MUTH'S TRUTHS Porter Slams Heller, Conservatives Posted: 30 Sep 2008 09:29 PM CDT
It's bad enough that Rep. Jon Porter (R-Nevada) voted for the $700 billion taxpayer bailout of Wall Street, but he did so like a typical Chicken Little liberal while slamming his Nevada House colleague Rep. Dean Heller and other true conservatives in the process. "All indicators are we're on the verge of a national, international collapse," Porter breathlessly warned in an Associated Press interview. "It's not when, it's now, it's today, and for those who aren't able to see this they're blind." Porter went on to blame the situation on the Bush administration for not having "had more checks and balances in place." So according to Porter, the majority of Congress, including Heller, as well as a majority of American voters are completely clueless. And the problem was President Bush not having enough regulations in place even though it was Democrats in the U.S. Senate who blocked a Republican bill to further regulate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac three years ago, and President Clinton who pressured the mortgage giants to give no-money-down "affordable housing" loans to people who shouldn't have gotten them. Maybe it's Jon Porter who's clueless. For folks who still might not be sure who's really responsible for this mess and why that bailout bill was so bad, click HERE for a Muth's Truths compilation of conservative thought on the subject. Double, Double Bailout Trouble Posted: 30 Sep 2008 06:25 PM CDT Because the Wall Street bailout is such a big deal, here's a double-issue of News & Views from the "right" side of the issue. But first, a few of my own drive-by Muthings… * "The House is limiting e-mails from the public to prevent its websites from crashing due to the enormous amount of mail being submitted on the financial bailout bill," reported The Hill today. Any bets on whether or not the vast majority of those emails are for or against the bailout? * That You Tube video link I sent out yesterday was apparently taken down because the background music used in it was copyrighted. The producers of the video only need to replace the copyrighted music with easy-to-obtain and inexpensive non-copyrighted music and they'll be able to repost their video. As soon as they do so - if they do so - I'll send you the new link. * In the meantime, here's another You Tube video compilation of a 2004 congressional hearing on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in which Republicans repeatedly call for more regulation of the mortgage giants while Democrats, especially Rep. Barney Frank, deny there's a problem - and one loudmouthed, race-baiting liberal even goes so far as to call efforts to reign in Fannie Mae chief Frank Raines a "lynching." Catch this eye-opening video HERE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MGT_cSi7Rs * Hey, here's an idea: If Congress wants to spend $700 billion for a Wall Street bailout, why don't they offset that with $700 billion of spending cuts somewhere else? I suggest we start with the elimination of the federal Department of Education and work our way down the list. Who's with me? * The latest line on the Wall Street bailout is that it's actually a Main Street bailout, in that retirees with pensions are going to be hit by the drop in the stock market. Well, perhaps many of them should have thought about that when they were voting for Bill Clinton who pushed banks to provide "affordable housing" loans to people who shouldn't have gotten such loans in the first place. Or when they voted for the Democrats in the Senate who voted against a bill in 2005 to fix the problem. Why should those of us who have been voting the "right" way all these years bail out liberal AARP retirees who voted for the people who brought on this mess? * As noted below, this problem has its genesis in the Carter-era legislation known as the Community Reinvestment Act, essentially affirmative action home loans. Whatever the final bailout "deal" is, it should absolutely include repeal of CRA…or conservatives should continue to vote against the bailout. SO WHAT WOULD YOU DO, SMARTY-PANTS? A number of readers have written emails along the lines of "OK, it you don't like the $700 billion Bush/Paulson/Pelosi taxpayer bailout, what's YOUR solution." Fair enough. First…stop and take a deep breath. Fools rush in where conservatives fear to tread. Don't rush to pass a bill for the sake of doing "something." That's how we got the Patriot Act and the moronic TSA which confiscates your toothpaste before you board a plane. Secondly, give conservatives a chance to fully assess the situation and provide alternatives…something already underway. Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform has come up with some suggestions. The fiscal conservatives at the Club for Growth have come up with some suggestions. Newt Gingrich is planning to unveil a plan today. And the conservative members of the House Republican Study Committee have even more ideas. Let's wait and see ALL our options and alternatives before Congress does more harm than good in fixing a problem with $700 billion taxpayer dollars that Congress created in the first place. BUT WHAT IF IT DOESN'T WORK? "(W)hat if the bailout, as originally proposed and in its latest incarnation, would spend $700 billion of taxpayers' money and actually make the economy worse? Believe it or not, there is good evidence this may happen. The inflationary prospects of the bailout price tag may lead to spikes in oil and crop prices that could hit ordinary Americans in their cars and on their kitchen tables. And government purchases of financial assets could ironically further constrain credit through causing write-downs on even the balance sheets of financial firms not participating in the