Excerpted from "The Emergency Economic Bailout Act of 2008"

SEC. 2. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are—
(1) to immediately provide authority and facilities that the Secretary of the Treasury can use to restore liquidity and stability to the financial system of the United States; and
(2) to ensure that such authority and such facilities are used in a manner that—
(A) protects home values, college funds, retirement accounts, and life savings;
(B) preserves homeownership and promotes jobs and economic growth;
(C) maximizes overall returns to the taxpayers of the United States; and
(D) provides public accountability for the exercise of such authority.

And so ended the era of free market capitalism.  

That free market era began with a humble upstart nation in 1776.  That nation grew to a world power in the 20th century, and thundered to a roaring crescendo of wealth and productivity at the turn of the 21st century.  Yet, the end came swiftly, and almost without warning.  It came as a result of the greatest attack ever perpetrated on freedom and liberty in history.  The attack was as vicious and premeditated at the 9/11 attacks of 2001 - only wildly more successful.

When the plan was first conceived may never be known, but the first salvo in the attack came with an announcement by President Bush, flanked by Treasury Secretary Paulson.  Many pure capitalists were never comfortable with Secretary Paulson.  The successor to Jon Corzine, Stephen Friedman, and Robert Rubin as CEO of Goldman Sachs, Paulson epitomized the "crony capitalist".   The almost seamless morphing of high ranking cabinet members into Financial Sector CEO's had been going on for at least three Presidential administrations.  Like Corzine, Friedman, and Rubin before him, Paulson made a career of parlaying governmental influence into personal wealth.  He, like his predecessors, relied heavily on his influence rather than his business acumen to achieve business success.

In mid-September of 2007, Bush, Paulson, and Bernanke announced that without the "The Emergency Economic Bailout Act of 2008"; the U.S. economy would fall to ruin within weeks.  The explanation for the urgency of the crisis was the existence of "toxic securities" backed by defaulted mortgages.  This crisis was detailed in some depth here in this blog.  It now seems like it was something of a ruse.  While the pretext of the crisis was plausible, it now seems to have been exaggerated.  In effect, George Bush was "rolled" by Paulson and Bernanke.  The President seems to have regained some economic bearings and talked extensively about the merits of free trade - but the damage has been done.  We are now beyond the tipping point, and well on our way to a centrally planned, rather than a private sector economy.

Worse yet, we're heading into an era where the new President is the most naive, inexperienced, and economically illiterate person to ever hold the office.  To be sure, if the wall street crony capitalists could "roll" George Bush, baffling  Barack Obama will be like taking candy from a baby.

The next wave in the attack on liberty came with the "Auto Bailout" which is still being negotiated.  It will most likely take place in a series of attacks.  With the Senate and the President now showing signs of resisting the creation of US/UAW Motors, and the auto makers decrying their eminent demise with out Federal billions, the likely action will be Paulson and the TARP funds to the rescue.  The CEO's of the "Big Three" are not experienced "car people".  They're finance and securities people.  Nardelli, came from Home Depot, Mulally came from Boeing, Wagoner is a long time GM employee - but clearly a bean counter, not a designer, organizer, marketer type.  These three have essentially given up on the idea of correcting their business models, and chosen to pettition Congress for cash and in return will allow Congress to take over strategic control of the companies.  This will almost guarantee the demise of this domestic industry.

There are two more big attacks currently being planned.  One will be based in Universal Health Care, the other will be environmentally based in "green jobs" and carbon "cap and trade" programs.  The future of Governmental Health care can be seen quite clearly in many current examples.  We can look to Europe, Canada, or our own Medicare system to see the grim future.  Perhaps more importantly, expect medical breakthroughs to come to a vitual halt.  With only a single customer to call on, innovations in treatment, drugs, and equipment will be replaced by hiring the most skilled lobbyists to get Government contracts for medical goods.

The "green revolution" will be the final blow in the destruction of our economic power and failure of capitalism.  With strict Cap and Trade carbon emissions limits in place, coal, oil, and gas, will have to be augmented by solar wind and other carbon free alternatives.  These alternatives won't really produce any electricity, but they'll provide enough carbon credits to run the coal, oil, and gas facilities to serve the shrinking demand.  This results in a gross mis allocation of wealth and resources.  Both public and private wealth will  be diverted to the building of stupid wind farms and solar fields, non of which will produce any reliable power. 

Yes, through all this - fortunes will be made.  Fortunes based not on market and merit, but based on Government selection.   This will eventually devestate the value of the dollar, and plung the U.S. into at least a second tier economic status, and the fortunes based in dollars will become of little consequence.  Our military will follow close behind, and the world - once safe from despotic agression under a vast umbrella of U.S. military might, will once again be in peril.

Can the death spiral of Capitalism and Freedom be stopped ?

Yes.

But to do so, there has to be at least some one left, other than this writer - who believes that it's worth saving.