Newt Gingrich; Today's Message to Young Entrepreneurs: Get a Nice, Safe Government Job Instead

Imagine you are a young Bill Gates. You're smart. You're ambitious. You're thinking about starting a business to put your talents to their best use for you and for society.

Then you turn on the television and see President Obama say that "now is not the time" for entrepreneurs to make profits and get bonuses.

You hear Vice President Joe Biden say of corporate CEOs: "I'd like to throw these guys in the brig."

You pick up the newspaper and read about a bill sponsored by Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) to cap the salaries of top executives ("idiots" in her words) of firms that accept government bailout money.

And you read about another bill speeding through Congress that will allow judges to alter the terms of mortgage contracts after the fact; to unilaterally reduce the amount of principal borrowers agreed to pay back when they signed their mortgage contracts.

The Vice President is Threatening to Throw Businessmen in the Brig. Why Take the Chance?

What lessons does a young entrepreneur learn from listening carefully to the voices advocating more and more government regulation and intervention in our economy?

He learns that the President has more faith in government to save the economy than free enterprise. So why not get a nice, safe government job instead?

She learns that starting a business and creating jobs may put her in the cross hairs of the Vice President. Maybe he means that part about throwing her in the brig, maybe he doesn't. Why take the chance?

He learns that when politicians like Claire McCaskill get involved in economic enterprises, politics -- not economics -- rules. Why risk everything to have your future controlled by Washington?

And she learns that contracts aren't worth the paper they're written on. When judges can unilaterally re-write contracts, lenders will charge more to lend. So why even try to get that small business loan?

Biden and McCaskill Should Be Outraged With Themselves

Vice President Biden, Sen. McCaskill and others who are advocating greater and greater government intervention into private business are rightly outraged at reports of corporate CEOs receiving billions in taxpayer bailout dollars and then turning around and awarding themselves and their cronies lavish corporate bonuses.

This outrage is entirely justified. Politicians are understandably looking for someone to blame for this breach of the public's trust.

But they should be looking at themselves. Vice President Biden and Sen. McCaskill should be outraged with themselves.

The reason is simple: If there had been no big government bailout of these companies, their CEOs would have no fiduciary duty to the taxpayers. It wouldn't be any of Sen. McCaskill's business how they compensate themselves.

But government offered the money, and private companies took it. So now government is in charge.

The Rules for Spending Taxpayers Money Don't Work in the Private Market

The great management guru Peter Drucker taught us that there is a set of rules for spending the taxpayers' money that is antithetical to the proper functioning of a private business.

For instance, when taxpayers are footing the bill, it's perfectly legitimate for the people, through their representatives in government, to set limits on compensation.

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