April 13, 2009
In a recent article in the Wall
Street Journal Stuart Varney uncovers an
apparently ulterior motive for giving the banks
"TARP" money and then refusing to allow repayment!
According to the Wall Street Journal article,
the Obama administration is seeking to control
the nation’s banks just as it has now near-total
control over two of the Big Three auto companies. If
true this could be an extreme cause for concern
among freedom loving Americans as we turn from
capitalism into a state controlled socialist
state. ~editor.
By STUART VARNEY
I must be naive. I really thought the
administration would welcome the return of bank
bailout money. Some $340 million in TARP cash flowed
back this week from four small banks in Louisiana,
New York, Indiana and California. This isn't much
when we routinely talk in trillions, but clearly
that money has not been wasted or otherwise sunk
down Wall Street's black hole. So why no cheering as
the cash comes back?
My answer: The government wants to control the
banks, just as it now controls GM and Chrysler, and
will surely control the health industry in the
not-too-distant future. Keeping them TARP-stuffed is
the key to control. And for this intensely political
president, mere influence is not enough. The White
House wants to tell 'em what to do. Control. Direct.
Command.
It is not for nothing that rage has been turned
on those wicked financiers. The banks are at the
core of the administration's thrust: By managing the
money, government can steer the whole economy even
more firmly down the left fork in the road.
If the banks are forced to keep TARP cash --
which was often forced on them in the first place --
the Obama team can work its will on the financial
system to unprecedented degree. That's what's
happening right now.
Here's a true story first reported by my Fox News
colleague Andrew Napolitano (with the names and some
details obscured to prevent retaliation). Under the
Bush team a prominent and profitable bank, under
threat of a damaging public audit, was forced to
accept less than $1 billion of TARP money. The
government insisted on buying a new class of
preferred stock which gave it a tiny, minority
position. The money flowed to the bank. Arguably,
back then, the Bush administration was acting for
purely economic reasons. It wanted to recapitalize
the banks to halt a financial panic.
Fast forward to today, and that same bank is
begging to give the money back. The chairman offers
to write a check, now, with interest. He's been
sitting on the cash for months and has felt the dead
hand of government threatening to run his business
and dictate pay scales. He sees the writing on the
wall and he wants out. But the Obama team says no,
since unlike the smaller banks that gave their TARP
money back, this bank is far more prominent. The
bank has also been threatened with "adverse"
consequences if its chairman persists. That's
politics talking, not economics.
Think about it: If Rick Wagoner can be fired and
compact cars can be mandated, why can't a bank with
a vault full of TARP money be told where to lend?
And since politics drives this administration, why
can't special loans and terms be offered to favored
constituents, favored industries, or even favored
regions? Our prosperity has never been based on the
political allocation of credit -- until now.
Which brings me to the Pay for Performance Act,
just passed by the House. This is an outstanding
example of class warfare. I'm an Englishman. We
invented class warfare, and I know it when I see it.
This legislation allows the administration to
dictate pay for anyone working in any company that
takes a dime of TARP money. This is a whip with
which to thrash the unpopular bankers, a tool to
advance the Obama administration's goal of
controlling the financial system.
After 35 years in America, I never thought I
would see this. I still can't quite believe we will
sit by as this crisis is used to hand control of our
economy over to government. But here we are, on the
brink. Clearly, I have been naive.
Mr. Varney is a host on the Fox Business
Network.
Reprinted from The Wall Street Journal © 2009
Dow
Jones & Company. All rights reserved.”
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