The Conservative Edge

President Obama recently hammered the executives of the largest banks/financial institutions, calling them “fat cats” who should stop taking advantage of the American people. It wasn’t enough that Obama appointed a “pay czar” that gets to decide how much corporate executives can earn. Now Obama is calling them names, just to rub some salt into the wounds.

In truth, there are a lot of people who despise the rich bank executives. And it is equally true that many banks have oppressive fees and other regulations. Some mistrust of banking operations is to be expected. However, the American people should be just as upset with the growing size of the federal government and the earnings of government workers.

The USA Today just released its study of federal government pay data. The results show that, during the first year and a half of the economic downturn, six-figure salaries jumped from 14% of all civil servants to 19%. Additionally, in the same time frame, the Transportation Department went from having one employee making at least $170,000 to having 1,690 people earning that amount. This means that those 1,690 people in that department earn at least 287 million dollars. God only knows what the payout is for all of the people employed at the Transportation Department.

The liberals supposedly have such care and compassion for the Average Joe. But it is hypocritical for the Obama administration, and Democratic leaders in the House and Senate, to publicly skewer private sector executives for their pay scales, while government workers get larger salaries. This kind of growth in government is the last thing we need in recessionary times.

I wonder how many bankers it would take to earn $287,000,000?

Every once in a while, you read or hear something that goes beyond interesting, and instead either moves you to tears or to action. I recently had the privilege of reading a column written by Thomas Sowell, and published in the November 2 edition of the IBD newspaper. His essay stirred my conscious, but I also felt validated in a way, because I have written several times previously about the danger the current President (and his cohorts) can inflict on our great country.

I wish not to try and quote Sowell word for word. I think each reader of this post should follow the link above and read his column in its entirety. However, I will briefly summarize the main points of the column:

1. An unelected government official has been appointed by the President, with authority to cut the pay of private business executives.
2. A media “czar” may be appointed to subsidize (seize) media outlets, to provide the government with the authority to silence talk radio.
3. President Obama has spoken of creating a national police force.
4. A panel of “experts” may soon decide who gets life-saving medical treatments.
5. Look at the kinds of people Obama has been associated with, and who he keeps putting in positions of power—individuals who flatly reject American values.
6. Obama and the Democratic nest of vipers have tried to force two landmark bills through Congress. Both of them were more than 1,000 pages long, and neither of them were made available for public scrutiny.
7. This administration is showing a dangerous tendency to be nice to foreign thugs, yet ruthless toward American society.

It is amazing that many Americans are still infatuated with the Pied Piper of “Hope” and “Change.” It is inconceivable that people still send the likes of Pelosi, Reid, Schumer, Rangel, and others to Washington time after time. They are the ones sending this country down the road of destruction. We can no longer blame the previous administration for America’s growing maladies.