This is Ron Paul speaking on H.R. 3221, The American Housing and Foreclosure Prevention Act, which passed yesterday. This 7 minute video made it to the front page of Digg in 3 hours--so lots of people have already seen it.
Congress has failed us again. Yet again, this time by 272 to 152, they voted to print more money and save Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the banks and the fools who overinvested in homes. Shrub even stopped threatening to veto it, it was so popular. Hidden in the bill is an increase in the debt ceiling by $800 billion!!! The limit is now $10.6 TRILLION. There is no limit to how much play money the Reserve can print to "help" the banks and fools, but all the while this effort is undermining the strength of the dollar, and bankrupting a nation.
It's all couched in the media as "staving off foreclosure" and "boosting confidence" in the market, so the average american thinks it must be a good thing. But our congress, both parties, are in the majority wrong, and we will pay a much higher price if we THE PEOPLE do not force them to face the truth and act accordingly.
Two more absurdities became law in this bill....now mortgage brokers are legally required to be FINGERPRINTED, and every single credit card transaction will be reported to the IRS. THIS IS BIG BROTHER AT HIS WORST. You don't want the government to know what you buy? Pay cash. While it's still any good.
And our congress approved it. If you congressperson is one of those 272 who voted for it, they deserve being called out. And if they are one of the 152 who voted against it, they deserve a pat on the back. Time to get to work as a citizen. We really must.
Now granted, if we are to stop the inflation of these economic bubbles, people are going to loose homes and end up living in their parents basements or friends back yards, and doing whatever is needed to survive. It is inevitable that there will be pain in the transition from federally managed false economy to real market economy. But as Dr Paul likens it to a medical treatment that is painful but necessary, if we don't take the treatment, the patient may die. The patient probably will die. The patient being the dollar, and the American economy. The benefit of the painful treatment is that we would be forced to rebuilt communities and families, to stop the wide independent scattering that is so characteristic of America, and begin to take care of each other again. I think a lot of us crave that change.
SOURCES:
http://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog/?p=235
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-housing24-2008jul24,0,548381.story
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2008/07/200872323946752533.html
ttp://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/ccagw-denounces-housing-bailout-bill/story.aspx?guid=%7BB97C17E2-68A8-4CAD-B96E-E8CCF58DE416%7D&dist=hppr
http://www.huliq.com/64776/housing-bill-finally-getting-passed-and-what-cost
clips:
"Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are government-sponsored enterprises, or GSEs, which own or guarantee almost half of the nation's $12 trillion in outstanding residential mortgage debt. The two companies have seen their shares plunge by around 75 per cent since the start of the year as losses from their mortgage holdings threaten their financial survival."
"It includes about $15 billion in housing tax breaks, including a credit of up to $7,500 for first-time home buyers for people who bought homes between April 9, 2008, and July 1, 2009. It also allows people who don't itemize their taxes to claim a $500-$1,000 deduction on their 2008 property taxes. That chiefly benefits homeowners who have paid off their homes and can't claim a deduction for mortgage interest."