Banana In The Tailpipe
I read this story about the protest in front of AIG. Here is a link. As I view the images of the people in the street and the employees looking down at the crowd I am overcome with a feeling of sadness. I am struck with the notion that we have all been duped. We have all fallen for the “banana in the tailpipe.”
As a nation we have collectively experienced something called inattentional blindness. Inattentional blindness is the concept that you are not able to see what is actually there. You are so focused on one thing that you fail to see what is going on around you. Here is an example.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ahg6qcgoay4
Everyone has been manipulated to focus your attention on these bonuses and to vilify the people that are accepting these bonuses. Put away your anger for a second and look what is happening to our country.
- We are creating class warfare: Look at the picture of the AIG employees staring down at the protesters in the street. The angry mob has arrived. Most of Congress and the President are feigning outrage over these bonuses, fueling this firestorm of anger directed toward employees of a “private company.” From “tax the rich”, to “greedy Wall Street” this is just the latest in a series of attacks on the evil, wealthy, producers.
- Punitive Taxation: As Dave and Jim note a bill has been passed in the House that would tax bonuses paid to AIG as well as a host of other banking executives, at a rate of 90 to 100 percent. The government is selecting a tiny sub-set of our population and deciding to impose an exorbitant tax on them. Surely, the constitutionality of this is at least in question, but, think about what our founding fathers might say about this. Ironically, it’s likely that some of the same protesters in front of AIG today are people that support the growing list of grass roots tea parties. And yet the Boston Tea Party was a protest of the punitive tax and tariffs that the British Crown had placed on tea. It was a protest against government taxation, not an angry mob seeking revenge against its fellow citizens. And consider this: what if Congress decides at some point to tax all persons that drive foreign cars at 90%? Don’t laugh. If the car companies are nationalized (not entirely unlikely), it could very well be next move by an overreaching government and would be equally insane.
How many more wrongs will it take Congress to make this right? If Washington never bailed out AIG we would not be talking about bonuses, and we would not be talking about the money that AIG has contractually paid to foreign banks. Instead they bail out AIG and three bad laws later we are looking at imposing a 100% tax on less than 200 people.
Stop directing your attention at these executives. It is useless. Start directing your attention toward the politicians that HAVE CREATED ALL OF THIS. Stop marching in front of AIG and Goldman, start marching in Washington. Start marching in front of the office of your representatives.
7 Comments
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Those who are out there protesting the employees of these companies are people who don't understand that employees are business capital. Employees, at all levels, compete for wages & salaries, and a bonus too sometimes. And companies (not the government, usually) pay them. Every employee has the right to go elsewhere if they want to and if they can command a better wage. And if every employee who ever received a bonus were to have those bonus' taxed at 90% (no matter what size the bonus is), they would be outraged. But, you are right Erik, they are blinded, by the governments misdirection. It really is a blindness that could ultimately ruin this country. And this is at the hands of our new President and his administration.
Though I mostly agree w/ Erik, I also believe that we all have had a hand in this. It is easy to blame the politicians. I don't think that they would have passed this tax had they not heard the screams of the "constituents" who have been asking for people's scalps (and that includes everybody, and me too who have written to this post). We keep getting what we "ask for/deserve). The Government at all levels is reacting to what it "hears' from the electorate. Sorry, that is the way it is, and if something different had been done about AIG, we would have heard a different, but not necessarily more constructive reaction.
It was "our fault" in that we have elected and re-elected the fools that have created this mess. In CT we have ensconced Dodd and others because they bring us back gov't pork in exchange for our tax dollars and our souls. In the rest of the country we are doing the same, People like Pelosi and Reid are trading our freedom every day in exchange for personal benift. And they offer those that will go along with them freebies- Free trip to Italy anyone?
Until we get back in touch with the original intent of gov't that those "dead white guys" designed, we are doomedto drive this bus right of a cliff.
"How many more wrongs will it take Congress to make this right?"
I ask this, Erik: how many more can we afford? We are now projected to be in the hole for over 9 TRILLION dollars, and they are already talking about Porkapalooza II!! They are printing money faster than Zimbabwe, and totally ignore (or are ignorant of) the dire long term effects of this tack.
Economists and business people keep telling the Obamaroids that what they are doing is both short and long term stupid, yet they continue to blunder along.
They keep saying "the worst economy since the Great Depression" but appear to be doing their best to beat that record. Where are the "cooler heads?"
not too many Dimsdale, "worst economy since the great depression" is now a self fulfilling prophecy. Each move takes us deeper and deeper, every move seems to be exactly the wrong move.
Zimbabwe can not find anyone to purchase their debt and as a result their central bank prints money to finance the country. I don't see how the Fed buying US treasuries is any different. I understand that they are trying to stave off deflation, but what happens when they actually do start the inflationary trend and have to raise interest rates and unenjoyment is at 9%. That's gonna be fun.
If I thought for one moment that they had even the slightest clue about what they are doing, I wouldn't worry, but that is not the case. Even Warren Buffet is criticizing them, and he was an Obama supporter. Seriously, was Geithner REALLY the only person for the job? Heck, was Obama? (that's obviously a rhetorical question)
It is liberalism gone wild. It used to be incremental, but with control of the WH and the Congress, the Dems have gone berserk. I hope we can make it to 2010 to pick up the pieces.
The problem now is not inflation. Everybody, including Bernacke, recognize that may be to addressed, but now is not the time. If we worried too much about inflation now, we would have something else to deal with, e.g. a potential collapse of the banking system. If that happened then what? Your solution to this? Economists from both sides have debated this for months and the decision has been made to salvage the banking system by whatever means.