Can I kick it? No, you can't.

The Financial Patriot Act

Here we go again.

The earth has shaken, confidence is shattered, and once again, brave people are entreating their hated government to "do anything you have to, but SAVE US!"

In September of 2001, terrorists wreaked a cataclysmic event, killing in one day as many Americans as die on US roads in one month. The nation, unable to keep its perspective, lost its mind, and begged to be saved at any cost.

Six weeks later, George W. Bush signed the so-called USA Patriot Act, quite likely the single worst piece of legislation ever excreted by American politicians. This act gave the government unprecedented and unconstitutional powers to spy on American citizens without judicial approval, and brought us ethically to a level with third-rate authoritarian regimes throughout history.

Fast-forward to 2008. The Treasury Secretary, after telling us for 18 months a story about national fiscal strength, has decreed in light of recent titanic failures on Wall Street, that the American people need to give him $700 billion dollars to bail out a culture of carrion-eating scum that have left the economy teetering on the brink of collapse.

Do anything you have to do, BUT SAVE US!

Secretary Paulson has asked not just for $700 billion dollars, which is kind of a ballsy move all by itself. He also insists there be no oversight, be it legislative or judicial, and no consequences should everything fall apart. There should also be no limits on executive pay because that might discourage companies from selling their debt to the Treasury.

The American taxpayer has to be nice to the greediest scum in the history of the planet, or they won't sell us their debt.

Let them opt out. Let us further add in provisions to recover executive bonuses totaling into the billions. Let's treat them like drug traffickers, and confiscate what has been purchased with these obscene payouts.

"No time!" the smart people say. "That's pre-9/14 thinking, before Lehman Brothers fell like the twin towers. Do what we tell you, we'll handle the details, just keep being the most productive workers on the planet, and try not to think about it."

Unlike the Patriot Act, I want some people to read this thing before it's enacted, and I want them to fix the parts of it that are fouled up, including the parts that make failure highly profitable. Then add what's necessary, and make sure there is oversight from all three branches. If a plan can't be crafted to allow all of this, then just let the damned thing crash, because there isn't any point in trying to save a system that can't be overseen by a legally elected government.

This isn't going to be easy. It shouldn't be easy. If everyone doesn't feel some pain on this one, no one is going to learn a thing.

Monday, September 22, 2008