Obama to cap CEO pay, fascism at our doorsteps?

Today has been a busy day in Washington, House caved in to the new president and voted to delay the digital TV conversion - that means hundreds of millions more in advertising and planning of the conversion. Amendments were flying left and right in the Senate in hopes of salvaging the spending...err stimulus bill and finally Obama announced the beginning of fascism.

Cleverly playing on the fears and anger of the American public, today Obama unveiled that all CEOs of companies that plan on receiving TARP money will be capped to $500,000 in pay while reminding the public that this is just the beginning! I am sure that instinctively most Americans will be delighted that the fat cats are being punished for their lavish spending while basking in tax payer money. In fact, yours truly impulsively felt a pang of vindication knowing that some justice finally arrived. Yet, it should not take you longer than 5 minutes to realize what a tragedy this truly has become.

You see, what made this country so great was a notion and a belief that the federal government's role is limited in scope and it's power should only be called upon in the event of local government's inability to act. While we have been slipping and sliding down this slippery slope of totalitarianism since the Great Depression, a violent lurch in the form of TARP was bestowed upon us. If one thing bothered you most about Bush's legacy, it should have been the unprecedented expansion of the federal government and the TARP was his cherry on top.

What started as a mere loan to companies that "HAD to be rescued" and were "too large to fail", a bill that was shoved down the Americans taxpayers throat under the guise of emergency (like all government expansions) has now become what it was truly intended to be. There is no free lunch in America and it's time to pay. If the government is in the business of keeping these companies alive, then it is in the business of dictating policy. The blurry line between corporate America and the federal government has now disappeared. Just a few decades ago, our politicians and economists mocked and laughed at Japan as they nationalized the banks - karma is a bitch.

This obviously raises the big moral question. Why shouldn't the CEOs be punished if they are using taxpayer money? Seems reasonable right? Well I will answer with a question. If the CEOs failed while operating with their OWN money, why would they succeed using YOUR money? Throw in some incentive destruction as proposed by Obama with a dash of rules and regulations and you got the makings of a Socialist stew. As we all know, when the government takes over what a private company once did, success is just around the corner. I am looking at you British auto industry and you Japanese banking system and you Soviet Union, Cuba, Argentina...*yawn* - boring.

If there is any hope in salvaging America, our companies must take drastic measure. Government will be a harpoon firmly lodged in your leg and they will try to reel you in. You must instead lay people off, freeze wages, do whatever it takes, but maintain your independence or we are all doomed. I understand that it is extremely difficult, when everyone is getting a handout the competitive advantage is erased. In fact, TARP artificially creates a situation where not taking the money becomes the stupid thing to do. This is the injustice that is the federal government, no forward thinking, no long-term fears - just short-term solutions and panic.

Let today be a warning sign not just to CEOs, but to every freedom loving American. Let today be the day when NOT relying on the government is a choice you are willing to make, because failure to do so will leave us with no choices at all.