There have been three distinct political groups in the United States over the last 20-30 years. Yes, I know there are an infinite number of variants to these groups but I put the political thoughts into three groups. There is the America First conservative in the spirit of Ronald Reagan. There is the "New World Order" neo-conservative in the spirit of the first George H.W. Bush and the current crop of neo-cons (Charles Krauthammer, Ben Wattenburg) which espouses distinct foreign engagements and even a sub world order which supersedes the sovereignty of the United States. The third is a "world citizen" which is similar to the last one except it is more from a philanthropic viewpoint versus a "realpolitik" and economic viewpoint.
Unfortunately, the financial debacle we are in today marks the ascendency of the neo-con vision of the one world / one economy which supersedes nations. Thankfully, it may also be the beginning of the end of this thought process.
Back in 2005 I wrote an entry in my blog, The Command T.O.C. called, "What if There is No Country When The Soldiers Come Home - Globalization takes root." I followed this entry up with a writing in April of 2008 entitled, "What if the Soldiers Come Home To A Dead Economy?"
The basic thesis of these entries was that globalization is causing (and now has caused) the Democracy of the United States to become absolutely subservient to a larger world government accountable to no one. As we are off fighting wars for old world nationalism the very people who sent those soldiers to war are back here creating an economic entanglement which makes winning the war a useless exercise.
If you doubt this, let's look at three major charecteristics in the "bail out package" which is going before Congress. First, it is massive. Far more will be spent on this than even the wildest assumptions about the Iraq War. You can be assured if the the Government is asking for $700bl, it is most likely going to top $1 Trillion.
Second, it will be run totally by unelected officials. The simple legislation puts the power in the hands of the Secretary of Treasury and the Chairman of the Federal Reserve. The Treasury Fact Sheet reads:
The assets will be managed by private asset managers at the direction of Treasury to meet program objectives. Treasury will have full discretion over the management of the assets as well as the exercise of any rights received in connection with the purchase of the assets. Treasury may sell the assets at its discretion or may hold assets to maturity. Cash received from liquidating the assets, including any additional returns, will be returned to Treasury's general fund for the benefit of American taxpayers.
The end of the Democracy as we know it.
Finally, they will seek to bail out foreign banks as well. When they first discussed this bail out the idea was to bail out US Banks only. However, again from the fact sheet:
Participating financial institutions must have significant operations in the U.S., unless the Secretary makes a determination, in consultation with the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, that broader eligibility is necessary to effectively stabilize financial markets.
Notice two parts to this area of the "fact sheet". First, the organization they will bail out must have "significant operations". So, this means we could be bailing out foreign banks. Then, the hubris continues, as they say, "Unless the Secretary makes a determination... that broader eligibility is necessary...". Notice the only person this unelected official must consult with is another unelected official and that is the Chairman of the Federal Reserve.
Under President Bush the United States has taken on the roll of the World's policeman and now apparently is taking on the role of "lender of last resort". This would be a great and noble cause if the resources existed to do this. But, alas, they do not.
The United States needs a return to the true conservatism of the Ronald Reagan era. I think the left leaning readers would be surprised just how much they have in common with the "America First" conservative. This is a conservative who believes we should solve the problems on main street Ohio before trying to solve the banking problems in Prague.
Conservatism used to be an political belief which resulted in always ensuring America's interests were taken care of first. Then, along came the neo cons and along came George W. Bush. They changed conservatism from a political belief to an ideology. The ideology meant they were doing "God's bidding" and it was in everyone's best interest to spread the ideology of democracy and capatilism across the world. Not for America's sake but for the sake of the ideology. That has been very dangerous. That belief has cost almost 5,000 soldiers' lives and now will cost us $1 trillion. Money which will put a hurt on the US Economy for decades.
In "The Party's Over", Patrick Buchannan writes how our elected officials are nowhere to be found on either side of the aisle. The point people for this debacle? Unelected bureaucrats like Paulson. PJB States:
What we are witnessing today is how empires end.
The Last Superpower is unable to defend its borders, protect its currency, win its wars or balance its budget. Medicare and Social Security are headed for the cliff with unfunded liabilities in the tens of trillions of dollars.
What we are witnessing today is nothing less than a Katrina-like failure of government, of our political class, and of democracy itself, casting a cloud over the viability and longevity of the system.
Notice who is managing the crisis. Not our elected leaders. Nancy Pelosi says she had nothing to do with it. Congress is paralyzed and heading home. President Bush is nowhere to be seen.
Well, it the question I asked at the beginning which was "What if the Troops Come Home and There is No Country" is being answered and unfortunately it is not good. After going to war for what they believed was to "defend the democracy", they are finding the folks back home have destroyed it. Unelected officials are running the Government Crisis center, we are bailing out foreign banks, our economy is in tatters and we will have debt forever.
Tell me again, just what exactly were they defending?