It should come as no surprise to my readers that I am shocked and appalled at the direction of movement and decay of our culture and governmental institutions under the current Administration. It would be an oversimplification of our current situation to point to the election of President Obama as the sole cause of my concern. The failure of the Republican Party to hold true to conservative values and actions is also a major issue for me now. But it is the perfect storm of this President and the leadership and majorities in both Houses of Congress that has accelerated the trends.
I should not have to lecture a law professor/President about the importance of the rule of law in our society. But it may be instructive to point out the reason that the rule of law is critical to our economic engine. The key is found in a single word: predictability. Our dependence and reliance upon the rule of law is based on our need to rely upon a set of consistent and predictable rules in our marketplace and in our culture.
The President seems to be dumbfounded at the response of the economy and jobless rates to his “fundamental changes for the United States of America”. He seems to think that we can spend our way to prosperity. He is not only wrong, he is the major cause for our current problems.
The government sponsored bankruptcy of General Motors and Chrysler violated, in my opinion, the basic rules of law by sacrificing the interests of the bond holders (secured creditors under the law) to the interests of the unions and the government.
The vast restructuring of financial and economic markets by replacement of free market processes with government regulations and taxation has unsettled the business community by rocking their world. High employment is the by-product of a profitable business environment – not the purpose of it. The purpose of business is profit and return on investment. The control structure for the business environment is competition – not government regulation.
Business must be able to predict their costs and profitability. It is vital to all business decisions. When business cannot accurately determine the marginal costs associated with new hiring for expansion because of uncertainty in health care costs, permitted salaries, uncertain taxation and regulation – there will be no hiring. There will be no increases in production and there will be no expansion.
It is time for the President to go back and re-read the Declaration of Independence and revisit the definitions and concept of “tyrant”. Redistribution of wealth is not a concept that is consistent with American law and principles. The President and the leadership have demonstrated that they can change or ignore the law – but the principles remain. And the accountability of our representatives to the people at the next election is still an important part of our system. The mainstream media has abdicated its role in the social discourse and is complicit in the radical actions of the President and the Leadership. But the media is business too – and while they have abandoned us today – we will abandon them tomorrow.
Those self-evident truths I spoke of in the title ? I can list a few…
- In order for government to give me a dollar – they must first take it by force from you. That is the way government works.
- Government is not the answer – it is the problem.
- Mr President, the economy and the jobless rate will not recover until you remove your boot from the neck of the free market.
- Businessmen will not invest when the Government arbitrarily changes the rules of the playing field to suit their agenda.
- In a free society – it is not the role of government to pick the winners and losers in the economy.
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