Proudly delegitimizing the state since 2005
"Aye, free! Free as a tethered ass!" —W.S. Gilbert
"All the affairs of men should be managed by individuals or voluntary associations, and . . . the State should be abolished." —Benjamin Tucker
"You must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself." —James Madison
"Fat chance." —Sheldon Richman
Monday, September 29, 2008
Bailout Lies
One of the lies involved in the Wall Street bailout -- and there are many, including the claim that the credit markets are frozen -- is that the taxpayers will recoup the losses and even turn a profit. The biggest lie there is not financial but political. Even if there are gains, they will not go to the taxpayers but rather to the government. For some strange reason, this distinction is lost on virtually everyone, especially the news media.
This has been bothering me as well, but I have two hypotheses:
ReplyDeletePerhaps most people [naively] expect that if the government comes into some money over this, then taxes will be lowered to compensate. Or, perhaps the thought is that they will spend more on <insert "very important" program here> than they otherwise would.
Sheldon, I think the biggest and most damaging lie is that the free market caused this situation. Most people have been tricked into thinking that freedom is bad and more government control is the cure for everything.
ReplyDelete