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October 02, 2008
Bailout ~ So It Looks Like The Cure Is Worse Then The Disease
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US Senate resoundingly passed Wall Street bailout Wednesday and now they hope the House of Representatives will follow suit.
Sen. Jim DeMint (Part 1)
Sen. Jim DeMint (Part 2)
Some of what he said transcribed but please if you can watch both videos they are not long. Thank you -- Wild Thing
“This is why people are so upset. It’s because Congress is being dishonest and arrogant. We’re not being honest with them about how we got into this mess and we’re not being honest with them about what we need to get out of it. Mr. President, I strongly oppose this legislation. It takes our country in the wrong direction. It forces innocent taxpayers to bail out government policies and Wall Street mistakes. It asks the American people to take a leap of faith and trust people who have consistently misled them. Mr. President, I am deeply saddened by the tone of this debate. I’m afraid that many of the supporters of this bill have bullied people into supporting it and using fear. There may be good reason for fear. But I think that most people will agree that some of the statements have been reckless an irresponsible. Mr. President, I hope I’m wrong. And this bill will truly solve the problem. Let me say again i know every one of my colleagues are doing what they believe is right for America. But based on what I know I cannot in good conscience support it.”
Here are some of the special-interest provisions that are now part of the Wall Street bailout legislation. The bill started at 3 pages, grew to 106 pages, and is now 451 pages.
HERE is the PDF file of the bill.
New Tax Breaks ( So these are tax breaks, not earmarked spending. These things get tax breaks under this bill)
* Wooden Arrows designed for use by children (Sec. 503)
* 6 page package of earmarks for litigants in the 1989 Exxon Valdez incident, Alaska (Sec. 504)
Tax Breaks
* Virgin Island and Puerto Rican Rum (Section 308)
* American Samoa (Sec. 309)
* Mine Rescue Teams (Sec. 310)
* Mine Safety Equipment (Sec. 311)
* Domestic Production Activities in Puerto Rico (Sec. 312)
* Indian Tribes (Sec. 314, 315)
* Railroads (Sec. 316)
* Auto Racing Tracks (317)
* District of Columbia (Sec. 322)
* Wool Research (Sec. 325)
The Yeas are 74 and Nays are 25.
Roll Call VOTE names and States
Here’s a rundown of the recent government actions to help the economy, which have not worked and are driving our nation deeper and deeper into debt.
source: Senate Conservatives
Even a conservative estimate of these actions shows that at least $1.4 trillion in new debt has been imposed on American taxpayers.
And some quotes from Treasury Secretary Paulson where he predicts these actions will help the economy and protect taxpayers. His predictions have been wildly off the mark and have rightly destroyed his credibility.
The Stimulus Plan
Cost: $152 billion in direct spending
“I talked with knowledgeable people in all parts of the economy and reviewed the data with our economic team…. the potential cost of not acting has become too high. We must act now to support our economy this year. The president laid out today clear principles that should guide the creation of an effective growth package. We are focused on working with Congress to quickly reach consensus on a plan that gets cash to consumers and gives businesses incentives to invest, to grow and to hire. We know from experience that these policies work to stimulate growth in the short term. The package should be robust enough to make an impact this year and should be temporary, so that it doesn’t significantly impact our long-term fiscal position.” – Secretary Paulson, January 18, 2008
Bear Stearns
Cost: $29 billion in Federal Reserve non-recourse loans
“For some months now, reduced access to short term funding and liquidity issues have created turmoil in our capital markets. In the midst of these conditions, Bear Stearns found itself facing bankruptcy. The Federal Reserve acted promptly to resolve the Bear Stearns situation and avoid a disorderly wind-down. It is the job of regulators to come together to address times such as this; and we did so. Our focus was the stability and orderliness of our financial markets.” – Secretary Paulson, March 26, 2008
Housing Bill (H.R. 3221)
Cost: $42.5 billion in direct spending
“I commend the Senate for moving swiftly to pass important GSE legislation that will provide temporary authorities to give confidence to markets and will create a strong, independent regulator better able to address the risks these enterprises pose. [I]t is of the utmost importance to our market and economic stability that the GSE portions of this bill become law. These components are orders of magnitude more important to turning the corner on the housing correction.” – Secretary Hank Paulson, July 26, 2008
Fannie and Freddie Takeover
Cost: $200 billion in stock warrants
