Steven Collins
September 24, 2008
The previous blog re: the USA’s financial crisis warned about the dangers of giving too much power to one man: Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. The September 22, 2008 issue of USA Today reported that the bail-out plan would give Sec. Paulson such total powers that his decisions would be “non reviewable…by any court of law or any administrative agency.” In other words, Sec. Paulson is asking Congress to essentially make him a King with more power than the President, Supreme Court and Congress combined. Presidents and Judges can be impeached. Congress can be vetoed and its members voted out of office. Henry Paulson would be above “any court of law or administrative agency.”
Today I read a Newsweek magazine with its cover article entitled “King Henry.” I thought at first that the article would warn about the dangers of giving Sec. Paulson such dictatorial powers. I was wrong. The article was virtually a paean to the man. On p. 3, Newsweek acknowledged that Sec. Paulson “has emerged as the nation’s most powerful leader” [Sorry, President Bush!], and on p. 13, it added re: Sec. Paulson: “Hail to the real chief” (emphasis added.)The article on p. 22 gushingly declared that “America is extremely fortunate” that Sec. Paulson is about to be placed in charge of the nation. Forgive me if I don’t share the joy. Please read the first link below (a story from Fox News re: Sec. Paulson’s track record) before sharing Newsweek’s adulation of the man.
Sec. Paulson, the ex-CEO of Goldman Sachs and Treasury Secretary, is a consummate Wall Street/Washington insider. It is the Wall Street crowd and the lax regulators and chronically profligate government officials (elected and appointed) which caused this financial crisis! And we expect a Wall Street/Washington insider to solve the problem in behalf of the nation or taxpayers? Did anyone notice that the FBI is now investigating for fraud the Wall Street/financial tycoons (of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG, Lehman Brothers, etc.) who created this monstrous “house of financial cards” which is now teetering on the brink? And Congress will turn to a Wall Street/financial tycoon to “solve” the problem? Yeah, right.
A severe financial crisis is not “at hand,”‘ it is already upon us. Here’s how I see it. Wall Street and Congress are desperately trying to come up with a way to avoid having to “reap”‘ what they have “sown.” If Congress does nothing, the economy will likely collapse but we will still be the USA with our Constitution intact and Wall Street will “hold the bag” of toxic financial waste that it created. If Congress grants the bailout as proposed by Bernanke and Paulson, the economy will likely collapse somewhat later but the Constitution will be in the wastebasket, the USA as we know it will no longer exist and the taxpayers will end up “holding the bag” instead of Wall Street.
New facts have come out re: the bail-out plan which indicate that it would be the death-knell of the American dollar and America as we know it. The taxpayers are being asked to buy up all the toxic sub-prime mortgage bonds and many other debts (based on car loans, credit-card debt, etc.) at the original full-market value of these instruments which no one on Wall Street wants to buy! In other words, these things have no meaningful value any more. By analogy, the taxpayers are being asked to pay full price for a house that has already been burned to the ground! How could Congress be foolish enough to sucker for this proposal? By the way, foreign banks would also be bailed out if they have some kind of operation on US soil (which means all large foreign banks).
Thankfully, some voices of protest are being raised in Congress, on both sides of the aisle. Sen. Bunning (R-KY) denounced the bailout as “financial socialism,” Sen. Dodd (D-CT) feared for the Constitution and Sen. Mikulski (D-MD) warned about the “unprecedented, unfettered power” requested for Sec. Paulson. The September 24, 2008 issue of USA Today contained these statements and added that Congress “hammered at Paulson and Bernanke about the proposed expansion of Treasury’s powers while shielding it from legal challenges.” This refers to the provision of the plan which would put Paulson’s power above the courts and federal government agencies. The newspaper also adds that “lawmakers…have been bombarded with phone calls and emails from constituents outraged by the notion of giving Wall Street a $700 billion bailout to help make up for careless lending and investment practices…” If you have not done so yet, you still have time to call or email your state’s Senators and Congressional members to urge them to not give Sec. Paulson god-like authority over the USA. Congress may think that they are giving Sec. Paulson “an inch,” but he will likely “take a mile” if Congress grants him unrestrained authority over the entire nation. Sec. Paulson is asking for the kind of “absolute power” which Lord Acton’s famous axiom notes will “corrupt absolutely” anyone who receives such powers.
My previous blog noted that Sec. Paulson is actually asking to be empowered as the Receiver who will liquidate the USA’s assets to satisfy foreign creditors and rescue the Wall Street malefactors who created the problem. It remains to be seen what will happen, but I hope and pray Congress will not give Sec. Paulson such dictatorial powers. You might also add your prayers to that request, because the real fate of nations is in the hand of the Divine Creator who declared that all the nations are like “the fine dust of the balance” and “less than nothing” in his eyes (Isaiah 40:15-17). I suspect that the vast majority of this website’s readers [and the last website statistics I saw indicate there are a lot of you] are believers in the God of the Bible. You have the ability to go to the throne of the One who made the Universe and ask him to intervene to prevent the bankruptcy and destruction of our nation and the Constitution that he gave us, and to rescue us from the hands of those who would loot the nation to bail-out the bad actors who greedily pursued their own wealth at the expense of the nation. I suggest that you do so without delay.
The American financial mess is so great that Sen. McCain has declared the Presidential debates should be delayed so he and Sen. Obama can focus on their duties in Washington, DC. The last report I heard was that Sen. Obama intended to go to the debate room and “vote present” instead of attending full-time to the historic and intense deliberations in Washington, DC which will determine the future of this nation. Why debate about a Presidential election if Congress is making Sec. Paulson into “King Henry” who will be “above all courts and federal agencies.” If Sec. Paulson bamboozles Congress into making him “King Henry” over the USA, the President elected in November will little real power left by the time he takes office in January. It could be that serious.
Something has to be done to clean up the Wall Street-caused mess. If the economy collapses or seizes up, some kind of rescue plan will have to be undertaken, but the “Paulson as king” proposal is not the answer if we wish to continue the United States of America as a free nation. I urge you to not only contact your Congressional delegation (you only have a day or two to do so!), but also go to the Real King in prayer to guide the outcome favorably for our nation which, collectively,does not deserve his mercy any more. Although the nation has kicked God out of its schools and ignored his Word, there are many who still “fear God” in their personal lives. Genesis 18:16-33 confirms that God can be entreated to be merciful on the many for the sake of the few who are still righteous if he is asked. Let’s all ask him to extend such mercy to our nation for the sake of those who do fear him and serve him as best as they know how in their personal level of knowledge! The Congress will deliberate in a feverish pace to decide the outcome of this bailout plan. However, if enough people pray for it, a better outcome can be decreed by the God who made heaven and earth.
http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/economy/paulsons-track-record-strong-facts/
