In just one week we hear of two big double crosses coming out of Washington.
First, the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul has manufacturers in a sweat. A bill put together, and named for the two men who gave us the mortgage crisis, seems flawed. What a surprise.
Regulators, the cheesy bureaucrats who enforce such work, always err on the side of too much regulation. Seems they are assuring corporate America, companies like car manufactures, railroads, airlines, beer manufacturers, and the like that they may not be put under the same rules as financial institutions that deal in derivatives. That would mean companies that routinely hedge commodities to insure costs would have to put up large amounts of cash as security. Cash that would go to capital investment and create jobs.
The regulators keep assuring these companies they will get exemptions. But, there is little trust.They have such little trust they have put together an organization called Coalition for Derivatives End-Users to try to keep regulators from over-extending a law intended to rein in financial institutions to include them. A gross misinterpretation of the bill.
You make the call. How will this really turn out? Under the Obama administration, just look at the EPA. It contends the Supreme Court gave them the authority to regulate all emissions. All emissions. Congress is trying to curtail their plans. In essence, they are invoking Cap and Tax under regulation. Even Rockefeller from West Virginia is behind this effort. You see they want to close down his coal mines.
Next, we find the the $38 billion cut that almost closed the government is really closer to $20 billion, or almost nothing depending on whose numbers you accept. Lot’s of phantom credit was taken for money that was not to be spent. What a shock. That Washington, Democrats and Republicans alike would juggle the numbers and take credit for cuts that were already going to happen.
In this day and age, nothing is what it seems. We are truly in an age of Central Planning. Influence in Washington is paramount. Business has no real freedom to do business. More and more of their resources are being spent trying to keep Washington from putting them out of business.
What a mess.
