Reagan initiated the most intrusive government attack on family the country has ever seen, wrapped rhetorically in socially and fiscally conservative myth. Clinton’s “end welfare as we know it” was implementation of Reagan initiatives. It took both Reagan’s terms to get things in place, and was ready for Clinton’s efforts to take credit for it.

Family policy is no longer limited by civil rights. Now, planted solidly in social policy – marriage and family are government programs – with arbitrary manipulation constitutionally allowed. Not only did it result in sky-rocketing costs in the welfare program, but it changed the relationship between government and the people in a fundamental way.

Individual lives are now virtually completely manipulatable by political will – with no constitutional constraint. Collectively, the people haven’t noticed the increase in their payments to the state for additional pork in the welfare system. They protest not. The effects individually however, for those who’ve experienced arbitrary treatment is much greater and they have complained and protested and complained and joined groups and …

Now this is a tricky subject I know. Welfare …. just in case there is someone left that doesn’t realize it yet … it’s not just for poor people anymore. Reagan broke through the “means-tested” barrier – so when I say marriage and family are government programs – I don’t mean just some financial aspects for welfare recipients. The transformation only became obvious to the vast majority I think, when some courts ruled that bans on same-sex marriage are not constitutionally allowed. They were when marriage and family were private institutions. They are not now because excluding same-sex couples from a government program was found to be unconstitutional.

So I’d have to say that under Reagan, the welfare state did not at all remain largely untouched. It was touched very largely.

By BUSINESS behaving honestly and fairly, the government can then keep the regulations loose enough and still ensure fairness for the investors and allow enough oxygen for business to flourish. Business has broken that trust-SEVERELY. Government is now seen as wholely incompetent and corrupt. Damn both their houses.

You can blame the government for not watching the hen house concerning credit swaps, mortgage backed securities and derivatives but Wall Street new that these would blow up. It does not take a genius. The Wall Street power brokers are baby boomers with the common baby boomer mindset: “I’m gettin’ mine while I can and f**k everyone else and f**k the future”. Today, banks do not trust the asset valuations of each other because of the mark-to-market valuations and derivatives. When the credit swap mess hits home too we are going to see more and more economic stress down the road. Wall Street sold out America…and yea…the government failed to understand….or understood but was bought off by lobbyists. Or too stupid. All of the above.

Sarbanes-Oxley was a government response to Enron and others who took advantage of loopholes.

Guess what, you CANNOT plug every friggin’ loophole or even conceive of doing that. The government has to do a balancing act to ensure limited rules that create market fairness for investors (you and me) while not hindering business excessively. Some responsibility falls on business to not game the system. By being honest and fair the government can keep the regulations loose enough and still ensure fairness for the investors and allow enough oxygen for business to flourish. Business has broken that trust-SEVERELY. Government is now seen as wholely incompetent and corrupt. Damn both their houses.

More Government to cure the troubles caused by Government is like bleeding the sick man with leaches to get the “bad” blood out and cure him.

The current financial “cure” is bleeding us to death.