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well, no one is laughing, but in this clip from December of 2006 there is only one man (Peter Schiff), who had enough foresight and understanding to correctly predict the economic trouble that was ahead. Listen to the others laugh and joke at what he had to say.
While everyone was preoccupied with talk of the $700 billion bailout of the financial sector, the House passed a $25 billion bailout for the US auto industry. Our political leaders are sending a clear message: If your company is large enough, it doesn’t matter how disastrously it’s being run, we’ll take money — forcibly — from taxpayers to help you maintain your failing enterprise.
Collectivism — the idea that the rights of individuals should be sacrificed for the erroneous benefit of the common good — is destroying this country. We are quickly adopting Soviet-style central planning; and if things don’t change (and, no, I’m not talking about the change that Obama and McCain claim to offer) soon, the fate of The United States is sure to echo that of the Soviet Empire.
What’s worse than a “Bridge to Nowhere,” that actually goes somewhere, albeit a small island that does not justify a bridge at the expense of taxpayers? How about a road to nowhere that actually leads to the non-existent “Bridge to Nowhere?”
Sarah “Thanks but no thanks” Palin has a lot of nerve touting her opposition to the bridge, when not only did she actually support it in the beginning (until it became politically unfeasible), and end up taking the federal money; she also allowed the construction of the $26 million road leading to where the bridge was going to be built.
I believe that is the epitome of a “pork barrel project” as McCain would call it, if it had occurred under Democratic leadership.
…The only person in Washington who has the slightest clue what’s really going on. The man who has seen this coming for many years now, and warned everyone about it. It’s unfortunate that it takes an event like this to open people’s eyes to the soundness of Austrian economics, and the disaster that is brought about by Keynesian economics under which our government currently operates.
UPDATE: Another one this morning.
Walter Williams is one of the few voices of reason with regard to the economic policy of the US. This short column touches on a few points including the myth that this economic crisis is a market failure that will be remedied by more regulation as McCain and Obama both call for.
Many politicians and pundits claim that the credit crunch and high mortgage foreclosure rate is an example of market failure and want government to step in to bail out creditors and borrowers at the expense of taxpayers who prudently managed their affairs. These financial problems are not market failures but government failure. The Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 is a federal law that intimidated lenders into offering credit throughout their entire market and discouraged them from restricting their credit services to low-risk markets, a practice sometimes called redlining. The Federal Reserve Bank, keeping interest rates artificially low, gave buyers and builders incentive to buy and build, thereby producing the housing bubble. Lenders were willing to make creative interest-only loans, often high-risk “no doc” and “liar loans,” in order to allow people to buy more housing than they could afford. Of course, with the expectation that housing prices will continue to rise, it was no problem for lenders and borrowers but housing prices began to fall, leaving some people with negative home equity and banks in trouble.
He also makes some other great points: Congress, and Congress alone, is constitutionally authorized to raise or lower taxes; and Congress cannot create jobs, despite what politicians claim.
“If Fannie and Freddie were not underwritten by the federal government, investors would demand Fannie and Freddie provide assurance that they follow accepted management and accounting practices…. By transferring the risk of a widespread mortgage default, the government increases the likelihood of a painful crash in the housing market. This is because the special privileges granted to Fannie and Freddie have distorted the housing market by allowing them to attract capital they could not attract under pure market conditions. As a result, capital is diverted from its most productive use into housing. This reduces the efficacy of the entire market and thus reduces the standard of living of all Americans.”
-Ron Paul, circa 2003 (Quoted in Lew Rockwell’s column: The Social Imperative of Sound Money)
Now we see one of the largest steps towards socialism that this country has experienced since the New Deal which significantly worsened, and delayed the correction of the great depression and gave birth to these two leviathan arms of the state; Fannie and Freddie. It’s no wonder that banks are dropping like flies.
It’s ironic (well, not really anymore) that republicans are instituting policies that align them with those whom they claim to be so fervently opposed to: Socialists. Bush uses different terminology, but it’s the same failed policy.
Another example of why government does not provide the best solution to environmental concerns. The Interior Department is responsible for managing federally owned land. These employees, like so many other government employees tempted by lobbyists and special interests, were anything but responsible.
Radley Balko at Reason made an interesting observation: The Bush administration is currently pursuing a military strategy that McCain, Romney, and others harshly criticized Obama for suggesting.
Will McCain now condemn the Bush administration’s decision to go into Pakistan? Or was this idea only naive ten months ago? Was it only naive because it came from Obama?
Ron Paul held a conference earlier today where he essentially endorsed third party candidates and encouraged everyone to not vote for either of the two establishment candidates. His opening statement was a very profound argument for doing so. He was accompanied by Ralph Nader, Cynthia McKinney, and Chuck Baldwin, all of whom signed a pledge agreeing on four critical issues that are ignored by Obama and McCain.
If you are seeking a president who will keep us involved (and expand our role) in foreign wars; continue to bail out corporations and large banking and lending institutions at the expense of taxpayers; further erode civil liberties by means of spying, warrantless wiretapping, torture, etc.; and refuse to address the issue of monetary policy resulting in the debasing of our currency and ultimately widening the gap between the rich and poor; then you might as well flip a coin and vote for either Barack Obama or John McCain.
Ron Paul’s statement to the National Press Club
Candidate Statements:
* Ralph Nader
* Chuck Baldwin
* Cynthia McKinney
Sign the open debates petition to help candidates offering REAL change, get a chance to participate in national debates.
What is happening? Why are all the mainstream media outlets talking about the figure of speech used by Obama? Why isn’t it clear to people what Obama was talking about when he said “you can put lipstick on a pig, but its still a pig.” Are Americans really that stupid? I understand the McCain campaign has a motive to make such idiotic accusations, but do the American people really need to listen to hours of analysis about the use of a figure of speech? I hope not.
A notable comment from Mike Tennant:
“The Bush administration plans to spend $1 billion of our tax and/or newly minted dollars to purchase the enmity of Russia under the guise of foreign aid to Georgia. In addition, Dick Cheney is visiting the region to stir up even more trouble–and, coincidentally, meeting with representatives of BP and Chevron. Funny how the U.S. government only demonstrates concern for oppressed peoples in oil-rich countries, isn’t it? (On the other hand, people in countries without oil should be grateful for Uncle Sam’s benign neglect of their problems.)”
Today is a huge day for Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty. They are hosting the Rally for the Republic, at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
C-SPAN-2 will be covering the entire rally. See the Schedule below.
Paul was on CNN this morning talking about how, despite being a 10 term Republican congressman, he is essentially being shunned by the Republican Party at their convention.
Tuesday’s Rally for the Republic schedule:
11:30 - Doors open
12:30 - Intro: Tucker Carlson
12:40 - National Anthem: Matt Colvin
12:50 - Invocation: Barb Davis White
12:55 - Howard Phillips
1:10 - Doug Wead
1:30 - Tom Woods
1:50 - Grover Norquist
2:10 - Lew Rockwell
2:30 - Bill Kauffman
2:50 - Special Guest
3:10 - Bruce Fein
3:35 - Gov. Jesse Ventura
4:05 - John Tate‚ Campaign for Liberty Presentation
4:25 - Gov. Gary Johnson
5:00 - Aimee Allen
6:00 - Break
7:00 - Intro: Barry Goldwater
7:05 - Ron Paul
8:05 - Sara Evans
9:30 - End of Program
9:30 - Jimmie Vaughan After Party
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