Obama takes TARP money for personal slush fund

While not exactly true, the administration has decided that the best way to take money "not needed" for the TARP program (more on that in a minute) should be well, spent. Rather than oh, paid back to the people it was taken from (taxpayers). And there is a difference.

The spending will focus on small businesses. Specifically, ones Obama things are what this nation needs to grow. In other words, he has now set himself up as the Investor in Chief, in his omniscience allocating assets from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs to areas which fit with his anti-capitalist and green agenda.

As a sidenote, I would like to point out that I am actually a fan of government lead industrialization for developing countries, it is what turned Japan, China, the Asian tigers, and Brazil into what they are today. At the same time, this works when you are a developing, not developed country. As has been proven time and again, the government is terrible at allocating resources in a developed economy (Japan anyone?).

The only positive aspect of this further Keynesian spending plan is a one year elimination on capital gains tax for small business investment. A step in the right direction, but actually kind of dumb when you think about it, because it would seem to me it would encourage sellout out this year rather than buying in... might not be the case, but it certainly cannot encourage long-term investment. There are a couple other small tax benefits for small businesses, generally related to accounting, again, some of the only good ideas here.

It just really galls me that money which was not allocated through TARP because the government was unbelievably slow at allocating and distributing the funds--other than to Goldman and the companies Obama bought--now is being used as a slush fund by the administration rather than being put towards the national debt.

I wish this country had a balanced budget amendment. It really needs one.

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