How about option number three? No bailout for mortgage companies, no bailout for mortgage holders, and allow the market to drive the less efficient models out.
AMEN BROTHER AV!
End the welfare state which goes both ways!
Big,
I don't want federal gov't taking my money and doing "good things" with it at all. Leave that money with me at home and let me work on those "good things" with my State and local officals and my neighbors. Why send money to Washington DC where certain legislators by right of seniority or legislative manipulation can take tax dollars from me and my neighbors who have real and legit concerns/problems and give that money elsewhere because some lobbyist or interest group has positioned themselves at the seat of power to make things happen all for their own benefit. Perfect example is what AV himself pointed out above and God Bless him for it!
If you honestly look at gov't and what it does with our tax dollars via the legislative process, not only do they themselves create the very welfare class and statism for their own ends but they also by being bought and sold to the highest lobbyist bidder, create business monopolies for their corp. friends and then close out those markets for upstart companies who would be competitors. Who knows, had they not subsidized oil for example and help create a monopoly market for oil, we might have a competing energy source that today may have us free from sending our money to the Middle East to fund the very people who hate us. Ford, GM, Dodge and the late American Motors loved the single point energy source because their produciton line was devoted to the lone internal combusiton engine powered by oil. Had there been 2, 3 , 4 different sources of energy for cars, these production lines would have to diversify and thus more capitial layout which effects profits. Good example is the cost of the hybrib over the standard internal combustion engine. Hybrids are only gaining ground not so much because of fuel prices but from the auto makers position they can make a few of these and it effects their CAFE standard fleet rating so that can continue to produce the same stuff of the other lines. Gov't can't afford high mileage vehicles because this would drop revenues from the gas excise tax. It's all intertwined and not in a good way either. Giving the gov't more money has shown a history that things only get worse for the meat and potatoe citizens that really drive this country and that is the Middle Class.
Have you ever given any thought to the fact that the government could do some good with that money?
Let's just consider what they've done elsewhere with our money.
1) Social Security? Now beside the fact that the gov't should not have ever gotten into this business to begin with, what have they done with the tax dollars collected? Thought of us first and foremost? Nope. Swapped SS dollars for federal IOU's and then spent that transferred that money into the general treasury and spent it. Opps, some of it on earmarks too! What would the situation be today had they naked that money at only 1% interest earned? Hell of a lot better than it is now obviously. And which party objected to what was being done with that moeny? None of the above is the correct answer.
2) Department of Energy? We're just rolling in cheap energy aren't we and talk about a real good national energy policy. We're the envy of the world and we are obligated nor controlled by
no one when it comes to energy.
No one can effect our economy with energy as we are an independent might! Brett correctly pointed out a VW diesel (sorry forgot the model) that get's very high mileage and you'd think a good national energy policy would have that car on the market right now. Instead, we have the dominate makes (monopoly again)holding that model off the market so they can sell lesser makes of their own in order to justify hybrids for example so they can manipulate the total fleet mileage to meet CAFE standards.
3) Department of Education? Rising test scores! Math and Science knowledge at an alltime high across the student spectrum. you really wanna go there?
4) Immigration? Again, you really wanna go there?
5) Economic? Again, something the gov't shouldn't be in the business of effecting one way or the other but look at what policy has done. The dollar is becoming a more debased currency everyday and a few weeks ago in Amsterdam, currency exchange with the dollar was halted over fears of the dollars lost strenght. Even worse, the gov't refuses to instill strenght back into the dollar by returning to the gold standard for example as even some moderate economists are starting to speak of all because this would grind the ability of the gov't to borrow and continue deficit spending to a halt. Let's devalue the dollar and force prices up so Congress and the President can continue this game. Again, there's earmarks involved!
We could go on forever.
As for earmark
"theory" you might take some time out of your life to sitdown and read the Congressional record, the legislative agenda and the Federal Register before you call such things only theory. Look for such things as amending resolutions and bill attachments and here's how it works.
Congressman "A" proposes legislation for a highway bill for East Egypt but he needs more votes to get it to pass. He goes to Congressman "B", "C" and "D" for their support but "B" wants a farm subsidy for Corp. Agribusiness "Z" in South Egypt, Congressman "C" wants a subsidy for Defense Contractor "W" in North Egypt and Congressman "D" wants a subsidy for Medical Research Corp. "Y" in West Egypt. (No offense or insult to Egypt either) All are attached or made amending resolutions to the parent bill and guess who not only signs on as co-sponsors, but then votes to pass the bill? Would they have without the attachments? What good came from this for the rest of the areas across America? None, but no problem, they have their Congressman do the same thing and when the money runs out, they just borrow it in effect from future taxpayers and that like it or not is a tax increase!
Can you walk across the street to your neighbor's house with a gun and demand money that you then take and give to your other neighbor to satisfy their own needs? Nope! It's called robbery and in fact armed robbery which is a serious felony. However, you believe you can elect a group of people and on your behalf have them do the same thing and because it's under the color of law, it's all perfectly legal and you'd even subscribe to the notion that it in no way violates the Law of God or Law of Nature (however you want to put it and you the one so worried about being able to pray) because it was done under the pretext of democracy and electoral process. It's the "AMERICAN" way! "Oh Lord, I don't come to you asking much, just give me my neighbor's stuff so I can do "good things" with it! Amen!"
Folks use to sit in the back of the bus too because of that same process but that sure as hell wasn't right, now was it?
But the absolute best line of all:
EVERYONE should have to pay at the federal level.
IMO those 9 words speak volumes! D, that sounds more a democrat than you do!
Hell....one day I tried responding to one of your posts and I just put the whole thing in the quotation but when I tried to respond to it the board said their were "too many characters" or something like that. I barely had two sentences in. LOL!
