“The Sun Also Sets” is the title of Mark Steyn’s latest column, in which he writes that “Our national bankruptcy is about to enter its ‘sudden’ phase:”
“We are headed for the most predictable economic crisis in history,” says Paul Ryan. And he’s right. But precisely because it’s so predictable the political class has already discounted it. Which is why a plan for pie now and spinach later, maybe even two decades later, is the only real menu on the table. There’s a famous exchange in Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises. Someone asks Mike Campbell, “How did you go bankrupt?” “Two ways,” he replies. “Gradually, then suddenly.” We’ve been going through the gradual phase so long, we’re kinda used to it. But it’s coming to an end, and what happens next will be the second way: sudden, and very bad.
By the way, that decline in the U.S./Australian exchange isn’t the only one. Ten years ago the U.S. dollar was worth 1.6 Canadian; now it’s at par. A decade ago, the dollar was worth over ten Swedish Kroner, now 6.7; 1.8 Singapore dollars, now 1.2. I get asked with distressing frequency by Americans where I would recommend fleeing to. The reality is, given the dollar’s decline over the last decade, that most Americans can no longer afford to flee to any place worth fleeing to. What’s left is the non-flee option: taking a stand here, stopping the spendaholism, closing federal agencies, privatizing departments, block-granting to the states — not in 2040, but now. “Suddenly” is about to show up.
If and when “suddenly” does show up, it will likely seem all the more sudden, given this little tidbit spotted buried in a report on the Obama administration’s latest Friday night document dump, which The Hill titles with grim humor, “Documents: White House was all-hands-on-deck as Solyndra collapse neared:”
Several key White House offices were involved with the Obama administration’s messaging plans and other preparations as the collapse of the taxpayer-backed solar company Solyndra was imminent, newly released documents show.
The latest White House documents delivered to House Republicans on Friday again highlight the extent to which senior administration officials braced for the fallout as Solyndra – a company President Obama had personally visited – was about to go under.
A White House memo that noted the danger of “imminent bankruptcy” at the end of August 2011 says, “OMB, DPC and NEC have been working with press and OLA to be prepared for this news to break.”
Acronym translation: OMB is the Office of Management and Budget, DPC is the Domestic Policy Council, NEC is the National Economic Council and OLA is the Office of Legal Affairs.
Talk about burying the lede — the text in bold, three paragraphs into The Hill’s article, was highlighted by a blogger with seafaring connotations — Capt. Ed Morrissey. Ed’s headline at Hot Air what all those hands on the deck of the SS Baracktanic were doing — “White House rearranged deck chairs with the media as Solyndra sank:”
They were “working with the press”? Pray tell, who in the media knew about Solyndra’s imminent collapse and didn’t report it? For that matter, while the White House was working with the media, did they bother to inform Congress of the pending destruction of over a half-billion dollars in taxpayer money? The memos go on to describe high-level meetings in the White House to discuss the collapse of Solyndra, including one on August 29th, but so far nothing in the document dump suggests that anyone reached out to Congress to include them in the discussions.
But they worked with the press, which apparently didn’t report it until the White House gave them the thumbs-up. Good thing we have that independent media in this country keeping government honest, and all that.
In Soviet Obamastan, government keeps press “honest,” as we’ve seen before with this administration.
Related: “The Consequences of No Consequences.”
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