Patriotism Vs. Business

It's easy to be hard on companies who accept bailout money and still continue their lavish ways.

However, correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't there a bunch of other banks who were asked to accept bailout funds even though they didn't want them, just to help with a) protecting the anonimity of some of the other banks, and b) to stimulate the economy?

So if you're one of these banks that took money they didn't need, and now you're being told you have to abide by certain rules, including some that didn't exist when you accepted it, doesn't this actually interfere with their successful operation?

In other words, no good deed goes unpunished. This should make anyone else who wants to be helpful in the future think twice.

UPDATE: JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon criticizes the restrictions and makes a few good points:

“Pay got a little exuberant, and there were some legitimate complaints,” Dimon said. “But I don’t think the president of the United States should paint everyone with the same brush.”

New York-based JPMorgan, the second-largest U.S. bank, doesn’t have so-called golden parachutes or retirement packages, and all top executives must retain 75 percent of their stock- based compensation, Dimon said.

This is essentially government micromanaging businesses. Yes, there needs to be some concession from bailed-out institutions, but I don't think the Federal Government is a good candidate to determine how business should be run. After all, this is the group that has posted losses that make the banking sector look successful by comparison. And whose top officials don't feel obligated to pay taxes.

Good News? Maybe.

Daschle feels the heat, gets out of the kitchen. I'm still waiting for Geithner and Rangel. I'm not holding my breath.

And frankly I'd feel a bit better about all of this if it was Mr. "I will change the way Washington does business" Obama calling for their withdrawal. But no, he fully supports them. It's up to THEIR consciences to get the better of them. But I guess what likely got to Daschle was Nancy Killefer's withdrawal over a mere $1000 tax lien. His sin was 128 times that.

Republicans in the Senate at least managed to block $25 billion in more spending being added to the Stimulus, though I note the total has somehow grown to $885 billion. And this would be more comforting if Minority Leader McConnell hadn't pledged to make sure the bill passes in the end.

Audit Them All!

I'm not the only one upset by all the tax cheats in the administration. A comment on Instapundit is calling for a moratorium on audits for the middle-class for a year. Others are calling for an audit of all public officials.

That's a great idea! Just Geithner and Daschle owed more in taxes than I make in three years. You want to bolster the government coffers? Shake down the "public servants" who are obviously making boat-loads of money while dodging boat-loads of taxes.

Let's deploy our auditing assets where they can do the most good--and save a bundle on transportation costs!

Either that, or we launch a tax revolt. No taxation without reciprocation!

Show-me State

Megan McArdle addresses her commenters who claim it should be up to the opponents of the Stimulus to prove it won't work.

Her response:

Let's recall that the evidence for this kind of stimulus working in this kind of situation basically rests on a single instance (World War II)--the other two times it was tried (Japan in the 1990s and America in the 1930s) the economy basically rolled along in the doldrums for the rest of the decade.

Proponents say that that's because there wasn't enough stimulus, which is possibly true, but not really satisfying, because first, how do we know this package is enough, and second, that leaves us with a belief in the virtues of stimulus that is essentially non-falsifiable. We might as well move macroeconomic policy to the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives.

Amen, Sister!

As I keep saying, this isn't about Stimulus, it's about "Getting Our Way--Finally!" It's not a recession to these guys. It's Christmas!

The Senate was supposed to inject some sanity into the bill. Instead they're injecting more spending. At this rate our only hope is that they get this thing passed and signed before it gets any bigger.

I applied for a job with a government contractor yesterday. I hope I get it, as the government seems to be the one industry that is NOT cutting back.

Draining [Into] the swamp of Gov't Corruption

Weren't the Democrats going to clean up Washington? Oh, they're setting the bar on ethics, all right. As low as they can get it.

RepublicanAmerican has a round-up of "honest mistakes" from the Democrats that would get you or me sent to prison, but gets them cabinet posts and senate seats.

We Don't Need No Stinkin' Rules!

As mentioned before I will be laid off from my job in two months, so I've been doing a lot of thinking about how to further my career. And then it hit me--the one critical thing I can do to improve my marketability:

Don't pay my taxes.

It would be the first step in a glorious political career. Then I can join Geithner, Daschle, Rangel, et al, in running the country and making rules for everyone else to follow.

Is there anyone left in Washington with any moral fiber?

You Won't Hear This Anywhere Else

Michael Totten has been in Israel lately, and reports on an interview with Palestinian journalist Khaled Abu Toameh, who offers a fresh, apolitical viewpoint on Israeli-Palestinian relations. Based on what he says, it sounds like the Bush Administration really screwed up in that area. Yes, Hamas is a terrorist organization, but he feels that when they won the election and we refused to accept them--and worked to undermine them by backing the corrupt Fatah movement--we showed ourselves as hypocrits and only bolstered Hamas' position.

Read the whole thing. It provides a lot of context we never hear about in the West because it doesn't "fit the narrative".

We need journalists like Michael Totten. I'm losing my job soon and had to cancel my subscription for now, but I'll promote him as much as I can in the mean time. If there is ever such a thing as the truth, you're more likely to learn it from Michael Totten than any mainstream media outlet.