Regulatory realities and other big government grabs share space this week with a look at that pre-beer summit race relations flap in which someone acted stupidly—perhaps everyone.
But first, a note and a teaser. Note: This is a potpourri column, covering diverse topics without whining, but wining is allowed the writer. Teaser: No beer for me after I act stupidly at column’s end. I’m a wineaux. A wineaux imbibes wine in stemware.
Now to the mega-governing part.
The Obama administration and allies—primarily congressional Democrats in Congress—are after a legislative hat trick.
But because you will hear much about health insurance “reform” and environmental cap-and-trade legislation this year, you may learn less about financial services regulatory “reform.”
Conservatives get branded as negative on all three issues. So be it. Actually, it isn’t just “no,” but no good way yet from here to there.
Democrats push the ludicrous health care pitch that technological and efficiency changes will pay for two-thirds of the legislation. Wanna bet? It’s health care, so I should live so long.
Turning to cap and trade, Congress currently appears willing to give major polluters a free pass to get legislation that in 2018 will have us yearning for last year’s $4 per gallon gasoline as “the good old days.”
Regarding both issues, it’s the usual foot-in-the-door tactic that will lead to unintended gorilla-in-the-room costs later.
Yet it is financial services regulatory change that worries me most. Sure change is needed, but a more powerful Federal Reserve? That gives me the willies. The Fed, less than a century old, was created during the dunderheaded presidency of Democrat Woodrow Wilson. In my view, the Fed tight-fisted us into the Great Depression. Lately, too loose by double, it helped bubble-trouble us into the current not-so-great recession.
Federal Reserve notes will equal monopoly money eventually. Conservatives must fight against a muscled-up Fed. Otherwise Obama-mania, aided by San Francisco’s Nancy Pelosi and Nevada’s Harry Reid, will enable the unelected likes of the Fed’s Bald Big Ben and Treasury’s Turbotax Tiny Tim to run us into greater financial ruin.
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Now, two book recommendations—one on the Fed and the other on an entirely different topic: 1) Secrets of the Temple: How the Federal Reserve Runs the Country by William Greider, which—though decades old—nails Fed power best; 2) Faith and Politics by former GOP Sen. John Danforth of Missouri, a more recent offering that argues against wedge issues dividing Republicans and the nation.
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Still awaiting signs of this recession bottoming? Look in Nevada to the casino win total, which through May (reported in July), had declined 17 straight months. At some point it will rise. Three consecutive months of higher casino wins might signal recovery. But this points to a dilemma for conservatives here. Can Nevada continue leaning heavily on taxing tourists to keep the growing state in services through boom and bust cycles?
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Now, acting stupidly, I’ll wade into the pre-brew summit race relations fray. I’ll just say President Obama acted stupidly. Why? A president who once taught constitutional law admitted he didn’t know the facts, then weighed in against the Cambridge cops and on the side of his friend—losing health care message focus big time.
Conservatives thank you, Mr. President.
Cops do sometimes hassle African-Americans. But presidents need to show the restraint of a Supreme Court nominee. Avoid taking sides publicly, minus all the facts, or risk being seen as having acted stupidly.
Finally … beer? An old vine Zin, please, for this wineaux!