Optimistic signs of recovery abound. No doubt you have heard that some recipients of TARP funds have already begun paying the money back. This is very good news, because it shows the American business can heal itself, and the government can now begin to step back from the quasi-socialist activities of directing companies.

Or so you would think. The Democrats, led by none other than Barney Frank—who is as responsible with people’s money as a gambler at a slot machine—have a grand plans for that returned money: building houses with it.

Let us review. The United States gave out billions of dollars. Almost $7 billion has been repaid. On an interest-free loan, that repayment goes to paying down the principal. Perfectly sensible because this prevents the loaner from going bankrupt. Sensible, but not to the Democrats: they do not wish to pay down the principal, but create another loan with it.

Imagine this. You borrow money from your bank. They obtain the money from a broker and give it to you. Ordinarily, you pay back the interest first and then increasing portions of the principal until all terms have been met. In turn, the bank pays back its lender interest plus principal until its terms have been met. That way, both the bank and lender begin turning a profit right away.

Right? Okay, but pretend this is an interest-free loan. You borrow the money, and start paying it back right away. The bank pays back the lender right in turn, and everyone is happy. Except, in the Bank of the Democratic Party (DonkeBank), something weird happens.

The borrower begins paying back DonkeBank. The lender asks where its payments are. DonkeBank says “We loaned that money to someone else.” Fine, the lender replies, but you still owe us for the amount we loaned you. Where is it? The guys at DonkeBank point to some new houses they just built. Meanwhile, the borrower has paid more of it back to DonkeBank, who skips its second payment to the lender. The lender asks. “Well, yeah, we bought some more houses with the money.” The lender, outraged, says that DonkeBank is now two payments behind. The lender says “I don’t care, really, what you do with your own money, but you still need to pay us back for what we loaned you.” Now a third payment from the borrower disappears.

Get the idea? In this story, the borrower is the economy, and the lender is you. Rather than pay you back, the Democratic-led government is spending the paid money on things you don’t know or necessarily care about.

How bad is it? Enough for an Inspector General to demand the Department of the Treasury and Congress start clarifying what is happening with taxpayer money.

Maybe this is how Barney Frank and Tim Geithner think money lending works: you default on payments to pay down your own debt. Curiously, that makes the United States a high-risk borrower. But the Democrats think it’s okay to loan enormous amounts of money to high-risk borrowers—just ask the mortgage and real estate markets how they did in 2008.

The Czar of Muscovy

Божію Поспѣшествующею Милостію Мы, Дима Грозный Императоръ и Самодержецъ Всероссiйскiй, цѣсарь Московскiй. The Czar was born in the steppes of Russia in 1267, and was cheated out of total control of all Russia upon the death of Boris Mikhailovich, who replaced Alexander Yaroslav Nevsky in 1263. However, in 1283, our Czar was passed over due to a clerical error and the rule of all Russia went to his second cousin Daniil (Даниил Александрович), whom Czar still resents. As a half-hearted apology, the Czar was awarded control over Muscovy, inconveniently located 5,000 miles away just outside Chicago. He now spends his time seething about this and writing about other stuff that bothers him.