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Officer, Arrest That President!
American Thinker
Daren Jonescu
2/1/2013
Excerpt:
President Obama has cast the widest possible net for criminality in the financial realm, a net that he might come to regret, as he himself falls easily within its coverage. Indeed, according to the reasoning offered by this most famous president of the Harvard Law Review, he may, by a Sophoclean twist of fate, turn out to be the great criminal he has set out to find.
Obama used his weekly radio address of January 26 to introduce Mary Jo White as his new chairwoman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. In that context, he repeatedly described the focus of his and the SEC's attention as "irresponsible behavior" in the economic realm. Back when America was dreamily described as "a government of laws, and not of men," one might have sounded an alarm at a president presuming to criminalize anything so vague as "irresponsible behavior."
These days, when only a fool would imagine such quaint niceties are relevant any longer, we may dispense with the formality of questioning the president's authority to criminalize "irresponsibility," and head straight for the real heart of the matter: what kind of "behavior" is he hoping to demonize this week, in the name of justifying sweeping new federal powers?
In case you are a communist apparatchik, an apologist for tyranny, a good old-fashioned bootlicking coward, or better yet all three -- a journalist -- please allow me to anticipate your scoffing reply, and to answer it: Of course genuine criminal behavior may correctly be described as "irresponsible," thus falling within the purview of the Dear Leader's new catchphrase. So, however, may a lot of other activities that are not (yet) treated as criminal matters: drinking too much coffee, staying up late on a school night, and playing on the beach until you get a sunburn, for example.
Here are a few other "irresponsible behaviors" that, to my knowledge, no one in Washington is proposing to criminalize as yet: boasting of having used cocaine and marijuana heavily during one's student days, lying about one's country of birth in one's literary agency bio, appointing well-known communists to important positions in the U.S. government, allowing a U.S. diplomatic mission to suffer through a deadly seven hour terrorist attack without making an effort to save them, stoking hatred of "the rich," and pandering to the Muslim Brotherhood.
I could go on with this, but why bother? Let us return to the main question: what is the president hoping to demonize this week, in the name of justifying sweeping new federal powers?
Happily, Obama was, by his standards, remarkably clear about his meaning during his radio address.
So you see, it's all very straightforward. The kind of "irresponsible behavior" Obama is "going after" -- the kind that demands more "commonsense rules" and "cops on the beat" who have experience "cracking down" on "mobsters and terrorists" -- is behavior that risks bringing "our economy to its knees." It is the kind of behavior that "undermines" those "businesses and individuals" who "do the right thing."
As for specific goals, Obama, once again, outdoes himself in clarity. The purpose of cracking down on these mobsters and terrorists of the financial industry is "to end taxpayer-funded bailouts."
With such a succinct presentation of the administration's aims, I think Americans ought to be prepared to help the Great Man crack down on "irresponsible behavior" that undermines The People's Economy, in hopes of ending "taxpayer-funded bailouts."
In the name of being helpful, may I suggest a few "commonsense rules" that, if enforced by some "cops on the beat," might satisfy the president's intentions:
(1) No person with political authority may use that authority to impose upon the people any "taxpayer-funded bailouts" of corporations or industries. After all, no industry or business can avail itself of tax money without the advocacy, votes, and signatures of elected politicians. Therefore, no regulations designed to end bailouts can be effective unless they address the actual source of such bailouts. Politicians who vote for bailouts: to the stockade!
(2) No one, having inherited stewardship of a nation laboring under an economy-threatening $10 trillion debt may impose spending increases which enlarge that debt to an economy-dooming $16 trillion. If this is not the definitive case of "irresponsible behavior" that threatens to "bring the economy to its knees," I don't know what is. Trillion dollar a year deficit spenders: bread and water!
(3) .....................................
View the complete article at:
http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/...president.html
American Thinker
Daren Jonescu
2/1/2013
Excerpt:
President Obama has cast the widest possible net for criminality in the financial realm, a net that he might come to regret, as he himself falls easily within its coverage. Indeed, according to the reasoning offered by this most famous president of the Harvard Law Review, he may, by a Sophoclean twist of fate, turn out to be the great criminal he has set out to find.
