Section 8

Yesterday I posted an unedited version of The Treasury’s proposed legislation. Let’s pause and re-read once again section 8:

"Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency."

Now admittedly this should be changed as the bill goes through congress in the next couple days. (If it isn’t we can all abandon hope.) The fact that this was the Treasury’s starting position; however, which is soviet polit-bureau-esque, betrays a level of desperation that is not healthy.

The idea that the American government would even consider creating a post with absolutely no checks or balances is ludicrous. Even the president can be impeached or out voted, judges removed, legislators vetoed, but now the treasury secretary would sit above all of that? Limited only by his discretion? This bill would put Hank Paulson on a cloud, with a tope coloured cotton toga, throwing lightning bolts of money at the ground while scared financial peasents go running for their hovels.

As it stands this bill is simply unconstitutional.

Place this latest movement in the bigger picture. This bill is just another thundercrack in the statist’s storm. No matter who gets elected in November their will be no chance of even the most palatable conservative principals being championed. Government ownership and involvement in the private sector of the United States will exceed that of Britain, and might even be comparable to Putin’s Russia.

Look at what the government has done in the last week: Socialized the insurance business, socialized the housing market, assumed leadership and control of the financial markets. This is on top of already massive socialized spending (1 out of 6 tax dollars by some estimates) on health. This is the legacy of the "conservative" Bush administration?

Margaret Thatcher once said that the facts of life are conservative, but these days it looks more like the facts of life are big federal governments calling the shots through high powered state departments, and the people better hope that their leaders are benevolent and wise.

Scholars will be looking at what’s happened here for years asking themselves: How is it that with so much legislative and executive power over the last forty years has the conservative movement led the country so far down the path of socialism? Maybe it is part of an unavoidable progression. Maybe it's a good thing, maybe its not. Who knows? The point is despite all this talk about an unstoppable Republican Machine, it is the Paul Krugmans of the world whose economic vision is being implemented on a massive scale.

Nobody is going to tell Americans how they should run their country and nobody knows who will be running it come November fourth. The attraction of this election is it is the foment of a radically new ideological direction for the United States. Articulating just which is struggling with what and who with whom will be the trick.