Step One: Don’t call it a “bailout.”

I don’t always agree with Ron Paul, but what he stated on October 3, 2008 to the U.S. House of Representatives, about the alleged “bailout” bill, rings true to me:

Madame Speaker, only in Washington could a bill demonstrably worse than its predecessor be brought back for another vote and actually expect to gain votes. That this bailout was initially defeated was a welcome surprise, but the power-brokers in Washington and on Wall Street could not allow that defeat to be permanent. It was most unfortunate that this monstrosity of a bill, loaded up with even more pork, was able to pass.

The Federal Reserve has already injected hundreds of billions of dollars into US and world credit markets. The adjusted monetary base is up sharply, bank reserves have exploded, and the national debt is up almost half a trillion dollars over the past two weeks. Yet, we are still told that after all this intervention, all this inflation, that we still need an additional $700 billion bailout, otherwise the credit markets will seize and the economy will collapse. This is the same excuse that preceded previous bailouts, and undoubtedly we will hear it again in the future after this bailout fails.

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Continue ReadingStep One: Don’t call it a “bailout.”

Failed bailout bill may have authorized privatizing social security

Unlike some in Congress, I took the time to read the House version of the proposed bailout of Wall Street.  It failed and I believe that was the right thing. In Section 118 of the House bill under “funding” the bill said "the Secretary [of Treasury] may use any authority…

Continue ReadingFailed bailout bill may have authorized privatizing social security

The current proposed bailout is only a Band-Aid

The real problem with the economy of the United States is massive debt.  Sooner or later, we're going to have to change our ways, and it's not going to be pretty.  How much work? Consider this description of the amount of debt, by Kevin Phillips: We're not just looking at…

Continue ReadingThe current proposed bailout is only a Band-Aid