A Moment’s Reflection
4/9/2009
For those of us who consider it our duty or even our career to defend traditional liberties from ever-growing government, I would like us to reflect a moment on what just happened in the last 8 months. In the global battle of ideas over the proper size of the State, the American libertarians just lost the capital city.
Some cynics might argue that our times are nothing new, and that Washington, D.C. had been captured by collectivist ideas long ago. In a sense, that is true. And yet I think it is an ominous sign when European politicians balk at the massive “stimulus” spending proposed by the American government.
Besides the massive increase in debt, the government’s response to this financial crisis has been qualitatively different from previous recessions. To take just one example, the Federal Reserve chairman has demonstrated that he has the ability to grant literally trillions of dollars to any businesses he chooses. Congress was so befuddled, it couldn’t even get Bernanke to tell them who the recipients of the money were.
Harold
