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"When the president announced last week that he would 'cut out the middleman' and make direct government loans to students, he laid bare his contempt for free enterprise. He is fulfilling a campaign promise by overhauling the system through which he claims, 'Private lenders are costing America's taxpayers more than $15 million dollars every day and provide no additional value except to the banks themselves.'
"Consider the philosophy behind his statement. If government cuts out the middleman and performs the service instead, it will be cheaper and more efficient, he reasons. Apply this same reasoning to, say, the entire banking industry. Government's direct involvement in the banking industry can eliminate all those bonuses paid to greedy executives and profits earned by greedy share holders, and make sure that loans are extended to low-income borrowers whether they qualify or not. Direct government control of the banking business will surely make it fairer and more efficient.
"What a fantastic idea! Someone should have thought of this before.
"Apply this reasoning to, say, the auto industry. Government's direct involvement can force the auto industry to dump the management that failed to produce the toy cars the government said would abate global warming. Government control of the auto industry can eliminate those nasty, unnecessary monster cars, such as the Pontiac, and more. Direct government control of the auto industry would certainly be more efficient and would operate the industry in a more environmentally friendly way.
"Direct government control of the auto industry could eliminate the wasteful duplication of products and services. Why should there be three major auto manufacturers? The status quo requires three design departments, three different manufacturing operations, three different but duplicative sales networks, and three different repair and maintenance systems. Imagine all the savings that can be achieved by simply combining the auto industry into a single operation managed by government.
"This principle, applied to all industry, could result in enormous savings, ensure social justice in the workplace and avoid unsafe operations that jeopardize the environment. Wow, who can object to this change? This new direction by this new administration sounds great to a generation who can't remember, or never knew, why America became the strongest, most prosperous nation on earth.
"America's greatness is due to the absence of government control."
