X wrote on Feb 11
th, 2009 at 8:04am:
The government isn't selling anything...
Sure it does, both figuratively and literally. Did you listen to any of the campaign promises that were thrown about by both parties like candy? "Vote for me, and I'll lower taxes on the poor!" "Elect me and I'll fix healthcare!" "Choose me and I'll get the economy back on track!"
Politicians whore themselves out with promises, and occasionally they even fulfill those promises. That's why we have things like welfare, private industry bailouts, and my personal favorite - the Earned Income Credit.
I hate to admit it, but America
wants Socialism. The politicians promise it, and we elect them. We act surprised when they force it down our throats against our vocal opposition, but then we vote the same folks (or their identical twins) back into office.
The bailout is particularly troublesome. Opposition to the first bailout (TARP) was incredibly vocal, but the politicians passed the plan anyway. Now, the second bailout is twice as large and the opposition is much quieter. Why? We don't care. We've given up. The first time is an outrage, and second time is just "business as usual." The numbers are so incredibly large that we can't even fathom them. If $700 billion is okay, than $1.5 trillion is just another drop in the bucket, right?
-b0b
(...thinks America has a very short attention span.)