Governing by Stealth

In the six weeks that Obama has been governing, a pattern of trickery has evolved.

• Last week, several official spokesmen clearly announced that there would be no nationalization of banks. But on Friday, the statement was made that the US government was trading their Citibank Preferred Stock (usually non voting stock) for common stock (voting stock). Now the federal government, as a single entity with almost 40% of the votes in each corporate decision, will control the actions of the large bank. It’s not officially nationalization, but it’s darn close to it.
• Facing growing criticism about the possibility of the FOCA bill, apparently the decision has been made to do it piecemeal. Last week, Obama rescinded the Bush executive order that had allowed health care providers to opt out of certain practices like abortion, embryonic stem cell research, or euthanasia, if the actions conflicted with their conscience. No enforcement has yet taken place, but the foundation is in place.
• Also, facing criticism about the Fairness Doctrine from free speech advocates, an amendment to the DC voting rights bill was passed (87-11) last week that stated that the Fairness Doctrine would not be resurrected. The media presented the news with great fanfare, disdainfully telling conservatives that it had never been an issue anyway. Many sighed with relief. But the same bill also carries the Durbin amendment (57-41) that attacks syndicated talk radio shows by forcing the FCC to take actions to promote diversity of communication ownership. When implemented, it will hurt many small radio stations that depend on syndicated programs for revenue and will pave the way for ACORN or similar groups to get their own stations at bargain basement prices.
• I have already written about some of the provisions of the “Stimulus Bill” that effectively encourage, if not establish, socialized medicine. That has passed and has been signed into law. See Health Care for Me, But Not for Thee and Now We Know.