Nine months into his first year in office as president, George Bush presided over an effort to use a calamity to grab more power. Whatever else his response to the 9/11 attacks on the USA was, the Patriot Act and other such measures were surely part of an expansion of the power the White House wields.
Now it appears history is in the process of repeating itself. A calamity on Wall St. has provided President Bush with an opportunity of grabbing more power for the executive branch of government, all in the name of a bailout that will save America's financial markets from ruin.
This most recent move comes in the last three months of the Bush presidency.
If the Democrats question or resist Bush's newest plans -- which some might see as corporate welfare -- it seems that once again they will be branded by the White House as unpatriotic, or the players of partisan politics.
Will Democrats cave in yet again? Will Sen. Barack Obama fall for the ruse? Will Obama be cowed by White House bluster, or will he lower the boom on Bush and McCain at Friday's debate?
Stay tuned...
Since 1985, in various formats, SLANT -- an independent voice based in Richmond's Fan District -- has offered its readers original commentary on politics and popular culture, including cartoons and selected sundries. Warning: Sometimes that means satirical content. All rights are reserved.
4 comments:
Too bad the Republicrats did not impeach like the Greens have been suggesting for last 6 years.
Scott,
If it could have been done two years ago, I would have had more enthusiasm for such a move.
What is called for now is for honest legislators to ask the questions and resist the effort to stampede congress into compliance.
Paulson made hundreds of millions at Goldman Sachs. Who will he bailout? This is corporate welfare of the worst kind. Send a message using the link:
http://votenobailout.org/
This is looking more and more like the run-up to Iraq every day. The role of Colin Powell is played by Secretary Paulson, giant disaster if we don't act right now, tons of pressure from public opinion...
This time, however, the consensus is forming that this bailout is a disaster bigger than anything we've seen so far, and won't stop anything worse in the future.
I predict that Member who votes for this thing as is, will lose his or her seat in November.
It's a disaster.
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