Topic: Federal Reserve Bailout
The House Blocks a Coup--For Now "When in trouble, or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout."by rtbohan
(libertarian)
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
The best thing that can be said about the government's response to the economic situation is that so far they have done nothing. Let's hope that continues. A majority of the House of Representatives yesterday voted NOT to pass the Paulson Plan giving all legislative authority to the executive branch. For reference purposes in November, here is a list of those who supported the fascist coup and those who managed, barely, to stop it([link edited for length]).
The administration originally demanded passage of the plan within seven days. To allow the presidential candidates of the two major parties a photo op, it was decided that ten days was okay. When the majority in the House rejected the pleas of the President and the Leadership of both parties and turned it down, it turned out that after the Jewish Holidays would be soon enough.
And there is no doubt that the holidays will be used by the Speaker and the majority and minority leaders to dangle earmarks before the eyes of those who voted "No", while the party whips justify their title to reverse the vote.
The President has made a second appeal for support of the bill, in an effort to create public support([link edited for length]).And the media joined in. The Wall Street Journal reported (perhaps hopefully) that the panic that has affected the political leadership was spreading through the population([link edited for length]).Even C-Span joined the chorus, with a financial news reporter([link edited for length]) and a spokesman for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce([link edited for length] who argued that the solution of the crisis should be left to the wisdom and experience of the Federal Reserve and the financial experts who caused it. To C-Span's credit, they also presented Representative Kaptur who said that the Congress should take the time to get facts being stampeded into this major mistake.([link edited for length]
The conservative economist, Robert Samuelson, in two of his columns, points out the fact that the Paulson Plan is not a plan at all, but a confession of intellectual bankruptcy. The "Plan calls for a transfer of power from the legislative branch to the executive branch and hopes for the best. It is intended to enhance the power of the executive and give the Congress a cover. You can read Samuelson's articles here( [link edited for length]) and here([link edited for length])
Although Samuelson shows what I consider an undue optimism about the economic consequences of the action, he is correct in saying that it is not an economic plan at all. It is a complete transfer of the power of the purse strings from the legislative branch to the executive branch. Having already transferred the war making power, the Congress will be reduced to a rubber stamp to appointed members of the executive branch.
In his first inaugural address, Thomas Jefferson said: "If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union or to change its republican form, let them stand...as monuments to the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is free to combat it."([link edited for length]).
Reason seems to be in short supply among the leadership of both parties in Congress. We must first pray that the reason of the majority of House members is not corrupted, and that it remains available in the population. It is the only safeguard of liberty.
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The views expressed in this
article are those of rtbohan only and do not represent
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Posted By: Jake, the champion of the constitution
Date: 2008-09-30 19:23:03
rtbohan -
As usual thanks! Enjoyed the Stephenson links. Its interesting you wrote "Economic Consequences" which is the title of one of Keynes's works. I quoted it here, might be worth a look
http://www.nolanchart.com/article5037.html
Two other notes, (btw I wasnt the first reviewer, but did approve the resend), but they did notice that you misspelled channge (2nd last para) and you didnt change it yet. No biggie and it seemed to me you addressed everything else.
On the repeated [link edited for length] - good documentation but I think the flow of the article could be made better if you just build the link over top of the text in the editor. You can check one of my articles, but in the text editor you just highlight the text and then click the figure-8 chain and paste in the html
"It is a complete transfer of the power of the purse strings from the legislative branch to the executive branch. Having already transferred the war making power, the Congress will be reduced to a rubber stamp to appointed members of the executive branch."
This is an excellent point which I had not considered before. Its also another example of W trying to cut the judicial branch of government out of the picture as well, by prohibiting judicial oversight. Could it be that W's plan is to render the legislative and judicial branches non-functional and turn America into a dictatorship?
Posted By: Jake, the champion of the constitution
Date: 2008-09-30 22:00:04
David S -
Take a look at this article. In it, a Congressman reveals that for the past 10-20 years the Executive branch has been running our international arms dealership unabated, and most of Congress does not have a clue what arms we sell to whom. No joke
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