Most of us live in a world where constraints imposed by our income, our status and our acceptance of our limitations temper our arrogance and our pride. We recognize that sometimes we don’t get what we want and often have no recourse because we must operate within the confines of the law, decency and respect for the rights of others.
But there are politicians today who enjoy the freedom that one-party control over all three branches of government, a compliant press and an unfocused public allows. Feeling no constraints, they see no power greater than their own. This is to be expected when people get to write their own checks. It is human nature to grow bolder as your opposition weakens.
A perfect example of this is the pending legislation meant to single out people who received bonuses from AIG, the company that received billions in government bailout money. Left-wing politicians, with suspicious righteous indignation, are shocked that in these lean times bonuses are being paid, arguably from taxpayer money.
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Never mind the fact that these bonuses were negotiated before the bailout, or that these same politicians did not place restrictions on the use of the money, or that there is no constitutionally granted power for the Congress to use the legislative branch of the government to get even with those whose actions they disapprove of. They will not be ignored.
If you unconditionally gave money to a neighbor because he was struggling financially, and that neighbor spent that money on a lavish vacation and a flat screen TV, you would have no right to complain. But Congress feels it has the power not only to bestow gifts, but to retain ownership of the gifted funds to the extent that it can determine how the recipient must spend the money.
These congressmen were faced with a situation where something in the private sector was happening they didn’t like. Their solution: Bring the full force of government against these offenders. They could have said it’s none of their business; they could have said that the Constitution does not empower politicians to satisfy their egos; they could have said that they should have paid closer attention when writing the law; they could have said that in order for capitalism to work, the government must not control the business decisions in the private sector. But they said none of these things. Instead they demanded satisfaction by threatening the recipients of the bonuses. They admonished them to voluntarily return the bonuses under the threat of having their names dragged through the media mud.
Now, in a matter of a few days, the House has passed legislation targeting these AIG people that stand accused of having a lack of respect for authority.
Think of all of the worthwhile legislation we have been waiting decades for action on, and then notice how when they want to, Congress can pass a bill quicker than three people can decide what toppings to order on a pizza.
If the government decided that the latest blockbuster movie was making too much money, does it have the right to write a special tax law to seize those funds? What about if the government decided that plumbers were overcharging? Could it write a law to limit plumbers’ income? If you say no, then you see the road we are heading down.
What if your boss gave you a bonus and the next day some politician announced that you didn’t deserve that money and he was going to write a law that was specifically designed to seize that undeserved cash? I submit that you would be outraged, and you would rightly claim that the government has no business and no right to interfere with your legal employment negotiations. You should feel the same outrage at this travesty.
Members of Congress behave in this manner because they feel no challenge to their power and no threat to their re-elections. Humility is nowhere to be found. They say they are reacting to public outrage, but it is they who are outraged that their will has not been done. After all of the hundreds of billions thrown around in the last few months, now they expect us to believe that they are beside themselves over the misuse of a couple of hundred million dollars?
We can’t expect these politicians to regulate themselves, just as our bosses shouldn’t trust us to structure our own pay.
With recent election victories, the left feels that it has a mandate to control this country as it sees fit. They demand dominion over ever-increasing parts of our economy.
It’s time to check this juggernaut. Those who believe in limited government must work to pressure the press to be more adversarial, and we must work to elect politicians who feel constrained by the Constitution.
Chris Bell is a freelance writer who lives in Michigan. His work can be seen on WorldNetDaily, the Intellectual Conservative and the Christian Science Monitor.
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