Author Archives: Chris Wheeler

A little-mentioned portion of the Bailout Bill that has dire consequences is the increasing of Federal Deposit Insurance to $250,000.  Thomas DiLorenzo over at The Lew Rockwell Blog says it better than I can.

He ties it back to the S&L crisis of the 1980’s and previous increases of the FDIC limit:

Bankers looked at this and thought, well now, I can make big, big bucks by taking on far more risk with my loans (which pay higher interest), and if the loans go into default, why, I’m covered for more than twice the amount of government insurance.

They did indeed take on much more risk; thousands of their big real estate development loans defaulted; and it ended up costing taxpayers half a trillion dollars.

Brilliant move there, guys.  Really brilliant.

The so-called bailout bill (personally, I think, “monetary socialism bill” has a better ring to it) has passed the House (see the link to see how your Congressman voted).  All that remains is for President Bush to sign it which I’m sure he’s rushing to do since it was all his idea and the only thing he thinks can save what’s left of his legacy.

I vowed a few days ago when the Senate passed this 451-page behemoth that is another step toward socialism and that I would not vote for anyone that helped pass it (including McCain and Obama).  We need to send Congress a lesson that when they do not represent us, they get removed from the position of “representative.”

God bless, Phil Gingrey (R-GA 11th Dist) who is my Congressman.  Generally, I agree with the guy and I think he’s mostly done a good job.  Today, he faithfully represented the people of Georgia by voting against H.R. 1424.  Thank you, Congressman Gingrey!

For now, it looks like I’ll be voting for Congressman Gingrey, Mr. Allen Buckley (who is running against Saxby and Martin for the Senate seat), and possibly Bob Barr (jury is still out on that one).

This current situation in our economy has an overwhelming majority of our federal government screaming like Chicken Little that the “sky is falling,” an overwhelming majority of the American people screaming that the government needs to stay out of the market and not spend more money we don’t have, and an overwhelming majority of our elected representatives refusing to listen to us.

It seems appropriate that tonight was the “Debt” lesson of Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University class.  This entire problem was built on credit/debt.

• Credit that lenders were forced to extend to people that would never be able to pay it off. Forced by the government’s Community Reinvestment Act and President Bush’s goal of raising minority home ownership by an unrealistic amount.  Now, I’m not against minority home ownership–I am against anyone buying a home they can’t afford to pay for and financing it at 100%(or even 125%).
• Credit that banks have used to buy other, smaller banks (Wachovia, I’m looking at you).
• Credit that was passed around as investments in the sub-prime lending boom.
• Credit that people didn’t read the terms on or did and took it on anyway knowing they couldn’t repay it if the interest rate notched up.
• Credit, credit, credit.

Are you seeing a pattern?  Do we really think that giving the people that screwed it up in the first place more credit will help get us out of this trouble?  Because that’s what this bailout is (I refuse to call it a “rescue”).  It’s not real money.  It’s credit that we’re borrowing and printing (as in, more paper money that devalues the paper you have in your pocket).

Well, apparently, our government ignored the voice of the people and the Senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of their own version of the unconstitutional bailout bill.  Apparently, it needed more pork to pass.  This vote (from what I hear, though I’ve not seen the official tally yet) apparently included our two Georgia Senators, Chambliss and Isakson.  Well, all I can say is:

1. The term “Bank Robber” has a new meaning.
2. I urge you to do as I will do the next time I have opportunity and vote against any incumbent that voted to spend your tax dollars to prop up failed multi-billion dollar companies on Wall Street.  Fire them!  That’s the only way we’ll take our government back.
3. Vote for someone other than McCain or Obama in the upcoming Presidential Election.  Both of them overwhelmingly supported bailing out Wall Street at our expense and both of them attempted to help buy the American people’s complicity in this (which this time, from all the polls I’m seeing failed miserably).

I unsubscribed from the McCain campaign propaganda emails today and left explicit reasons in the “comments” box on the unsubscribe form.  I will be making an informed decision on who to vote for in the next few weeks.  Have any good ideas for what to do with a couple McCain/Palin bumper stickers and a never-used yard sign?

1) This is about the clearest, concisest explanation of why the bailout (or “rescue” as the government and complicit media are now referring to it as) is bad.  It lines up very nicely with why I’m against it.  Of course, it doesn’t seem like it matters now, since the Fed unilaterally made the decision to spend $630BILLION on bank bailouts (much of it going overseas) before the House even voted!  This country is so screwed.

2) Here is a great article about the current gas shortage in Georgia (and the Southeast).  You may not like the end result, but you have to admit, he makes a very good point.  In the end, gasoline may actually cost less when the government doesn’t interfere with the market.

Well, not really, but I am doing something I’ve never done before.  Giving my Senators and Congressman a very clear picture of my views by calling/emailing them about this ridiculous “bailout” plan that thankfully failed to pass the House today.

Here is the text of the email I sent to both Georgia Senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson:

Senator XXXX,

The proposed $700B bailout that is being rushed through congress is a travesty to the free enterprise system, not to mention unconstitutional.

There are plenty of options available other than throwing money at the problem, especially when the people in charge of that money are the ones that either created the problem in the first place or are the least qualified to manage it.

Nothing personal, but the government has consistently shown that money management is not something they can be trusted with. This is clearly demonstrated by the increasing national debt and the inability to create a balanced budget and stick to it.

This is not something that can be solved in a week. The only way this issue can be adequately resolved is by intense and thorough study of ALL the options.

I have to put my foot down on this matter. If you feel that voting for this bill is something you must do, then I feel that you are no longer representing the interests of the people of Georgia and I will vote against you remaining in office.

Sincerely,
XXXX

I also gave Congressman Phil Gingrey (Georgia, 11th District) a call today to personally thank him (well, one of his Congressional aides, anyway) for voting against the current House bill for the bailout.  I’m not sure, after talking to his aide, that his motives were correct, but at least we got the result this country needed and I will keep on him about not using taxpayer money to bail out failed corporations whose executives drove the companies down while raking in tens of millions in salaries and bonuses.  The only way for the market to recover is to let it recover naturally and without government intervention (which is what got us to this point in the first place).  I sent a somewhat modified version of the email above to Congressman Gingrey.

If you need to look up your Senators/Congressmen, hit up Congress.org.  They give you everything you need to figure out which district you are in and who represents you and give you their office numbers (I would call the Washington D.C. office at this point), addresses, etc.

Get out there, get involved, let your representatives know how you feel!