The games politicos play

Oh, the games politicos play, sneaking through the back doors, throwing up smoke screens, searching for scapegoats.

The AIG bonuses are the most recent reminder of just how bad our government is skewed toward the special interests. They are so caught up in their ways, they cannot see the freight train of social justice heading straight toward them. Yes, Congress knew about the bonuses; yes, the lobbyists know how to distract those in power.

The almighty Sen. Chris Dodd made it clear during the last bailout round those evil bonuses were out of the question for anyone receiving taxpayer assistance. Lamentably, for Sen. Dodd, he could not keep his stories straight to the news media. This new predicament is beginning to look as bad as his sweetheart loan deal from Countrywide.

Perhaps the most looming fact of them all was Sen. Dodd being the top beneficiary of campaign donations from AIG, with President Obama close behind. Possibly, the voters of Connecticut will be intelligent enough to send Sen. Dodd packing in November of 2010. Hugo Chavez could probably best Sen. Dodd in a voter poll.

Many members of the dismal Congress had to admit they had not even read the bailout bills before they voted on them. So what we end up with is an ignorant Congress, bullying an innocent government-appointed CEO in Edward Liddy, making up excuses, and supporting a horrible knee-jerk piece of punitive tax legislation. (Not only does the legislation set a horrible precedent, but it also paralyzes private participation in solving the toxic asset problem.)

And while Congress is misbehaving, the Federal Reserve is pouring trillions of dollars into the economy, retracting their prediction of a late 2009 recovery, and praying we do not get walloped by the inflation hammer.

Meanwhile, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office acknowledged that President Obama’s strategy for curing our country’s ills could run up a $9.3 trillion deficit over the next decade.

The problem is worsened by the fact the Democrat-controlled Congress shows no signs of fiscal discipline (then again, neither did the Republican-controlled Congress), so expect that huge number to grow.

A listener of a satellite radio station called in an unusual solution that I cannot get out of my head. He suggested we take a couple billion dollars of our taxes out of the treasury and pay off Congress to add term limits to the Constitution, after which the current members resign in a staggered fashion over three years.

You have to imagine the lobbyists in Washington, D.C., created this multi-trillion dollar economic problem through Congress for a mere fraction of what the satellite radio listener suggests. Sadly, my faith in Congress has hit rock bottom, and buying them out is actually beginning to look appealing.

[Steve Brown is the former mayor of Peachtree City. He can be reached at stevebrownptc@ureach.com.]