bailout by worsening the effects of mark-to-market accounting rules." - John Berlau of the Competitive Enterprise Institute DISGRACEFUL PLAN "This unconscionable ($700 billion bailout) scheme forces the vast majority of taxpayers who were honest and prudent to bail out firms that made bad business decisions. Furthermore, it does nothing to address the root causes of today's market difficulties. The long-term effects of this fiasco, including inflation, a weaker dollar, and an even more precarious federal balance sheet, are almost certain to outweigh the shallow short-term stabilization of moneyed interests who have been twisting arms on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. "…Congress helped to create this debacle with the Community Reinvestment Act, poor tax policies, hastily designed mark-to-market regulations, and spectacular negligence with regard to the systemic risks posed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Instead of addressing those core problems, this disgraceful plan snatches $700 billion from the pockets of hard-working Americans who largely had no part in this horrific play." - National Taxpayers Union, 9/29/08 THE ADMINISTRATION THAT CRIED WOLF "Even House leaders admit the bill is far too interventionist for their tastes. Minority Leader John Boehner called the $700 billion plan a 'crap sandwich' during a closed-door caucus of his members last night as he exhorted them to vote for the bailout bill if their 'conscience' would allow it. Paul Ryan, ranking member on the House Budget Committee, told his colleagues it 'sucks' even as he said he would reluctantly vote for it. "But some members simply couldn't stomach the prospect of voting for such a bill. 'I didn't get elected to turn this country into France,' one member told me. He added that the predictions of financial doom by Congressional and administration leaders have been overplayed: 'They shouldn't have said the sky will fall tomorrow every day. It didn't,' he said." - John Fund, Political Diary, 9/29/08 THE TRIPLE-CROWN OF BUSH BLUNDERS "The Bush Administration has now provided three case studies in arrogance, isolation, and destructiveness: Michael Brown during Hurricane Katrina, Ambassador Jerry Bremer in Baghdad, and Secretary Paulson at Treasury. It is a tragic and very expensive legacy. No conservative and no Republican should doubt how much it has hurt our cause and our party." - Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, 9/29/08 HELLO, I'M HANK PAULSON…AND I'M HERE TO HELP "I am worried for our country - not so much because of the tumult in the financial markets but because of the federal government's response and its implications. "After Hurricane Katrina, the federal government assumed roles traditionally handled by state and local governments. After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the government federalized 25,000 workers through the Transportation Security Administration. The example of security-focused countries such as Israel, which elects to have that function handled by the private sector, did not matter. "Now, our federal government is likely to commit three-quarters of a trillion dollars — more than last year's Pentagon budget — to a bailout based on what happened in the credit markets last week." - South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford AMEN AND HALLELUJAH "We've turned down King Henry Paulson because the American people know there are alternatives. The market may be down but the Constitution is up." - Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) SKY IS NOT FALLING "Every Republican who voted against the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act on Monday believes that Congress must address this crisis. They take it seriously and stand ready to vote for reasonable legislation. They were unwilling to give Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson a blank check. The sky is not falling. The market will return. Secretary Paulson is getting a lesson in civics." - Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.) NO POSSIBILITY, HUH BARNEY? "Nothing could more painfully demonstrate what is wrong with Congress than the current financial crisis. Among the Congressional 'leaders' invited to the White House to devise a bailout 'solution' are the very people who have for years created the risks that have now come home to roost. Five years ago, Barney Frank vouched for the 'soundness' of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and said 'I do not see' any 'possibility of serious financial losses to the treasury.'" - Columnist Thomas Sowell BLAME PEANUT MAN "The roots of this crisis go back to the Carter administration. That was when government officials, egged on by left-wing activists, began accusing mortgage lenders of racism and 'redlining' because urban blacks were being denied mortgages at a higher rate than suburban whites. "The pressure to make more loans to minorities (read: to borrowers with weak credit histories) became relentless. In 1977 Congress passed the Community Reinvestment Act, empowering regulators to punish banks that failed to "meet the credit needs" of 'low-income, minority, and distressed neighborhoods.' "In 1995, under President Clinton, the law was made even more stringent. Lenders responded by loosening their underwriting standards and making increasingly shoddy loans. . . . All this was justified as a means of increasing homeownership among minorities and the poor. Affirmative-action policies trumped sound business practices." - Columnist Jeff Jacoby BLAME BUBBA "The Community Reinvestment Act was pushed hard by Bill Clinton, although it originated under Jimmy Carter. . . . As you can imagine, wonderful things happen when the government strong arms corporations as to how they should spend their