Government In The Way of Freedom - In Response to Peter Orszag on the Jon Stewart Show

I was directed this week to watch the following videos of Peter Orszag, the White House Budget Director, explain the budget on the Jon Stewart show. Here are the links:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=222776&title=peter-orszag-pt.-1
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=222777&title=peter-orszag-pt.-2
I thoroughly enjoy listening to people with views different from my own and also think that Mr. Orszag is a brilliant man. He explains himself and this complex issue of the budget very eloquently. As I listened, I had to pause many times to gather my thoughts, and this is what I came up with.
First of all, Mr. Orszag said that they have inherited a terrible deficit. This is true, as President Bush overspent and built debt, however, it is not true that Obama is coming to the rescue. Bush's deficit during his eight year term was a grand total of $1.3 trillion dollars with his last year in office bringing in the biggest piece of that with $482 billion overspent in one year. Obama's outlook on eight years totals $15 trillion dollars. ((See chart here)) I understand completely that is a long outlook and they plan to change things to help cut that number down, but $15 trillion in deficit spending in 8 years? That's a lot of our money; a lot of borrowed money. Why can't government, instead of saying they need more money to fund themselves and grow government, say they are cutting back spending? This is the fix that stops the tax raises, that stops the borrowing, and that stops government intrusion into our personal freedoms. Not talked about in the above interview is the fact that this budget, while proposing huge deficits, also is piling on new taxes (in the range of $686 billion in new taxes by the end of the ten year outlook). Treat the taxpayers money with the respect it deserves is all I ask.
Which brings me to my second point. Jon Stewart asks why the government is allowed to play by a different set of rules then we the people are. That is the point of true conservatism (notice the emphasis on true conservatism, not moderate conservatism). The government's spending is so out of control, we are forced to spend borrowed money, increasing our debt, or raise taxes on the people of this country. Neither option is good; yet President Obama is planning doing both.
Also, during the interview, Orszag admits very openly and without shame that the White House is telling people to leave certain companies, and wants the authority to reach more companies than they currently can. What? Since when is the President the overseer of private company's actions? Since when has the President looked into companies and told people to leave because he didn't like the way they did things? This is not freedom and liberty, and this is certainly not capitalism. The President should not do this; the free markets should. If a company is failing, it is up to the company and no one else to do something about it. And it is certainly not up to the President to use taxpayer money, or money borrowed from foreign investors, to help them along. If a company fails, it can either drop out and move aside for someone else to come in and provide better service, or it can file Chapter 11 and restructure itself properly and efficiently. That is how it is supposed to work. Yet now our tax dollars are invested in banks, in car companies, and many other businesses. Why? Let the markets work and move on.
This is where people like myself are coming in with the idea of 'socialism'. The government moving in and firing employees of companies as it pleases, taking over businesses to run them they way they want them to be run, running what many would call a 'nanny state', where it is not people with the freedom to control their money and life as they please but the government there every step up the way helping people along; that is the groundwork of socialism. This country was founded on the idea that people would do what they could to succeed without interference from the government. If you failed in your attempts, you would get help not from the government and the taxpayer's money, but from the local charities, churches, and organizations set up for that purpose, who fund themselves through the goodwill of the people. National government was not meant to be the all powerful government; neither was state government; neither was local government. Yet now here we are, with the idea that we all should lean on government to get by, to help us through, to make it work; that's not how it should be.
I could continue to go on for a while, but will stop myself for now, as this is getting to be quite a large post. Thank you for reading and feel free to comment or email me at kelbylovelady@gmail.com. I love getting feedback and conversation. And as always, stay informed, aware, and ready for conversation, because that's the groundwork that a free America, full of liberty, is built on.

A President Crossing the Line - The GM/Wagoner Saga

Obama has gone over the line; no other President would dare cross it, and Obama leaped over with such grace that the media seems to be missing the point. Buried deep into the NBC news website, tucked away behind CNN's breaking news about Madonna, and peeking out just slightly at the FoxNews website, is a President of the United States pushing a CEO out.
Obama has fired Rick Wagoner, former Chairman and CEO of General Motors. The mainstream news media brushes by the fact, because they know how this looks to people who pay attention. For instance, on the CNN story, they briefly say that Obama 'asked' Wagoner to step down, followed by a long discussion on the size of his retirement package. NBC news let the cat out of the bag, saying that Obama put the ultimatum on the table of "fire him if you want bailout money". They then, of course, went on to talk of how this is 'Obama working hard for the American people' to ensure their not going to lose "America's car company."
Of course, this whole thing is a mess. Obama threw himself into the fray and it's a complete mess now (Deja Vu). Let me offer my spin.
Let GM go under, by itself, no taxpayer money getting dumped into it. Let them then, if they so desire, file Chapter 11 bankruptcy and restructure the company. This would give them time to figure out what went wrong, (unions, poor product, price control, for a few examples), and start over, costing you and I, the taxpayers, nothing. This is called Capitalism. It ensures the right to fail and start over. It is what I would have to do in the circumstances, what any small business would have to do, and what any freedom loving American should do. Take your burden on your own shoulders.
Enter, then, Bush and Obama's auto bailouts. Taxpayer money thrown into a failing business. A President pressuring a CEO of a private company out. This is a road leading straight to Socialism. And, let me say this, even though it's no secret; SOCIALISM DOESN'T WORK!! (ie. Russia, Venezuela, many Caribbean islands, most of Central America, Britain, Canada, etc... Countries that are not doing well because of their government getting in the way of the peoples freedoms; the freedom to be the best that they can be, to succeed, to fail and get back up again, to start fresh and new, to live their life the way they see as best.)
I guess this is the start of the long, slippery slope to Socialism America voted for. Congratulations everyone. You've created a monster. God help America.