Governmental Bounds

I was recently asked to read and perhaps review the book, End the Fed, by Ron Paul. I was reading several other things at the same time, and unfortunately, I had to return them all to the library before finishing them, because they were either due or past due already. Why, oh why, can't I just read one thing at a time and actually finish it!) Sorry, Laura, you won't get your review at this point, but I'll put myself back on the hold list and maybe try again in a month or so.

But, Rep. Paul's main theme is that the Federal Reserve has become this behemoth government agency with immense power and little or no oversight, having authority over the national and even world money supply and therefore economies. Since I didn't finish the book and am not, myself a Ron Paul follower, I can't say any more than that about Rep. Paul's ideas. But the history of the Fed that he drew and the powers he ascribed to them, if true, are certainly pervasive and invasive, and should be anathema to freedom loving Americans.

Juxtapose that general direction of thought, with all due respect, with the following clip of former Pres George W. Bush.



I loved many things about Pres. Bush. I loved his moral stance. I loved how he strongly stood on many issues in the face of constant, often hypocritical attacks by the mainstream media. But there were few issues with which I generally disagreed with him. My primary disagreement with him would probably be his use of the phrase "compassionate conservative" as if conservatism without the qualifier is not compassionate. (If only we conservatives had a point man who could articulate how conservatism is, indeed compassionate already, that would be much better.)

Another thing with which I disagreed with Pres Bush was on his dumping money into public education and at the same time increasing federal involvement with state and local education mandates. Keep your money and get your hands off our kids.

And the third main point of contention I have with Pres Bush is that "save the world" TARP bill they pushed through in the fall of 2008. Grr. The video clip above does not assuage my frustration. I've seen this video touted as "Bush warns against government intervention." or similar titles around the web today. But if it were a true warning, wouldn't Pres. Bush have said something about how the TARP bill didn't seem to do what they had hoped. He pretty much seems to be saying that it's OK to interfere, but only in a limited way. Once the attitude is acceptable, of government stepping in during times of crisis, the door is opened for anything. Each executive will define "crisis" or "emergency" or "limited" differently to suit their own goals and ideals.

And I fear that Pres. Obama's definitions are being shown to be much different from those of Pres. Bush.