The voters are getting angry at The One. A majority disapprove of how he’s handling health care “reform” AND the economy. The AP reports that the billions spent on road construction has done nothing to lower unemployment. The “most popular government program” in years, Cash-4 -Clunkers was actually, predictably, a flop. Unemployment is way higher than they said it would be if we didn’t rush through the borrow and spend porkulus bill.
So, what to do to keep the rabble from voicing their displeasure? Blame someone else! Obama wants to tax the big bad banks. He says it’s to get our TARP money back and to reduce undue risks by the greedy bankers. The One wants you to believe that the big banks are the kind of guys who would take the last piece of pizza from the birthday boy at Chuck-E-Cheese (see above photo).
Obama has been strident in his criticism of bankers, calling them “fat cats” last month in an interview that aired on the eve of their visit to the White House. With public anger over the bailout still strong, Obama has embraced populist rhetoric in an effort to shame bank executives into paying back the government more quickly and their executives less lavishly.
At the White House on Monday, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs jabbed at the perceived disconnect between Wall Street executives and their customers. The spokesman said the disparity angered his boss.
“I don’t know anybody, save for a few that work for those banks, that don’t get visibly angry … in reading those stories,” Gibbs said. “I think they’re not listening to the American people.”
The banks deserve some blame, but the government is much more responsible for our economic meltdown. Obama isn’t even telling us the details of his ‘tax-the-bank’ idea.
The idea received an early boost from Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in the House, where there have been calls for a hefty tax on bank bonuses.
“While we have not seen any specific language from the administration, Congress will certainly examine any serious proposals to lower the deficit and recoup even more of the TARP funds for the taxpayers,” said Nadeam Elshami, a spokesman for Pelosi, D-Calif.
If the purpose is to get the TARP money back from the banks, that’s almost done. Most of the banks have paid it back and the rest are working on it. The money we’ve totally flushed away is the stuff we gave out after we turned TARP into a giant slush fund – the bailouts to the auto companies, AIG, Goldman Sachs, etc.
If the purpose is to get banks to quit taking outrageous risks, I have a better solution – When questionable investments put banks at risk of failure…LET THEM FAIL. That will temper risk. Failed banks will be broken up and sold off to sound banks. Let capitalism take care of it. Get the government out of it.
The real purpose is to distract the voters from the failure of the stimulus, boost Obama’s approval ratings and create a new tax to redistribute the wealth. It certainly isn’t a way to grow the economy. There is a much better and cheaper way to do that, but that’s for another post.