Czar, Tsar, Tzar?

Which reminds me, what is this "auto czar?" From the same folks who brought us Social Security, Medicare, No Child Left Behind, Fannie and Freddie, and the $9 billion national debt? What makes anyone, excepting themselves, believe Congress can appoint a "czar" who will be any more effective in oversight than, say, Barney Frank or Chris Dodd? Yeah, it's a joke, a sad joke that you and I (and our kids and grandkids) will pay for dearly (note I didn't end the sentence with a preposition!).

And, speaking of a "czar," where is the "czar" for the financials? They received, what 40 times?, yes, that's right (I used my calculator!) 40 times as much money, yet are answerable to nobody. By the way, was the financials bailout a "loan" or a "present?" Hmmm. And they know they are answerable to nobody--note how much looser the credit market has become in the past month or so (not at all); note the money being "earmarked" for executive bonuses (and why not? the financial execs played Congress for incredible fools--you could write this stuff in a novel and people would think you were being preposterous); note the healthy financials (who also received $$$ although they didn't need it) who used the $$$ to buy out other financials. Perhaps the Congressmen and Senators didn't want the financial grilled in committees like the Big Three CEOs. Maybe some things would have come out that the Congs and Sens didn't want to come out? (BTW, great nickname I heard for Chris Dodd today, "PACman!") Did I ever mention a joke, a sad joke?

And where are Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow? Hmmm. Great leadership, huh? Maybe they are working "behind the scenes," but what good does that do to convince the American people that a bridge loan was necessary, that is, to pressure their Senators and Congressmen into approving a package? They should have been all over the media; we should have been sick of seeing their faces, hearing their voices...unless they are opposed to a loan? But, then, why did they vote for the financials bailout????? Just speculating...after all, you, not me, elected them.

I'm still not convinced a bailout is good, that it is necessary. Government involvement is the kiss of death (see above and, frankly, history). The only hedge I have is that gov't created much of this mess and maybe should have to fix it--or, I guess, get out of the way before it messes up again?