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| Jonah Goldberg: the "anything goes" mentality |
| 2009-03-19 |
| "The Corner" @ National Review Part of the problem with talking about the AIG fiasco is that there's just too much to get mad about. I'm furious that Obama and the Dems are pretending they were surprised about something they not only knew about for a long time but are responsible for in the first place. This is Chris Dodd's doing for pete's sake. I'm furious, as Larry Kudlow noted yesterday, that Geithner et al are using AIG as a political money laundering operation, bailing out Goldman Sachs and other firms by washing it through AIG. I'm mad about all sorts of things, some of which, alas, are necessary but no less infuriating. But I wouldn't let my anger push me to advocate rescinding constitutional norms or the rule of law to force Dems -- or anyone else's -- from office or take away their rights. But Democrats are advocating using national rage to do precisely that viz a viz AIG. They're talking about bills of attainder. Retroactive laws. Punitive taxes (who was that Congresswoman who wanted to fine these executives "1,000%"?). I'm sure some of them are sincere just as I'm sure some of them are cynically deflecting attention and/or posing as populists. Whatever their motivations, we're a nation of laws. As Calvin Coolidge said, one with the law on his side is a majority. Those bonuses -- as bad as they might be -- are just one more toxic debt we took on when we decided to bailout AIG. In fact they're a tiny, tiny fraction of a fraction of debts we're taking on thanks to this mess and Obama's grand plans. But guess what? It's always going to be ugly when the government takes over an industry -- because government is very, very bad at taking over businesses. It seems to me that if you think an "anything goes" business culture is a problem -- and it is -- an anything goes political culture is even worse. But that's where we're heading with this nonsense. |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #2 "Anything goes" in business involves risks undertaken knowingly and willingly, with gains or losses in prospect. So long as there's no fraud and there is sufficient transparency ------You lost me at knowingly, willingly, no fraud & sufficient transparency. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2009-03-19 19:20 |
| #1 "Anything goes" in business involves risks undertaken knowingly and willingly, with gains or losses in prospect. So long as there's no fraud and there is sufficient transparency, "anything goes" is just the aggressive edge of the business spectrum - ya know, the one that historically produced marginal little things like petroleum from all over the world, airline transportation, personal computers, ...... So even the small camel's nose of Goldberg's distaste for high-stakes business under the tent helps lead to the disgraceful "populist" idiocy-fest with which the country has now further beclowned itself (following the November debacle). Question of degree. Executive compensation and "anything goes" business practices, so long as they are legal, are not Goldberg's business, should he choose not to make it his business by investing, borrowing, or working in some relation to them. People - even non-idiots who basically understand freedom and economics - have to get over their bigotry and envy. If you wanna make a killing, go into a line of work where that can happen. Otherwise, shut up. And what's the big deal about shredding the Constitution and dispensing with rule of law? A single SCOTUS justice can reassign roles and prerogatives of the branches of government ("lessee, I'm gonna take the treaty power from the executive, with advise and consent of the Senate, and just assign it to myself - yeah, that's the ticket!"), and the Beltway elites can abitrarily declare whole sections of basic law null and void (immigration) - so bills of attainder and de facto elimination of state govt. as in the porkulus bill should be considered routine. |
| Posted by: Verlaine 2009-03-19 16:18 |