Let's Get this Pig Off the Road!

The so-called “stimulus bill” represents nothing more than 20 years of pent-up Democratic spending lust. This is one of the most irresponsible pieces of legislation I’ve seen in my lifetime, and the distortions to our (heretofore relatively) free-market economy will guarantee sluggish growth for years to come, further eroding our savings, the value of our retirement funds and our ability to compete in a global market. It’s being sold as legislation that will do our country good, when it is really nothing more than an avaricious grab for taxpayer money that will enable Democratic politicians to do well (or so they think). One has to be blind not to see that if fiscal malfeasance created the serious problems we are now facing, then the solution can’t possibly be more fiscal malfeasance. Democrats are wolves who wish to insinuate themselves among the livestock under the guise of shepherds, and in the end, they will create a wasteland that will not even sustain themselves. To succeed in this, of course, they must of necessity hold themselves out as good stewards of the national patrimony, and cloak their motives under the gaudy imposture of patriotism.

The notorious 18th century English thief, Jonathan Wild, who managed a well-organized army of robbers, cutpurses and housebreakers, was eventually brought to trial and was hanged in 1725. Shortly before his execution, he penned a document - Jonathan Wild’s Advice to His Successor - which was intended as a guide for future aspirants to the heights of successful criminal enterprise, but is not without value as a model for the hypocritical politician. These lines seem particularly apt:

“The public good, which has ever been the mask of self-interest and private avarice, must be always on the tip of your tongue. This notable phrase is swallowed down by the multitude with great approbation, and they turn their eyes with reverence upon the man who only makes use of the mean external show of it. They cannot be made to think ill of the person whose favorite topic is the welfare of the country, notwithstanding his more secret intentions are upon the most selfish principles in nature; for who can imagine that he who constantly brawls forth his good sentiments, his esteem and affection for his fellow creatures, and is at every juncture wracking his brains for schemes and plans for their benefit should have any such principle as his own interest at heart?”*

The Democratic Party – A Whole Lot More Than You Bargained For.

(* From the book, Con Men and Cutpurses: Scenes from the Hogarthian Underworld, edited by Lucy Moore; Penguin Books, 2001)