Czar Wars Profile: Kenneth Feinberg

We’ve been warning the public for some time that the Obama administration will transfer the power over many to a very few. These few are NOT elected, do not at all answer to the people, and have unprecedented power.

Next up, the “Pay Czar,” Kenneth Feinberg. This is what he has done.

White House pay czar Kenneth Feinberg was the driving force behind the move to order steep pay cuts from bailed-out executives, and did not even seek the president’s approval before making his decision.

The Treasury Department is expected to formally announce in the next few days a plan to slash annual salaries by about 90 percent from last year for the 25 highest-paid executives at the seven companies that received the most from the Wall Street bailout. Total compensation for the top executives at the firms would decline, on average, by about 50 percent.

The sweeping decision, though, came from Feinberg and not from President Obama.

One official told Fox News that Feinberg from the start had the independent authority to work with companies and make such a call. Obama was never required to sign off before final decisions were made.

So, ONE MAN, in an un-elected position, was able to dictate pay decisions to private corporations. This man was appointed by the administration. The Senate did not confirm him. There was NO input, feedback, or even consultation with any other branch of government. He was granted great power by the administration, with absolutely no oversight or counterbalance. I believe that this sets the stage for other usurpations of the separation of powers, the Tenth Amendment, the rest of our Constitution, and the eventual tyranny that is to come.

Now, some will say that this was appropriate because the companies affected had taken government money via the TARP, or were taken over by the government. However, the response is two-fold. One is that there should never have been a TARP. There is no Constitutional precedent for taking over banking institutions, or private companies. The second is that this established the precedent for more and more government intervention and control.

Why do I say this? Let’s consider the following:

The government has taken over the student loan program. Since students will be receiving government money to pay for their education, will the government put requirements on what the recipients can and cannot do? Oops! Remember the GIVE Act?

Think about people that receive existing government benefits. Will the government tell people in public housing how high or low their thermostat can be set? Can people receiving public assistance be told that they can no longer buy fattening food? If you accept unemployment, will you be told where you can work, and for what wage? You might scoff at that, but what is to stop the government? If they can tell bankers what they can earn, in spite of the legal contract that they have with the companies, what is to stop them? If they’ve done it before, they can do it again, and I predict that they will.

The government is setting the table for expanding government services for more and more people. As their policies cause the recession/depression to deepen, more people will lose their jobs. There will be more foreclosures, as well as all the other problems that go with joblessness and poverty. A desperate people will turn to the government for help, and the administration will be happy to accommodate them. Then, the more and more people that accept the government drug, the more people that get ensnared by the “nudging” of Cass Sunstein, the “coercion” of the Secretary of Transportation, and are otherwise entrapped in the pit of government “assistance.” This leaves the government in its dream scenario. Allowing them to gain more and more control over the people and their private dealings.

Seeing the pattern? I know that some will see this as a “conspiracy theory,” but I would invite those people to look at this situation in a functional way: The government causes problems; the government offers more government to “solve” the problem. When one accepts the drug, they have to agree to a few…conditions. Alternatively, as with the bonus situation and the salary controversy, the government reserves the right to simply change their minds or just make it up as they go along. Who will stop them? The Republicans can’t, they’re too weak right now. The Democrats won’t, the want this level of control.

This is only the latest of many examples. As time wears on, we will see more and more “chipping away” of our freedoms and liberty. More as it emerges…

BTW, I haven’t said this for a while, but…

How ya likin’ that change?

Links: The Augur also has an article on this topic, as does Political Realities.

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Originally posted at Conservative Hideout 2.0 © Matt Ross