Monthly Archives: October 2008

Today’s Dispatch is about the continuing bailout saga. What else could it be about? We’re Downsize DC and this is the single-largest, fell-swoop increase in the federal government ever seriously considered. It’s a dramatic — scary! — expansion and concentration of power. We’ll get back to how scary in a moment.

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But first, let’s address a pervasive mood out there. We might lose. Might. But it became evident to me throughout the day last Thursday (9/23) that public sentiment was running so strong against this that we could actually defeat this bill.

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So when the news arrived on Monday (9/27) that the House voted down the bill by just a 12 vote swing, and the rest of the world was “shocked,” “stunned,” and “surprised,” frankly, I wasn’t any of those things. Pleased, yes. Mildly surprised? Sure. But the Downsize DC concept is about massive, overwhelming pressure. And it worked!

Downsize DC is proud to have joined dozens of other organizations in submitting the follwing letter to Senators Chris Dodd and Richard Shelby of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs:

DownsizeDC.org’s President Jim Babka was interviewed by Brian Trent of examiner.com last weekend, and his insights on the Big Bailout are found in Trent’s piece The Bailout Fight: Politicians Versus the People. Check it out!

Quotes of the Day:
:::“As you may have heard, the U.S. is putting together a constitution for Iraq. Why don’t we just give them ours? Think about it — it was written by very smart people, it’s served us well for over two hundred years, and besides, we’re not using it anymore.” – Jay Leno
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:::“Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.” – Ronald Reagan
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:::“Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them.” – Ronald Reagan
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:::Subject: The More Things Change, the More They Remain the Same.
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:::The bailout fight is not over, and the time for action is right now! Since the bankers lost by just a 12 vote swing in the House on Monday, the Congressional leadership has regrouped. In their desperation they’ve decided to violate both the Constitution and ALL the principles of the current Downsize DC Agenda.
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:::The Senate is set to begin debate and VOTE TONIGHT, after the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah is over. Rosh Hashanah is the Hebrew New Year, but, as the quotes above indicate, there’s nothing “new” about the games being played on Capitol Hill.
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:::Author G. Edward Griffin wrote about our central banking system, “The name of the game is bailout.” He went on to explain . . .

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“Although national monetary events may appear mysterious and chaotic, they are governed by well-established rules which bankers and politicians rigidly follow. The central fact to understanding these events is that all the money in the banking system has been created out of nothing through the process of making loans. A defaulted loan, therefore, costs the bank little of tangible value, but it shows up on the ledger as a reduction in assets without a corresponding reduction in liabilities. If the bad loans exceed the assets, the bank becomes technically insolvent and must close its doors.
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:::”The first rule of survival is therefore to avoid writing off large, bad loans and if possible to at least continue receiving interest payments on them. To accomplish that, the endangered loans are rolled over and increased in size. This provides the borrower with money to continue paying interest plus fresh funds for new spending. The basic problem is not solved, it is postponed for a while and made worse.
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:::”The final solution on behalf of the banking cartel is to have the federal government guarantee payment of the loan should the borrower default in the future. This is accomplished by convincing Congress that not to do so would result in great damage to the economy and hardship for the people. From that point forward, the burden of the loan is removed from the banks ledger and transferred to the taxpayer.”
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Does that sound familiar? Griffin wrote it back in 1994.
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:::A lawless Congress isn’t new either. Since the bill didn’t pass the House on Monday, the Senate is going to violate the Constitution, and pass their own version of the bailout first. What’s the big deal?