A weekly column

Lipstick on a Bailout

This time last week, the biggest bailout in the history of the world seemed to be a fait accompli. Last weekend, the Fed Chairman and the Secretary of the Treasury had harsh words of doom and gloom for Congressional leaders, with the rest of the administration parroting along, and by last Monday it seemed both parties were about to fall in line and vote our Republic away by socializing the banking industry through this bailout.

Foolish business behavior was about to be rewarded, and propped up a little longer, the bubble blown a little bigger, and our coming Depression (Note: Depression full blown not a recession) made that much greater, but then something happened on the way to the House floor.

Citizens made their voices heard.

The real story behind the story in Congress this week was the thousands of calls and emails sent to Representatives, clogging up inboxes and even slowing down the House internet system. Slowly, like the Titanic turning around, sentiments on the Hill shifted, and we heard Congressmen capitulating and changing their tune a little, desperately trying to find ways to salvage the bailout without completely enraging their constituencies.

Now we hear about taxpayer protections, about golden parachutes, and about other nuances that hardly cover up the fact that we would be creating more money out of thin air and further devaluing the dollar! The problem is not HOW the government is spending this money; it’s the fact that the government is spending this money. We don’t have it. We are already nearly $10 trillion in debt, not including unfunded liabilities.

We already spend about $1 trillion a year we don’t have on our overseas empire. Now nearly $1 trillion more is somehow supposed to magically appear and solve all our problems! No – creating more money might delay the inevitable for some well-connected banks on Wall Street, but in a few weeks we will find ourselves right back in this same position, but much poorer.

The unfortunate thing is that we’ve already spent at least $700 billion on other bailouts that did not solve the problem. And while all this negotiation was taking place, the auto industry was quietly bailed out, with no controversy, no discussion, to the tune of $25 billion.

Inevitably, it appears Congress will call their constituents’ bluff and the bailout will pass, because that is the habit Wall Street and Washington have fallen into. People are right to be concerned about our financial future. I’ve been talking for 30 some years about reasons we need to be concerned and change our ways. We find ourselves now in a position of no good options, and no silver bullets. But the worst thing we can do is to compound our problems by intensifying the mistakes of the past. We do have tough economic times ahead, no doubt, no matter what we do, even if we do nothing. The question, is will we have the courage to take our medicine now and get it over with, or will we prolong the misery for many years to come? I’m less and less optimistic about the answer to that question.

http://www.house.gov/htbin/blog_inc?BLOG,tx14_paul,blog,999,All,Item%20not%20found,ID=080929_2441,TEMPLATE=postingdetail.shtml

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Posted by Ron Paul (09-29-2008, 11:38 AM) filed under Monetary Policy
Comments

Comment by Don Richards
September 29, 2008 12:09 PM
Ron – Whatever happens to the $700b bailout bill, it looks like people are listening to you for the first time.
In the last 3 years my bank has changed 3 times – from WorldBank to Wachovia and now Citibank.I’m still using old WorldBank checks.
You’ve been right on the money 30 years! You’re right now…
Don Richards
Libertarian Party of Montgomery County, Texas

Comment by Frank Altomari
September 29, 2008 12:14 PM
Why is NO ONE making the kind of sense you are and speaking the truth like you, sir?

Thanks for fighting for the people.

Comment by Shari Seibel
September 29, 2008 12:38 PM
Senator Ron Paul, I wish more men had as much common sense as you do. It is scary that most leaders in politics are more worried about their 5 minutes of fame in the press than they are about the country they are leaving for their children and grandchildren.
Thank you so much for your efforts, YOU are the true maverick!

Art, fellow American, you’ve had so much neocon smoke blown up your butt it’s “dulled” your thinking processes.

Both the dummycruds and repukelicans are guilty as hell you tunnel visioned person you and all you have done that I’ve read is echo biased, totally worn out right wing propaganda rhetoric.

That’s what I can stomach about political party members and their point at the other side and blame them bias and defend the guilty inside their own party.

You need to quit sucking on the propaganda tailpipe, because its spewing right back out of you, and take a real look around. Like ole Yogi Berra said, “You can learn a lot just by taking a look around own your own” or words to that effect.

You might also read some of the other posts pal, even if I doubt you’d see past your right wing bias long enough to consider other opinion.

We are all in the same sinking boat and the democrats and republicans are bailing more water INTO the boat. Enjoy it….while it lasts.