“I strongly endorse both the decision by FHFA Director Lockhart to place Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into conservatorship and the actions taken by Treasury Secretary Paulson to ensure the financial soundness of those two companies. These necessary steps will help to strengthen the U.S. housing market and promote stability in our financial markets. I also welcome the introduction of the Treasury’s new purchase facility for mortgage-backed securities, which will provide critical support for mortgage markets in this period of unusual credit-market uncertainty.” – Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, September 7, 2008
“Based on what we have learned about these institutions… I concluded that it would not have been in the best interest of the taxpayers for Treasury to simply make an equity investment in these enterprises…. And let me make clear what today’s actions mean for Americans and their families. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are so large and so interwoven in our financial system that a failure of either of them would cause great turmoil in our financial markets…. This turmoil would directly and negatively impact household wealth: from family budgets, to home values, to savings for college and retirement. A failure would affect the ability of Americans to get home loans, auto loans and other consumer credit and business finance. And a failure would be harmful to economic growth and job creation.” — Secretary Hank Paulson, September 7, 2008
Lehman Brothers
Cost: $87 billion in advances backed by the Federal Reserve
Other Costs: $70 billion (from Federal Reserve & FRBNY)
“I strongly support the actions announced tonight by SEC Chairman Chris Cox, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and market participants. These changes will strengthen and enhance our financial markets. These initiatives will be critical to facilitating liquid, smooth functioning markets, and addressing potential concerns in the credit markets.” The SEC action included requiring segregation of customer securities and case from those of Lehman. – Secretary Hank Paulson, September 14, 2008
AIG Bailout
Cost: $85 billion in loans
“We are working closely with the Federal Reserve, the SEC and other regulators to enhance the stability and orderliness of our financial markets and minimize the disruption to our economy. I support the steps taken by the Federal Reserve tonight to assist AIG in continuing to meet its obligations, mitigate broader disruptions and at the same time protect the taxpayers.” – Secretary Hank Paulson, September 16, 2008
Money Market Mutual Fund Backings
Cost: $50 billion in pledged assets
“The U.S. Treasury Department today announced the establishment of a temporary guaranty program for the U.S. money market mutual fund industry. For the next year, the U.S. Treasury will insure the holdings of any publicly offered eligible money market mutual fund - both retail and institutional - that pays a fee to participate in the program. President George W. Bush approved the use of existing authorities by Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr. to make available as necessary the assets of the Exchange Stabilization Fund for up to $50 billion to guarantee the payment in the circumstances described below.” – Treasury Department Press Release, September 19, 2008
Latest Plan: Socializing Bad Loans
Cost: $700 billion for the latest proposal
“The federal government must implement a program to remove these illiquid assets that are weighing down our financial institutions and threatening our economy. This troubled asset relief program must be properly designed and sufficiently large to have maximum impact…. I am convinced that this bold approach will cost American families far less than the alternative - a continuing series of financial institution failures and frozen credit markets unable to fund economic expansion. I believe many Members of Congress share my conviction. I will spend the weekend working with members of Congress of both parties to examine approaches to alleviate the pressure of these bad loans on our system, so credit can flow once again to American consumers and companies. Our economic health requires that we work together for prompt, bipartisan action.” – Secretary Hank Paulson, September 19, 2008
Total Paulson Bill to Date: $715.5 billion
New Requested Authority: $700 billion
Total Since January 2008: $1.416 TRILLION
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Wild Thing's comment...........
"Wooden Arrows designed for use by children"
How does an emergency bill in order to avert an overnight collapse of the American way of life and of mom & apple pie get wool research, car racing and wooden arrows for children?
Are you kidding me!!?!
Get this Feinstein said out of the 95,000 calls to her office, 85,000 have said NAY. But she voted for it anyway. I guess forget what the people want and the people that voted for her.
I sent McCain a message. Not that it makes any difference, but I just wanted to tell him how disappointed I am in his voting for this. Especially when he says he is against pork.
Various contact information in case anyone wants it.
Here’s a link to the contact page on McCain’s campaign website:
http://www.johnmccain.com/Contact/
Ho-bama voted for this as well, so both our Presidential candidates agreed.
Capital switchboard toll free numbers:
800-965-4701
800-828-0498
Posted by Wild Thing at October 2, 2008 03:50 AM
Comments
Both of my Texas senators voted for this bill and they will hear from me.
