Democrat-statist leaders and activists, liberal lustings of the past 30 years, coming to daily affronts. “Never let a serious crisis go to waste,” – Rahm Emmanuel whispering into the ear of the Obamanation.


The whisper of such a theme, today’s affront to the free market is brought to you by the Wall Street Journal here. The story being the White House appointment of a ‘Czar’ to oversee executive compensation at firms that received TARP funds. A certain Kenneth Feinberg is now duly anointed “Special Master of Compensation”. His job duties? To ensure that companies receiving bailout funds are abiding by executive-pay guidelines. Atlas Shrugging – Check.



More from the story – “The government is also pursuing a separate revamping of financial-sector rules that could change industry compensation practices more broadly. For instance, the Federal Reserve is considering rules that would curb banks’ ability to pay employees in a way that would threaten the “safety and soundness” of the bank.”


Can you read between the lines here? The Federal Reserve curbing banks’ ability to pay employees? Reading more into this story here as well, I find that the ‘Pay Czar’ will report to the Treasury Secretary but that he will also have ‘wide discretion on how the rules should be interpreted.’ Firms won’t be able to appeal decisions made by the Czar as well. Atlas Shrugging – Check.



Companies that took TARP funds, as I predicted made a deal with the devil. This particular devil has a Russian moniker and tradition of history dating to inception in Bulgaria – 913 AD. The term here was meant to designate a ‘supreme ruler’, or often times a monarch. Fitting to today with the new extra-constitutional activity of the Obamanation and the statists, I wonder when a Czar will be appointed for the industry that you are in? When the lines of governmental power are blurred, thus begins a slippery-slope of such behaviour.

As far as I can gather,the following are the Czars in the Obamanation Administration. Bank Bailout Czar, Energy Czar, Drug Czar, Border Czar, Urban Czar, Regulatory Czar, Stimululs Czar, Iran Czar, Afghanistan Czar, Pakistan Czar, Net Czar, Car Czar, Health Care Czar, Cyperspace Czar, Technology Czar, Copyright Czar, Mortgage Czar, Climate Czar, WMD Czar, Education Czar, Economic Czar, Housing Czar.I might be missing a few……
Banana Republic – Check.



Now to a real-life Czar, Vladimir Putin of Russia. Reader Carl Wicklander, one of my smartest readers yesterday pointed me to a speech that the real-deal Czar gave in Davos Switzeraland. Visit and support Carl’s site – Uncouth Ruminations. blogspot.

Anyway, Putin in Davos January 28 2009, on the West’s response the the financial crisis –

“All of us must display a sense of proportion. Excessive intervention in economic activity and blind faith in the state’s omnipotence is another possible mistake… Instead of streamlining market mechanisms, some are tempted to expand state economic intervention to the greatest possible extent.

The concentration of surplus assets in the hands of the state is a negative aspect of anti-crisis measures in virtually every nation. In the 20th century, the Soviet Union made the state’s role absolute. In the long run, this made the Soviet economy totally uncompetitive. This lesson cost us dearly.

I am sure nobody wants to see it repeated. Nor should we turn a blind eye to the fact that the spirit of free enterprise, including the principle of personal responsibility of businesspeople, investors and shareholders for their decisions, is being eroded in the last few months. There is no reason to believe that we can achieve better results by shifting responsibility onto the state.”

There you have it – The Czar/Prime Minister of Russia sounds like a free-marketeer, and our own president, a socialist. We are living in the bizarro world. Atlas Shrugging – Check