morons are making me question my core beliefs

Sweden's income tax is over 50%. They have free healthcare, free public transportation, free education (including college), and they probably give away free puppies at orphanages (which are also completely supported by the government). For all intents and purposes, Sweden is a socialist country.

I share this because my mom is half Swedish, and until mid-2008, full-Canadian. I was raised to be as liberal as is socially acceptable in this country. For my high school graduation, my mom gave me a ring that has "Question Authority" engraved on the inside. To me, socialism has always made a lot of sense -- I see it as espousing values of generosity and kindness toward those less fortunate than ourselves. I have always believed that government exists to help people above all, and provide as many services to the public as possible. Healthcare for everyone. Public transportation. Welfare, social services, you name it. I like my government big and taxtastic.

However, in the light of the out-of-countrol financial crisis, the American government is making me wonder whether or not big government can ever work in this country. The AIG bonus scandal in particular is leading to believe it's a lost cause -- but not for the reasons you'd think. An article from the New York Times does a pretty good job of explaining what I'm worried about, but since reading a lot of hard, I'll summarize:

The government's knee-jerk reaction to AIG is making things worse. One truism that seems oft-neglected is the fact that if the government is going to be running a lot of things, there need to be smart people in the government. And apparently there are none. In Congress, at least.

I'll start by saying the bonuses look bad. Clearly. Taxpayers are aware that their money is being funnelled in to the company (although I imagine the average household contribution isn't worth getting upset about), and they don't want that money going straight to the fuck-up executives that largely created this problem in the first place.

But it's important to consider that the bailout money bequeathed to AIG isn't a gift -- Edward Liddy, AIG's new chief, has said he intends for the company to be able to repay it. If the insurer has any hope of doing that, Congress needs to stop fucking with their shit. AIG has been raked over the coals so much by this thing that no one wants any part of it anymore -- and their ability to recover and repay the government grows slimmer with every stupid and ultimately pointless "How many of you took a corporate jet here?" question.

Congress needs to stop stooping to this populist mob-mentality, and start solving problems. They should not hold a hearing to yell at Liddy for things that were largely beyond his control. They should find out why the bonuses happened and then stop them. Done. I don't need to watch every congressman raise their hand and tell me how outraged they are. You cannot fix this problem by disapproving. The economy is collapsing. Do something about it.

Can we elect Barack Obama king? He seems like a pretty smart guy. Maybe that'll work.