I live in Houston, Texas. All we have on the AM radio dial is right-wing radio. While 24 hours of the likes of Rush, Hannity and their ilk may seem a bit much (and it really can be at times) it also offers some great humor.
Exhibit number 1. After Obama's exchange with "Joe the Plumber" right wing pundits were accusing Obama of being a socialist or a Marxist. I found this to be incredibly funny in light of recent market events. Consider the following:
The Federal Reserve said Wednesday it had authorized a new 37.8-billion-dollar cash infusion into insurance giant AIG, which is under fire over a lavish spa retreat paid for by the company after its rescue by the government.
The newly nationalized company, saved from bankruptcy last month and propped up with increasing quantities of public money, has burned through the majority of its first line of credit of 85 billion dollars.
The US government is lending money directly to insurance companies.
Exhibit number 2:
Michigan Sen. Carl Levin said he may seek an additional $25 billion in loans for the auto industry before the end of the year, citing deteriorating economic conditions for Detroit's car makers.
Levin, D-Mich., said doubling the loan program to $50 billion would help automakers during a difficult period for the industry. Congress approved a $25 billion loan program last month, but credit markets have tightened since then and the companies have reported dismal sales figures.
Has anybody heard of a presidential veto on this? Nope.
Exhibit number three:
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson urged banks receiving $250 billion in capital injections from the government to use the funds to spur economic growth.
``We must restore confidence in our financial system,'' Paulson said at a press conference in Washington. ``The needs of our economy require that our financial institutions not take this new capital to hoard it, but to deploy it.''
With the equity purchases, Paulson is using more than a third of the $700 billion in government support Congress gave him the authority to use on Oct. 3. He didn't identify any of the lenders. People familiar with the plan said nine companies will get $125 billion: Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Wells Fargo & Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp., Merrill Lynch & Co., Morgan Stanley, State Street Corp. and Bank of New York Mellon Corp.
The US government is now in the bank ownership business.
In fact, the US government's involvement with private enterprise has never been more pronounced than over the last month or so. We've seen unprecedented direct involvement in the capital structure of one of the world's largest insurance companies, the nine largest US banks and the auto industry.
So, who's the socialist again?