money and, better yet, how they should assess the qualifications of home buyers. So the country's biggest buyers of mortgages were pressured into lowering the qualifications of applicants, in order to increase the percentage of poor that got mortgages. By 2006, 30% of all mortgages went to people who in any other circumstances wouldn't qualify. "…The best thing that can emerge from the current financial crisis is the realization that the government needs to stop directing economic decision making. In a sense, the government is putting out a fire it started when it both created the CRA and assessed lending institutions by how well they were doing in response to the program. When Clinton decided, in his usual arrogance, that he knew better than the market how banks should lend money, the seeds were sown for the current financial disaster." - Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey REPEAL CRA "Repeal the Clinton-era regulations encouraging reckless lending practices under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). In the 1990s, the Clinton Administration used the CRA as a club to pressure lenders into giving loans to marginally-qualified borrowers. The government should not be in the business of pushing lenders into making loans they would not make in a free market." - Grover Norquist, Americans for Tax Reform, 9/30/08 THE ROOT CAUSE "(Today's financial) crisis can trace its roots to Bill Clinton's signature on legislation making it easier for minority constituents with bad credit to obtain mortgages. In 1995, he had his Treasury Secretary, Robert Rubin, rewrite the lending rules for the Community Reinvestment Act, opening the flood gates of mortgage lending to unqualified borrowers. This legislation, in effect, applied affirmative action to the lending industry, which is to say that the current crisis is NOT a 'free market failure' but the result of socially engineered financial policy by the central government." - Columnist Mark Alexander RON PAUL ON THE BAILOUT "The bailout package that is about to be rammed down Congress' throat is not just economically foolish. It is downright sinister. It makes a mockery of our Constitution, which our leaders should never again bother pretending is still in effect." "You can't stop a problem of too much spending and too much deficits and too much monetary inflation with more of it. So I'm positively opposed to the bailout and believe it will just delay the correction that is required. We need to correct the imbalances and if you interfere, you just delay it and make it more difficult and make the problems worse for ourselves." "There were these affirmative action programs where banks were literally encouraged or told they had to make bad loans. The Community Reinvestment Act tells them they can be fined a lot of money for denying loans that are risky." "It isn't a lack of regulation that was the problem, it was the lack of the market being allowed to work." - Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) FRONT DOOR SOCIALISM "Forget back-door socialism: this was right through the front door. The consequences (of the $700 billion bailout) would have been dreadful and very scary. It was to be the first of many bailouts, since of course it cannot and would not work. Bad debts can't be made good by legislation. This means that more money would be necessary, as the middle class was sucked dry by the vampire state for years to come." - Columnist Llewellyn Rockwell VOICE OF BUFFOONERY "Conservative radio host Mark Levin fired back at Bill O'Reilly Thursday evening after O'Reilly delivered a blistering diatribe on his own radio program earlier in the day, attacking conservative talk radio hosts for opposing a $700 billion bailout for the financial industry and calling them 'idiots,' 'charlatans,' and 'right-wing liars.' 'What a buffoon,' Levin said of O'Reilly, host of Fox News' 'The O'Reilly Factor.'" - CNS News, 9/29/08 VOICE OF REASON Catch THIS <http://migop.blogs.com/blog/2008/09/michigan-matter.html short YouTube commentary on the bailout by the man many think should be the next National Chairman of the Republican National Committee. PAULSON MUST GO "Today, I am calling on Secretary Paulson to resign. I believe he has failed to do his job and failed to uphold his responsibility to the American people. He did not warn Congress or the nation in advance of the impending crisis. "Congressional leadership received less than four hours notice before the Secretary publicly warned of an imminent collapse of the market and announced his bailout plan. Clearly, it was his duty to provide Congress and its leaders time to evaluate this situation, and he failed. The Secretary went public with dire warnings, scaring the nation minutes after apprising Congressional leaders of this problem. That is simply unacceptable. "The problems in the market today did not occur over night. In the last six months, Secretary Paulson has insisted that the federal government rescue Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and AIG. Each time, Secretary Paulson assured Congress that it would solve the problem. Obviously, Secretary Paulson has been wrong. The American people can no longer have confidence in him and he should submit his resignation, effective immediately." - Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.) FAMOUS LAST WORDS "A final thought: Once voters are done being mad at Wall Street, maybe they should direct some rage at a few million mortgage borrowers in four or five booming states who bet on rising house prices using subprime loans and then stuck the rest of us with the losses when prices fell." - Holman W. Jenkins Jr., Political Diary, 9/30/08 Subscribe to the feed version of MUTH'S TRUTHS in a feed reader. 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