The recent unrest in Iran has led political leaders and average citizens around the world to call upon the theocratic government in Tehran to ease its oppression. The Obama Administration has, however, taken a more low key approach. President Obama has stated that he would like to have the Iranian people sort this out themselves, without interference from the United States. His philosophy is that the natural course of events would lead to a better and longer-lasting solution, as it would be a true reflection of the will of the Iranian people, rather than one imposed from the outside.
His "let's keep our noses out of it and let things sort themselves out" way of thinking would be brilliant if he only decided to apply it to his own country as well as to Iran. Rather than burning hundreds of billions of dollars trying to keep GM and AIG solvent, he should let nature take its course and allow the businesses to fail. Despite all the rhetoric and hyperbole, dissolving General Motors would not be equivalent to handing the nuclear codes over to North Korea. The Republic was strong before GM was founded and will survive GM filing for bankruptcy. Companies enter bankruptcy all the time, and often come back better than before, as bad habits and failed business models are discarded, and fiscal discipline is imposed.
But what about the people who are going to lose their jobs and their health benefits? Shouldn't the government intervene to save these people from disaster? The answer is, unfortunately, no. The stakes for the workers really does not affect the unstoppable force that is the free market. Any efforts to nullify the effects of the market in these poorly-managed companies are doomed to failure. If we are interested in saving these jobs and benefits and simply must do something to help them, it would be far cheaper to simply hire people laid off by GM as government workers and pay them to stay home.
Well, at least he withdrew his invitation to Iranian diplomats for 4th of July celebrations with hot dogs, apple pie, and beer! OOOOOOOOOOOOO! That's backbone!