Obama’s Nationalization Fever

By: Louie Glinzak

Once again, nationalization of private industry by the federal government comes into the picture. Federal spending to “save” private industries began with Amtrak; a company that began on the backs of the American taxpayers in 1971 with $40 million in direct federal aid and $100 million in federally insured loans. Congress eventually would appropriate $1.4 billion to Amtrak in the fiscal year of 2004-2005 and another $1.4 billion in 2006.

Today, we see even more government interference with the private sector by bailing out the auto industry and banks, and with rumors of the potential re-introduction of the Fairness Doctrine, one wonders where the line is and if the federal government has finally crossed it, having too much of an active role in the private industry.

Once out of bankruptcy, the government will own 60% of General Motors, but they have already begun to exercise their large ownership of GM by making many of its business decisions. The federal government had former CEO Rick Wagner step down from his position. Now that it is a large shareholder in GM, it exercised its political influence and used its legislative power to write in the TARP legislation a $7,500 tax credit for consumers who purchase the Chevy Volt. This is explicitly discriminating against Ford Motor Company, who has not received any federal funds, and even Chrysler, a recipient of federal funds.

Even though Chrysler owners are currently not receiving a tax credit for their purchase, Chrysler is still under the thumb of the federal government. The executive branch has ordered the most profitable Chrysler dealership, Fury Chrysler Dodge, to close. The decision was made so Chrysler can reduce its worldwide inventory by 25%.

It comes with little surprise that with the nationalization of GM and Chrysler that the federal government may attempt to enact a massive regulation on the broadcasting industry. Yes, rumors of the government enacting the Fairness Doctrine continue, and if enacted, the broadcasting industry will just be added to an ever growing list of industries over regulated by the Obama Administration.

Many conservative leaders oppose the Fairness Doctrine based on their belief that it will severely damage conservative talk radio. Despite this fact, the Fairness Doctrine is an overarching move by the federal government that will place enormous restraints on businesses.

The Fairness Doctrine directly interferes with the decisions business owners must make. It requires the equal airtime of all political ideals and forces businesses to cover all sides of opinions, even making sure that their advertisements do not violate the Fairness Doctrine. Business owners in the broadcasting sector will spend a large amount of unnecessary time, energy, and money to ensure they do not violate the Fairness Doctrine.

The Fairness Doctrine forces businesses to sell a product that is not appealing to their customer base. If a broadcasting company thought their listeners or viewers would be interested in different political views or opinions than those they are already broadcast, then business leaders would already be broadcasting those views or opinions. If it were profitable for a business to equally air political opinions then it would have already done so.

Businesses owners have certain inalienable rights, and when sole ownership rests in the private hands, it is the private owners who have the right to make the decisions affecting their business not the federal government. Equal airtime may be reached under the fairness doctrine, but if our government ever hopes to fix the economy, equality should not be what the federal government is after. Instead, the federal government should strive to ensure that people have the freedom to choose.

The freedom to choose is the driving factor in the free-market. The consumer dictates what is produced by their wants and successful businesses produce what the consumer wants. Private industry only exists when it makes a profit. When private industry no longer makes a profit it is forced to file for bankruptcy and close its doors. Private industry must produce what the consumer wants or it will no longer exist. The government, however, will always continue to exist and is not forced to produce what the consumer wants. If the government controls private industry, it will produce goods that advance its political agenda, even if the products are not what the consumer desires.

However, if the government continues to nationalize industry and expand the influence it has on the decisions made by private industries, it will only prolong the economic downturn we are currently experiencing. We need the government to create an environment that will foster the private industry and allow private industry to grow and prosper. The consumer will purchase not just out of necessity from the private industry but also out of want. Whereas, if the government is producing goods that push a political agenda instead of what the consumer desires, then the consumer will only purchase out of necessity and not out of want.

With the government taking over GM, you can expect the production of automobiles that will advance the Obama Administration’s political agenda, and as a result, we will have an influx of cars produced by GM that the consumer does not want. Furthermore, if the Fairness Doctrine is re-enacted, the number of listeners for talk radio will decrease because broadcasters will be forced to have an equal balance of political opinions for their shows.

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