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Tag archive for ‘Debts’

US and World Markets fall and Congress looks for blame.

US and World Markets fall and Congress looks for blame.

Today’s markets plummted around the world reacting to the bailout bill, worries about the broader credit markets, and the lack of reaction by most Western governments to what is undoubtedly a broadening financial crunch around the world. Panic swept through the world’s financial markets, wiping $2.5 trillion from share values, amid concern that regulators and politicians were struggling to get a grip on the worsening crisis of confidence.

Bail out on the bailout

Bail out on the bailout

Put simply - the problem with the bailout is this - who are we bailing out, exactly, with the current Bill (HR 1424)? The now 420+ paged monstrosity includes things such as tax breaks for employers who encourage their workers to take bicycles to work, a 2500+ dollar tax for electric vehichle purchases, an alternative fuel tax credit, credits for biodesiel and alternative fuels, credits for carbon dioxide sequestration, credits for geothermal heat pumps, tax breaks for the steel industry, changes to the Alternative Minimum Tax system, oh and among my personal favorites, a seven year amortization table for the expenses associated with development and running a motocycle racing track. Yes, you heard me - motocross racing tax provisions.

Uncle Sam the Loan Shark

Uncle Sam the Loan Shark

I must admit - I’m totally dumbfounded and stunned today by the article I read in the Wall Street Journal entitled, “The Paulson Plan will make Money,” by Andy Kessler. Essentially, Kessler’s argument is that somehow in all of this mess, the money spent in the proposed financial intervention plan before Congress will actually result in a windfall to the taxpayer in potentially trillions of dollars. This argument is fundamentally flawed - for it if were true, there would be no investment/financial services crisis to force the government’s hand.

Reform, not Rescue… Buy in, not Bail Out.

Reform, not Rescue… Buy in, not Bail Out.

This is a restructuring, not a rescue. It’s a buy in, not a bailout. Congress and the White House need to realize that this effort’s main goal is the stabilization of the financial markets and the recapitalization of the financial system. It is not the time to take the taxpayer’s money and give it to Wall Street. It is not the time to take the taxpayer’s money and give it to homeowners who can’t pay their mortgages. We’re taking the taxpayers money and correcting an error we should have corrected over five years ago - making the markets more transparent and ensuring that people who benefit from risky deals also assume the downside to those deals when they go bad.

Price tag for Government led Wall Street Bailout… $1.3 trillion… saving the US Economy from collapse… Priceless

Price tag for Government led Wall Street Bailout… $1.3 trillion… saving the US Economy from collapse… Priceless

As a conservative - I’m willing to pay the 1.3T dollars to save the US economy… just like I was willing to spend over a trillion dollars fighting for freedom in Iraq, Afghanistan, and in the Global War on Terrorism. This threat to the United States needed to be dealt with and in a logical way… because stability in the US markets is priceless.