The House on Monday defeated a $700 billion emergency “rescue”. I am not surprised. In fact, to me it never looked like a good idea. On the up side, oil dropped $10 a barrel.
The Republicans are blaming the defeat on a Pelosi pre-vote speech and an Obama’s indifferent attitude and being very little involved.
The Democrats said something different, “The Republicans killed this,” said House Financial Services Committee Chairman, Barney Frank. Democrats noted that a majority of Republicans had opposed the bill, while a majority of Democrats supported it. Democrats voted 140 to 95 in favor of the legislation, while just 65 Republicans backed the bill and 133 opposed it. [That means 95 democrats voted against it too].
The American people say, “Yay-We didn’t want it and our representatives heard us!”
I decided to look at an Indepedent view. Bob Barr, an Independent in this election, was against the bill. His view:
“Instead of bailing-out banks and investors, Congress should address the causes of today’s economic mess. The first is to end government pressure for irresponsible lending. That means privatizing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and repealing the Community Reinvestment Act. It also means depoliticizing the nation’s money supply. The Federal Reserve cannot continue artificially inflating the money supply, which creates the illusion of a boom that is inevitably followed by a bust,” observes Barr.
“The government needs to investigate and prosecute fraud. It also needs to adjust accounting rules, such as ‘mark-to-market,’ which threaten the balance sheets of sound companies. We need to streamline complicated regulations that have not created transparency for customers and investors. And we need to look at any rules that make it harder for companies to make the necessary adjustments themselves,” says Barr.
“The bailout bill is not only bad because it forces innocent taxpayers to pay off irresponsible bankers and investors, but because the bill creates an excuse for more extensive federal economic meddling—setting corporate salaries, receiving stock in companies, and ‘adjusting’ mortgage terms. Once the government gets into these areas of the economy, it isn’t likely to get out,” Barr warns.
Finally, Barr explains, “we must force the federal government to get its fiscal house in order. The national debt already is $9.5 trillion. Social Security and Medicare currently threaten us with $100 trillion in unfunded liabilities,” Barr says. “Just where will this new $700 billion come from?”
Indeed, was that ever explained to us?
What is puzzling is the many articles and tv appearences of Pelosi pushing this bailout and then the absolutely vicious speech she made before the vote. Did she decide late in the game that this bailout would favor the Republicans in the election?
It’s too quick and too big a change not to question.
Oh, and how come Bob Barr wasn’t allowed to be part of the debate last Friday night?
