The Trampling Government

There are lots of opinions on the financial crisis, but I would hope that we could agree on the usurping of rights with many of the remedies.  Hank Greenberg has an excellent piece in the Wall St. Journal.  Click here and read it. Not only were the Constitutional rights of AIG and its shareholders trampled in the aftermath of the financial crisis, but the rights of bondholders and shareholders of GM, Chrysler, their individual dealer networks, many privately held banks, Citigroup, Bank of America, and others.

It wasn’t just simply the “statist” attitude of the Obama administration that shredded the Constitution, it was also members of the Bush administration like Hank Paulson, members of Congress, members of the Federal Reserve, the SEC, the Department of Justice and other financial regulatory agencies.

The sorting out of the financial crisis has set a dangerous precedent.  It has given the state plenty of room to swoop in and grab rights away from the individual where it sees fit-with no consequences.  The bills passed into law by the 111th Congress will give plenty of clearance for this to continue happening.

In the past year, I have heard a number of speeches by Congressman.  One of the most chilling I heard was given by Don Manzullo, a Republican from Illinois.  When talking about Dodd-Frank he said, “The government now has the power to decide if your business activity is creating unnecessary risk in the economy.  They can shut you down.  They can go into every financial record you have, every credit card statement and receipt and page by page dissect and dismantle your business-and personal finances.”  It sent a shiver up my spine that has not left.

How different are the individuals that believe in this form of government from someone like Putin?

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