Posted by
Bob Siegel on Wednesday, December 09, 2009 6:34:59 PM
Obama is planning now on using some of that stimulus money to help out small businesses. Sounds good. In fact, it sounds great! Forgive me for being just a little cautious. After all, this man is an expert at sounding good. Free health care sounds good until we notice the House version of the bill putting people in jail if they do not purchase this "free health care." Helping the auto industry also sounded good until the government started telling GM what kinds of cars they could build or not build and how environmentally friendly they had to be. (Translation: how small they had to be) And yes, helping the banks sounded good until the government placed its nose into discussions of various bank loans; who to give them to and whose unpaid mortgages to renegotiate. (the kinds of shenanigans, incidentally, which sunk our economy in the first place through the fun help of Freddie, Fannie, ACORN, and other Looney Tunes)
So now, the freest businessmen in our country; small, independent entrepreneurs, will be in that same unenviable position of owing Obama some gratitude.
A crisp, green dollar bill always feels like manna from above until we read the fine print on the back. No, I don't mean that pyramid with the eye which has provoked so many conspiracy theories. I mean the microscopic fine print saying, "Now the government will start controlling your modest little Mom and Pop business." Sweet!
I'm reminded of the first scene in The Godfather, when Vito Corleone agreed to grant a favor: "Some day, (and that day may never come) you'll be called upon to perform a small service. But until that time, consider this a gift on my daughter's wedding day."
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