Do you admire a bank that has the most branches, the company that sells the most widgets, or the largest pizza chain in the world? Ah! To be the biggest! I actually don’t like the biggest in anything. I like the small, individually owned restaurant, the individually owned bank with a five star rating, and the smallest of anything, which is usually privately owned, and is anxious to serve. But this is about the biggest in America, not the smallest.
The largest employer in America, is the federal government, and the numbers are growing by the hour. As of a few days ago, the number was 1.8 million. Even GM at its height, only employed 1.7 million. As the 1.8 million federal employee numbers grow, the private, for profit industry payrolls go down. As the for profit industry employment declines, fewer taxes are paid by private industry employees. States, cities, towns, and counties are going bankrupt as tax collections diminish. As property values plummet, thanks to the federal government’s actions, layoffs by the thousands, and extreme hardship reigns over the land. Words writ cannot adequately express my deep sorrow and outrage, as government grows like Topsy, and commits one outrage after the other. Hundreds of fed employees are raiding people’s homes if they own Indian artifacts, just as a current example.
In my small town, there are 150 phone listings for the federal government. A southern university figured that there are 1300 separate federal bureaucracies as of 2007, but I am sure it’s higher now. Obama is creating new bureaucracy after new bureaucracy, as fast a hen lays an egg, or more often maybe. Regulations and more regulations, because you see, we are too stupid to regulate ourselves. Look at the total meltdown we are experiencing, and see why it all happened. Is it GM or Ford’s fault that they are in trouble? Is it home builders’ fault that they overbuilt, have gone bust, and laid off hundreds of thousands? Whose fault is it that mass layoffs, mass bankruptcies, mass foreclosures, and problems exist in every sector of the economy? Is it the Union Pacific’s fault that they have laid off tens of thousands, and have locomotives, and tens of thousands of freight cars idle? Did they do something wrong? It is not any of their faults.
The federal government, and the Federal Reserve, at the urging of Democrat Congressmen as well as Republican and Democrat Presidents, did everything in their power to literally throw hundreds of billions of dollars into the economy. Money was so cheap and plentiful, that as Ludwig von Mises said, as he described economics, “People Act.” People did act. They built houses, and sold them to unqualified people who were given money to buy. Government backed agencies like Fanny and Freddy accepted shoddy credit ratings from buyers, and forked over money by the bucketsful. Appraisers got into the act, as did mortgage brokers, who made a lot of dollars qualifying unqualified buyers. No one seemed to be checking credit ratings or employment status. It was a big, gigantic party. Housing’s crash, and subsequent crash of everything else, was the direct fault of Uncle Sam and his Federal Reserve, Fanny Mae, and Freddie Mac. When housing crashed, as it had to crash, it took the rest of the economy with it.
Now, the outfit that caused this, is the largest employer in America, and is growing like a weed in a cabbage patch in July. The outfit that caused this, due to utter greed and stupidity, is now going to run auto manufacturing, banks, cigarettes and insurance? They are going to give us health, and see to it that the banks or financial institutions don’t make any more mistakes? The mistakes made, were as a result of the Fed literally spewing money into the economy with no limits. People acted like everyone would, when things are cheap or almost free. They indulged. They bought and spent with no limits. As von Mises said, “People Act.” Act they did, thanks to seeming limitless dollars being thrown around. The entire crash happened because of the housing glut, which had to crash. The economic collapse around the world, was caused by the Congress, two Presidents, and the Federal Reserve. It was not GM’s fault. It was not Citi’s fault. It was not AIG’s fault. It was the fault of the D.C. Gang, and now they are taking over the economy to run it correctly? They are hiring like there’s no tomorrow, and private employers are firing. Every week, another 600,000 apply for unemployment benefits. 608,000 this past week. I wonder how many go to D.C. for a job? Plenty are being offered.
It doesn’t require even a kindergarten education to realize that governments, at any level don’t do things well or economically. The larger the government, the worse it will perform. Now, the US government is the largest employer in the United States, and is hiring every hour and day. Obama, as I am writing this, will probably appoint a new ’czar’ of something or other, or take control of another industry. What can be the outcome of this? We have been bankrupt for decades, and now it is coming home to roost. A $2 trillion budget with half of that in receipts? Nationalizing the health industry? Controlling everything by edict and ’executive order?’ As the dollars fly off the presses, endless checks are written, and hoards hired, what can be the outcome?
The entire welfare system is being reorganized, so that practically everyone will get a check, it seems. There are no limits on handouts and subsidies for the unworthy, crooked, or stupid. Taxes will go heavenward as well, but the increases will never pay for the spending and re-distributing. As Voltaire said, “As for government, does not its art lie in taking as much money as possible from one group of citizens to give it to another?”
I’m just finishing a good new book by Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s morning show. It’s titled, “The Last Great Hope,” and you might enjoy it. His history is a bit off, but he’s a good writer, and has super suggestions for getting Republicans back in control. Not that Republicans are a gift from God either, but they, if they reformed, might offer some hope. The only hope I can offer is to protect yourself and get out of the big cities. Sorry, I think the process of self-immolation has gone so far, that it is probably unstoppable. When things are going well, few think it will ever stop. Fortunately, a few such as us, realize the inevitable, and are protecting ourselves…I hope.