Obama used his weekly radio address of January 26 to introduce Mary Jo White as his new chairwoman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. In that context, he repeatedly described the focus of his and the SEC's attention as "irresponsible behavior" in the economic realm. Back when America was dreamily described as "a government of laws, and not of men," one might have sounded an alarm at a president presuming to criminalize anything so vague as "irresponsible behavior."
These days, when only a fool would imagine such quaint niceties are relevant any longer, we may dispense with the formality of questioning the president's authority to criminalize "irresponsibility," and head straight for the real heart of the matter: what kind of "behavior" is he hoping to demonize this week, in the name of justifying sweeping new federal powers?
In case you are a communist apparatchik, an apologist for tyranny, a good old-fashioned bootlicking coward, or better yet all three -- a journalist -- please allow me to anticipate your scoffing reply, and to answer it: Of course genuine criminal behavior may correctly be described as "irresponsible," thus falling within the purview of the Dear Leader's new catchphrase. So, however, may a lot of other activities that are not (yet) treated as criminal matters: drinking too much coffee, staying up late on a school night, and playing on the beach until you get a sunburn, for example.
Here are a few other "irresponsible behaviors" that, to my knowledge, no one in Washington is proposing to criminalize as yet: boasting of having used cocaine and marijuana heavily during one's student days, lying about one's country of birth in one's literary agency bio, appointing well-known communists to important positions in the U.S. government, allowing a U.S. diplomatic mission to suffer through a deadly seven hour terrorist attack without making an effort to save them, stoking hatred of "the rich," and pandering to the Muslim Brotherhood.
I could go on with this, but why bother? Let us return to the main question: what is the president hoping to demonize this week, in the name of justifying sweeping new federal powers?
Happily, Obama was, by his standards, remarkably clear about his meaning during his radio address.
[T]he free market works best for everyone when we have smart, commonsense rules in place to prevent irresponsible behavior. That's why we passed tough reforms to protect consumers and our financial system from the kind of abuse that nearly brought our economy to its knees. And that's why we've taken steps to end taxpayer-funded bailouts, and make sure businesses and individuals who do the right thing aren't undermined by those who don't.
But it's not enough to change the law -- we also need cops on the beat to enforce the law....
Mary Jo White has decades of experience cracking down on white-collar criminals and bringing mobsters and terrorists to justice. At the SEC, she will help complete the task of reforming Wall Street and keep going after irresponsible behavior in the financial industry so that taxpayers don't pay the price.
But it's not enough to change the law -- we also need cops on the beat to enforce the law....
Mary Jo White has decades of experience cracking down on white-collar criminals and bringing mobsters and terrorists to justice. At the SEC, she will help complete the task of reforming Wall Street and keep going after irresponsible behavior in the financial industry so that taxpayers don't pay the price.
So you see, it's all very straightforward. The kind of "irresponsible behavior" Obama is "going after" -- the kind that demands more "commonsense rules" and "cops on the beat" who have experience "cracking down" on "mobsters and terrorists" -- is behavior that risks bringing "our economy to its knees." It is the kind of behavior that "undermines" those "businesses and individuals" who "do the right thing."
As for specific goals, Obama, once again, outdoes himself in clarity. The purpose of cracking down on these mobsters and terrorists of the financial industry is "to end taxpayer-funded bailouts."
With such a succinct presentation of the administration's aims, I think Americans ought to be prepared to help the Great Man crack down on "irresponsible behavior" that undermines The People's Economy, in hopes of ending "taxpayer-funded bailouts."
In the name of being helpful, may I suggest a few "commonsense rules" that, if enforced by some "cops on the beat," might satisfy the president's intentions:
(1) No person with political authority may use that authority to impose upon the people any "taxpayer-funded bailouts" of corporations or industries. After all, no industry or business can avail itself of tax money without the advocacy, votes, and signatures of elected politicians. Therefore, no regulations designed to end bailouts can be effective unless they address the actual source of such bailouts. Politicians who vote for bailouts: to the stockade!
(2) No one, having inherited stewardship of a nation laboring under an economy-threatening $10 trillion debt may impose spending increases which enlarge that debt to an economy-dooming $16 trillion. If this is not the definitive case of "irresponsible behavior" that threatens to "bring the economy to its knees," I don't know what is. Trillion dollar a year deficit spenders: bread and water!
(3) .....................................
View the complete article at:
http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/...president.html