By John W. Lillpop
Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson may have gotten away with the greatest political scam in world history and he is not yet finished.
Consider please:
Back in September and October when Governor Palin was just beginning to breath life into the wilting presidential aspirations of John McCain, Secretary Paulson orchestrated a massive "chicken little" scam that panicked President Bush, most members of the Congress, both John McCain and Barack Obama, and most American voters.
Paulson declared that America's financial house was about to collapse and that unless $700 billion in unmarked bills were left in his hands to do with, as he desired, America would die a most painful death.
To assure sufficient angst, Paulson groveled on his hands and knees before Speaker Pelosi and gave she and other U.S. authorities less than a week to come up with the dough.
Paulson warned that the money was needed NOW to prevent America the great from descending into America the grotesque.
After stuttering and stammering a bit, Bush and the Congress complied with Paulson's demands and threw in an extra $150 billion just to show that they really cared.
Paulson's theatrics and the resulting panic on the part of America's leaders, dealt a mortal wound to the McCain-Palin ticket, and all but assured that Barack Obama would become the 44th president of the United States.
McCain's candidacy became a dicey proposition because of his admitted lack of understanding of economic issues, proven true by his "the economic fundamentals are sound" blurb right before Paulson went ballistic.
Therefore, it can be argued that Henry Paulson, without the use of military force or Nixonian plumbers, implemented the most daring and flamboyant coup in U.S. history.
All it took was a check for $850 billion dollars and cajones the size of mid-summer watermelons and Paulson had his man!
Having installed Barack Obama in the Oval Office, Paulson then set about to make life easier for the new president. Which is why Paulson subsequently announced that the bail out billions were not going to used for "toxic assets" after all, and that he was still working out details on how to unload $700 billion dollars.
The grand finale came when Paulson announced that the Bush administration would not spend $350 billion of that bail money after all, leaving said funds for Barack Obama to do with as he chooses come noon on January 20 of 2009.**
Historians will surely honor the "Paulson Ploy" as the most devious, heinous act of larceny in U.S. history. Only Henry Paulson was brazen enough to steal $850 billion from taxpayers and then declare the money not spent to be "surplus" !
Of course, Barack Obama will see it as CHANGE that we need and a wonderful inaugural gift from a heretofore-closeted ally.
Still there is a glimmer of hope. U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) declared that Congress was not told the truth about the bailout of the nation's financial system and should take back what is left of the $700 billion "blank check'' it gave the Bush administration.***
Bravo, Senator Inhofe!
I say take back that $350 billion, and pay down the deficit to keep the Obama/Pelosi/Reid gang from wasting it on illegal aliens or other such stupidity.
**http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D94GREK80&show_article=1
***http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=20081116_16_A1_hHecri880405