This is a government caused mess as the government stuck it's nose into the free market and opened the door for greedy crooks to run amok. Now this same government wants the taxpayer to bail out the crooks and at the same time wants to nationalize a large part of the market place. This bill gives almost unlimited power to the Treasury Secretary and the Executive Branch.
If this bill goes through, we will have increased the size and cost of government and put another nail in the coffin of the intent of the US Constitution. It will also make us more globalized and therefore more prone to international rules at the expense of US laws.
The socialization of America continues. This is exactly what our Forefathers worried about and tried to prevent. I imagine Ronald Reagan is looking down with a tear in his eye.
Posted by: TomR at October 2, 2008 10:18 AM
In today's Denver Post, Paul O'Neill, former Secretary of the Treasury, who was fired by Bush for disagreeing with him, says, "Doesn't this seem like lunacy to you?" "The consequences of it are unbelievably bad in terms of public intrusion into the private sector." "Is anybody thinking there?"
He then gives his plan which makes sense to me but then what do I know? Trent Lott on Fox said it had to be done and the House must follow suit. I'm pretty sick of politicians.
Look to the survival of your family. Neither McCain nor Obama will be around my neighborhood when the SHTF.
Posted by: horace at October 2, 2008 12:20 PM
I've written a lot of emails and made a lot of calls. Sigh - didn't stop anything.
They are so busy covering their butts that sat there very much a part of this debacle.
Smoke and mirrors and spin, spin, spin.
Posted by: yankeemom at October 2, 2008 04:02 PM
Tom, well said!!!!!
I had one vote for it and one vote against it. But this is the craziest thing. The Dem Senator voted NO and the Republican voted yes. The Republican is Mel Martinez so that pretty much explains it, he is a total jerk and goes along with anything Bush wants. grrrrrrrrrrr
Posted by: Wild Thing at October 2, 2008 04:38 PM
Horace, DITTO that! And a big AMEN to how you are feeling, me too.
And thanks for sharing what you heard on this. It is crazy. And I am so sick of these politicians too. I would like to send them all back to someplace, like another country lol but they would have to be sent back to our country. yikes.
Posted by: Wild Thing at October 2, 2008 04:42 PM
Yankeemom, me too and I am worn out. haha I am so tied of keeping after them and then they don't listen.
Your right smoke and mirrors.
Posted by: Wild Thing at October 2, 2008 04:45 PM
The main bad thing about the bail out is that it does not address the original government rules that created the problem in the first place. That was the 1992 law that authorized Freddie to buy sub prime loans 'to increase minority home owner ship'. There are other contribututions to the problem but this is the ultimate source of the federal government meddeling in the market to force/encourage banks to make loans to uncredit worthy people enabled with bying the sub primes with Freddie and Fannie.
Posted by: Odin at October 2, 2008 06:00 PM
So exactly what is the difference between McCain and Obama?
Nothing!
They are both spend money like drunken sailor socialist.
Posted by: Duane at October 2, 2008 06:07 PM
A follow up on a question I asked yesterday on the ratio between government tax and bank foreclosures on homes. Should no the government address this. Granted this is more of a local tax problem. However federal government regulations dictate a lot of what local governments have to do, also schools and the biggest burden seems to be school taxes. The federal government is a big part in this.
Posted by: Bob at October 2, 2008 06:51 PM
Duane, the difference is McCain is not a Communist. Thats a big difference. He still believes you can work with the democrats. Call it naievete or just plain dumb. But he is an America first guy.
Obama is not and that is the difference.
Posted by: Mark at October 2, 2008 09:54 PM
I second Mark on the difference and that's enough for me.
Posted by: horace at October 3, 2008 12:11 AM
Odin, yes and I want the guilty ones to be punished too and there is nothing about that being done.
Posted by: Wild Thing at October 3, 2008 03:53 AM
Duane the difference is huge.
Mark said it best what the difference is and he is right.
Posted by: Wild Thing at October 3, 2008 03:56 AM
Bob I have no idea, this is all something I have had to read up on this bailout stuff even to be able to post on it. haha I have learned a lot but not all, it is just too huge to know all about it. For me anyway.
Maybe you can call your Rep. or Senators and ask or google even might be of some help. I am sorry I really have no idea what.
Posted by: Wild Thing at October 3, 2008 03:59 AM
