I'll start today's post by saying Happy Earth Day to all of the flouresent-lightbulb-loving-recycling-reduce-your-carbon-footprint-crowd... (and anyone else that celebrated Earth Day...). I wasn't surprised to read that President Obama and VP Biden both burned up a ghastly amount of fuel on several flights today (on separate airplanes, of course). I'm not good with math, so if anyone can tell me how much jet fuel these presidential jaunts spit into the atmosphere, let me know.
Yesterday, I recieved an email regarding the government's latest move to further solidify their grasp around the throat of the free enterprise system. It goes by the name of Senate Bill 3217...or rather, the "Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010". This bill (1,421 pages long... wonder if anyone will read this one?) as written by the Tea Party Patriots website...
In short it grants permanent, unlimited bailout authority to the Federal Reserve. It's like TARP forever without the nasty, unpopular debates and votes in Congress. Beyond that it gives the Fed the power to takeover vaguely defined "nonbank financial companies". And the Fed has the power to decide what constitutes a "nonbank financial company" on a case by case basis.
Mitch McConnell (Kentucky Senator) is quoted in saying, “This bill not only allows for taxpayer-funded bailouts of Wall Street banks, it institutionalizes them,” Mr. McConnell says on the video in a speech on the Senate floor. In another clip, Mr. McConnell says, “It provides for an endless taxpayer bailout of Wall Street banks.”
I found the Congressional Budget Office's Cost Estimate of S. 3217 ... http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/114xx/doc11454/s3217.pdf
Just reading the first line of the summary makes me cringe...
More government intervention and expansion. More taxpayer dollars going in the wrong direction. Just what the United States does NOT need at this point. I have emailed several Congressmen and women imploring them to NOT support this bill, and I encourage you to do the same if you have a free second. The government has already grown to a despicable level: a majority of the auto industry, the student loan industry, the health care industry are now in the clutches of the government rather than the PEOPLE... and in addition to the reckless spending by Washington... this is FAR from the nation our Founding Fathers intended to create when they signed their lives away with the Declaration, and framed One Nation Under God with the Constitution.
Government expansion has got to stop before the only freedoms and liberties left in this country are those printed in textbooks. Call or email your Congressmen/women ... every voice counts!
http://www.investmentadvisor.com/News/2010/4/Pages/Obama-Presses-For-Swift-Action-on-Reform-CBO-Estimates-Cost-of-Dodd-Bill-.aspx
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/23/business/economy/23regulate.html?hp
http://www.rightsidenews.com/201004219669/politics-and-economics/senate-bill-3217-another-horrible-bill.html
Oh and just for giggles... I found an article on Drudge Report regarding the number of gallons of fuel burned by President Obama's Earth Day Excursions... grand total: 9,116 gallons!
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-4962384-503544.html
Have a great day... and by the way, you still have time to take out your recycling bin. Just sayin'.
Endless Wall Street bailouts are scary. As Elizabeth Warren says, "Wall Street could take the worst bet on earth, and if they win the bet they keep the profits. If they lose, taxpayers bail them out." Why can't We The People make better rules than that?!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thefreelibrary.com/Leveling+the+playing+field:+Dr.+Elizabeth+Warren--head+of+Congress%27s...-a0224313392
Quote from the article: "Our future is at stake, and the future of our children. The story works this way: We had a boom-and-bust economy from 1794 until 1930. Our young nation would lurch Lurch
Addams’s zombielike, extremely tall butler. [TV: “The Addams Family” in Terrace, I, 29]
See : Butler
..... Click the link for more information. from moments of great prosperity to moments of economic panic. Coming out of the 1930s, our leaders crafted a set of basic rules that put fairness into the marketplace: FDIC FDIC
See: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
FDIC
See Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
..... Click the link for more information. insurance that made it safe to put money in banks; Glass-Steagall, that said banks that take deposits cannot go out and speculate with your money; some honesty rules for Wall Street through the SEC. Those rules brought us 50 years of economic security and prosperity.
By the 1980s, some of those were outmoded--but instead of trying to think through what kind of rules we need to create a fair marketplace, we just began to throw the rules out."
Let's support those in government that want to start over with fair rules for all. Not those who want to let "free enterprise" rule the day unchecked--we've seen where that gets us. Free enterprise is one of those wild horses that does incredibly well only when appropriately harnessed.
I spent Earth Day burning some fossil fuels in my backyard trashcan, driving countless miles in my less than eco-friendly Explorer, and throwing paper and recyclable plastic containers into my non-recyclable garbage containers. Perhaps I can elongate my carbon footprint so that it will approach that of Al Gore.
ReplyDeleteI celebrated Earth Day by taking a near 500 mile road trip to see family.Once there we burned enough fossil fuels to be comparative to Air Force One. But, I recycled a soda bottle on the way there so... that should balance out. LOL. :P
ReplyDeleteAnonymous #1... I am a bit, ok MORE than a bit, confused with your last paragraph... it seems oxymoron to say that FREE enterprise (keyword there is FREE...) should be "CHECKED" and only works well when "HARNESSED"...
ReplyDeleteI think we would all agree that totally free enterprise, or unchecked capitalism, is a bad idea. The people (through their government) need to have some laws in place to prevent the abuses of human dignity that result from the race to maximize profits by minimizing costs. I'm thinking of the child labor that was prevalent in the early years of the Industrial Revolution, before laws were passed to prevent it, or monopolies that gouged people who had no choices. Unfortunately we don't yet have laws strong enough to prevent Massey Energy from cutting corners on mine safety regulations and murdering 29 workers in the name of profit.
ReplyDeleteI guess the question is, free enterprise "works" for whom? Certainly it works for the coal barons. Not so much for the families of miners and the surrounding communities who have their creeks and rivers blackened with coal sludge on a regular basis, because it's not cost effective for the mines to build sludge ponds that actually retain all that toxic slime.
I think that unchecked free enterprise was a fine idea back in agrarian times when people had a limited realm influence and social accountability, but that the game has become so complicated that we need more rules to keep capitalists accountable to the common good.
Ha ha! "Free enterprise is like free love, it often has unintended consequences!"
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