. It’s like having somebody cut your arm off at the shoulder and then thanking him when he returns the forearm and hand. Idiots.
The “mortgage crisis”
This one is fun because there are so many levels of idiocy. Lenders made high-risk loans to people who were demonstrably incapable of paying them back, then sold those loans to a government sponsored enterprise, which ultimately will be bailed out by taxpayers when the original borrowers default.
When borrowing money in good faith, both the lender and the borrower are responsible for ensuring that the money can be paid back. But when the lender is just a middleman who gets paid for making the loan and selling it to somebody else, there is little incentive for him to vigorously check the borrower’s documentation. On the contrary, there is ample incentive for him to be very creative in putting together a loan package, both by making the terms of the loan appear attractive to the borrower and by making the borrower look attractive to the third party who’s buying the loan. Sure, the middleman will eventually be found out, but the short term rewards are incredible.
And when the ultimate buyer is a government sponsored enterprise like Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, there is almost no oversight. When you have, with government’s blessing, a virtual monopoly on the secondary mortgage market, you know that you’ll get bailed out if things go bad. So where’s the incentive to insist on real documentation for the loans that you buy?
I’m not an economist by any stretch of the imagination. I’m not even a financial analyst. But I’m not an idiot, either. I and many others saw this coming three years ago. Congress ignored the problem at the time, or discounted it as scare mongering. I’ll go out on a limb here and say that most of them probably knew what was coming. But they also knew that there wasn’t anything they could do about it and that bringing it up would be very unpopular. Our elected representitives are many things, but stupid is not one of them.
Now that the real extent of the problem has become apparent, Congress is all over it with one proposal after another. They’re “doing something about the problem.” They know that there are only two possible solutions: either pump money into Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to keep them afloat, or cut them loose and let people finally endure the consequences of their actions. We know, just by the the nature of elected officials, what their solution will be: another hundred billion dollars or more shelled out to fix a problem that Congress created in the first place. And We the Sheeple just nod our heads and thank Congress for taking care of us once again.
More is better?
All three of the above examples demonstrate extreme incompetence on the part of government. The Congress-proposed solution to those problems, as with all others, is more government regulation. As if making even more and larger bureaus, agencies, and departments will somehow transform government into an intelligent and effective organization. And we let them do it! When will people learn that the cure for a headache is to stop beating your head against the wall?
I used to get upset when I’d think about this stuff. I used to rant and carry on about the proper function of government, and how intrusive government is in our daily lives. But nobody listens. Nobody seems to care. I learned a while back to stop bashing my head against that particular pile of bricks. Now I just laugh and hope that the coming violent overthrow (which will almost certainly happen if government continues on its current path) doesn’t occur until after I’m gone.
