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Obama is proving that some of the change he wants is to replace our market-driven economy, with one in which business decisions are made by the government and forced by law on we, the people. He wants greatly increased government control over health care, education, and energy. And here's the latest example:
Administration seeks increase in oversight of executive pay
WASHINGTON: The Obama administration will call for increased oversight of executive pay at all banks, Wall Street firms and possibly other companies as part of a sweeping plan to overhaul financial regulation, government officials said.
Obama wants the government to control executive pay at all these financial firms. This kind of central planning of business decisions, controlled by the state, is called a "Planned Economy." From Wikipedia:
A planned economy or directed economy is an economic system in which the government or workers' councils manages the economy. It is an economic system in which the central government makes all decisions on the production and consumption of goods and services. Its most extensive form is referred to as a command economy, centrally planned economy, or command and control economy. In such economies, central economic planning by the state or government is so extensive that it controls all major sectors of the economy and formulates all decisions about their use and about the distribution of income. The planners decide what should be produced and direct enterprises to produce those goods. Planned economies are in contrast to unplanned economies, such as a market economy, where production, distribution, pricing, and investment decisions are made by the private owners of the factors of production based upon their own and their customers' interests rather than upon furthering some overarching macroeconomic plan.
Want to know what countries have, or have had, "planned economies"?
Important planned economies that existed in the past include the economy of the Soviet Union, which was for a time the world's second-largest economy[citation needed], China during its Great Leap Forward, and India, prior to its economic reforms in 1991, Afghanistan under the Soviet occupation and under the Taliban, and Iraq under Saddam Hussein from 1979 to 2003. ...Although most economies today are market economies or mixed economies (which are partially planned), planned economies exist in some countries such as Cuba, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Iran, North Korea, and Burma.
Yeah, baby! Let's turn the United States' economy into one like those of the Soviet Union, China, Afghanistan, Cuba, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and North Korea!
Frankly, that's change that nobody can believe in.
But that's what Obama is going for.
Update 3-24-09:
From the Washington Post:
U.S. Seeks Expanded Power to Seize Firms
The Obama administration is considering asking Congress to give the Treasury secretary unprecedented powers to initiate the seizure of non-bank financial companies, such as large insurers, investment firms and hedge funds, whose collapse would damage the broader economy, according to an administration document.
Here's a proposed open letter to Congress:
Dear Congress,
Take a deep breath. Calm down.
You passed the $787-billion stimulus bill without even reading it in the hopes that it would fix the economy. We know, you were in a hurry to try to do something, but we can all see now that it didn't work. The banks still are afraid to make loans, the stock market is still in the tank, and unemployment hasn't dropped - but the risk of inflation is now dangerously high.
As you move with increasing speed, you are passing bills not only without reading them, but also without even thinking about the consequences. Because you are worried about the AIG bonuses, the House just passed a bill that would:
...impose a 90% levy on bonuses paid to workers whose household incomes top $250,000 by firms that received more than $5 billion under the government's financial rescue package. That would encompass much of Wall Street, including such marquee-name firms as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
What you're not realizing is that this would be a massive attack on the entire U.S. financial industry - the very industry you are trying to protect.
...alarm spread across Wall Street that the government's sudden taxation fervor could ensnare thousands of workers and affect every major financial firm.
Although the fast-moving legislative campaign was born of frustration with the bonuses paid to workers at ailing American International Group Inc., employees at comparatively healthy investment banks fretted about the steep tax hikes they could face if the legislation became law.
It's clear now that you are acting hysterical. It's easy to fix that. Just take a deep breath. Calm down. Take your time. Read the bills before you vote on them. Give the American people time to read the bills and discuss them before you vote on them. Promote free and open debate, because that will help you identify the strengths and weaknesses of the bills you are considering. Find the bills that will make our country safe, add jobs, and responsibly address the financial dangers our country is in.
Just. Calm. Down.
