It’s a rare occassion for a community to see a politician outside the election season.
However, we would also like to thank him for some of the things he had to say. Particularly, Pearce addressed the bank’s molestation of the American taxpayer and Congress’ role in the assault.
Pearce told Ruidoso residents, that he and his “camp” didn’t vote for any of the TARP bailouts. Additionally, he said something that has received little attention — the idea that somehow Americans had to kick in their hard earned dollars to rescue the free enterprise system.
“ I am not in favor of the bailouts and our camp voted against every one of them,” Pearce said. “I am a believer in the free market where you take a risk with the potential for reward. But all we did in the bailouts is said ‘you performed this risky behavior and we are not going to let you suffer the penalties.’
If they had suffered the penalties, those major corporations would have experienced tremendous losses and their stocks would go down. That’s the disciplining mechanism of the free market. Instead, what we did, is gave Wall Street billions; almost a trillion dollars to operate under the same failing mechanisms.”
That’s a rare retort from any politican. It’s particularly refreshing focoming from a member of the party that first forced the idea of, “too big to fail,” upon the American public.
Let us not forget, in this time of discussing the government’s headlong stumble toward socialism, it was President George W. Bush, who uttered those words. It was also Bush who sold the first bailout as a rescue for the free enterprise system.
Bush got it wrong. Pearce got it right. Giving money to failed businesses as a reward for failure is not a salvation for a free market economy. The failure of those businesses was in fact, capitalism in its finest hour.
The banks of our country made their own bed, yet averted the consequence of laying in it. Likewise, American auto makers should have seen when they shipped American jobs south of the border, they also were depriving themselves of the very people who had supported their companies with their dollars.
That’s how capitalism functions. Businesses with sound practices flourish as a result of their good business practices. Businesses that make poor choices fail. Our government and our Republican president thwarted our capitalistic system and the end result was that we have suffered greatly; as a people, as a nation, as a democracy.
Those companies committed crimes against our country. They should have been punished, not rewarded.
We laud Pearce for taking a stance against this boondoggle. We just hope he can make a difference when he goes back to Washington.