¡Viva Socialismo!

Politico’s Jonathan Martin nails the headline:

We’re All Socialists Now

Time to take a step back: A Republican president just sent out his Treasury secretary to announce the federal government will spend “hundreds of billions of dollars” to takeover a not-insignificant chunk of the economy.

From USA Today:

Former White House economist Nouriel Roubini, who forecast the current financial storm two years ago, has a harsher verdict. He says the USA is turning into “the United Socialist State Republic of America.”

Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., describing himself as “outraged” by the Fed’s assertiveness, sounded a similar theme: “The only difference between what the Fed did and what Hugo Chávez is doing in Venezuela is Chávez doesn’t put taxpayer dollars at risk when he takes over companies. He just takes them.”

Marc Ambinder reports free-market conservative think-tankers have been given a gag order:

A source at a prominent right-leaning think tank e-mails:

We … are on strict “no comment” lockdown. We’ve even pulled some analysts of scheduled TV spots and have been declining any new appearances on the issue.

The analysts I work with are supportive of the AIG deal. But there is significant push back from higher ups on the board that don’t like it.

Hence our silence.

Milton Friedman must be spinning in his grave.