Barney on Skates

Your beloved Emperor read today that the Thin Skinned One wants to impose a new "tax" on the banks of the Realm. The banks will be subjected to the new tax regardless of whether or not they paid back what they borrowed from the government or whether or not they ever borrowed money in the first place. The rationale of the Obamanites is that the banks are responsible for the Great Recession and should have to pay for it. The Baron of Shamelessness, Barney Frank stated, "Look, the financial institutions collectively, particularly the larger ones, caused problems by their errors -- their errors of judgment, their irresponsibility, in some cases their skating around dishonesty."

Your beloved Emperor sees this as nothing more than a shameless shakedown of the Realm's banks to try and cover money that was lost in the automaker bailout and the home buyer subsidies. The banks did not foster the recession. The recession was brought about by bad government policy and the corruption of those responsible for providing government oversight.

The government instituted policy that tried to force banks to give loans to low income people so they could buy houses. The problem was then compounded by government incentives to compel the government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy mortgage backed securities involving loans to the poor. This link helped turn the crash of the Realm's housing market into a global meltdown.

In the middle of all this was the Baron of Shamelessness himself. He steadfastly refused to allow Congress to improve oversight of the GSEs while taking large sums of cash in campaign contributions from these very same institutions. In 2003 when Bush the Younger tried to push for more regulation of the GSEs Frank blocked the effort and stated, "These two entities...are not facing any kind of financial crisis.... The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing."

Emperor Edict 2010-1: No politician shall be allowed to accept money from anyone other than private individuals. These donations will be limited to $200 per person per year and the individual making the donation must be fully identified.