Sincerely,
The American People
From Ramirez:
Last October I observed that Obama's actual policies were opposed to his stated goals:
...leaders who announce their support for an innovative and popular goal are often trusted to provide means that can reasonably be expected to achieve that goal. A popular and innovative goal, provides the leader with a glamor, that blinds many people to any consideration of whether the means provided are in fact suitable to achieving the goal.
...It is therefore essential in all cases to examine the means provided by a leader to see if they in fact are suitable to the purpose of achieving the stated goal.
We can call this approach the Matrushka Doll analysis, following the nesting Russian "Matrushka" doll shown on the poster for the Museum of Communism, since what matters in this analysis is not what's on the outside, i.e. the stated goal, but what's on the inside, i.e. the actions to be actually taken, hopefully in pursuit of that goal.
Which brings us to Obama. His stated goal is "hope and change." The goal is innovative and popular and has in part earned him the nomination of his party. It is therefore essential to examine the means he has provided for achieving this goal, to see if the means are suitable to the purpose of achieving the goal.
Here is a Matrushka Doll Analysis for Obama - a review of a number of the programs Obama supports on two of the issues that are of the most importance to American voters: the economy, and national security.
[...]
...The policies of Barack Obama reviewed here are not suitable for achieving his stated goal of "hope and change." They would bring about changes, but the changes would reduce, rather than increase, the hope of Americans for a more successful future. Instead of increasing Americans' hope for a more successful future, Obama's policies would have harmful consequences:
- His opposition to oil drilling would continue to strangle our economy with high oil prices.
- His support for the so-called"Global Poverty Act" would transfer close to a trillion dollars over 15 years away from U.S. taxpayers and into the hands of the corrupt U.N.
- His plans for vastly increasing U.S. government control over the decision-making of U.S. companies would paralyze U.S. business decision-making.
- His proposed near-trillion-dollar increase in U.S. government spending would lead to higher taxes and increase the power of the government over U.S. citizens.
- His insistence on reducing U.S. military power would reduce our ability to defend our nation.
- His proposed "civilian national security force" would reduce money available for our military to use for defense of our nation, and would vastly increase government control over U.S. citizens.
- His insistence on ending the war in Iraq without victory would turn our soldiers' achievements into defeat.
Obama is in the tradition of leaders who benefit from the glamor of an innovative and popular goal, which blinds many people to the nature of the policies they propose. As the above examination shows, Obama's policies are not suitable to achieving his stated goal of "hope and change." Instead, his policies would have harmful effects on the nation.
Today, with the horrifying, market-killing experience of Obama's first six weeks in office as established history, Charles Krauthammer makes the nearly identical observation:
Deception at Core of Obama Plans
...The markets' recent precipitous decline is a reaction not just to the absence of any plausible bank rescue plan, but also to the suspicion that Obama sees the continuing financial crisis as usefully creating the psychological conditions -- the sense of crisis bordering on fear-itself panic -- for enacting his "Big Bang" agenda to federalize and/or socialize health care, education and energy, the commanding heights of post-industrial society.
Clever politics, but intellectually dishonest to the core. Health, education and energy -- worthy and weighty as they may be -- are not the cause of our financial collapse. And they are not the cure. The fraudulent claim that they are both cause and cure is the rhetorical device by which an ambitious president intends to enact the most radical agenda of social transformation seen in our lifetime.
Obama's stated goals are nothing more than a deception. His policies pursue an agenda which is unrelated to his stated goals. The result so far is massive damage to our economy and markets.
Update 3-10-09:
From Newsweek:
Presidential Double-Talk
Uncertainty (too much) and confidence (too little) define this crisis. Investors have surely noted the gap between Obama's rhetoric and his actions.
From Bloomberg:
‘Manchurian Candidate’ Starts War on Business
Update 3-11-09:
From McClatchy Newspapers via Yahoo News:
Obama decries earmarks, signs law with 9,000 of them
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