Monthly Archives: April 2009
The Next Unbelievable Bailout
Quote of the Day: “Utopia is not one of the options.” — David Bergland, Author, DC Downsizer
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Subject: Another bailout, more corporate welfare
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Here comes yet another bailout, and more corporate welfare. The Obama administration wants to use your tax money to bribe banks to renegotiate second mortgages. Projected price tag: $50 billion.
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This may benefit some banks, and some people behind on their payments, but should the rest of us have to pay for it?
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Banks already have a strong financial incentive to renegotiate rather than foreclose on delinquent mortgages. If banks don’t renegotiate a mortgage you can bet that’s because it makes more financial sense to foreclose. But . . .
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Politicians always assume they know better. They think they know the best way to run . . .
Please test our log-in fix
MEDIA NOTICE: Tomorrow morning (Thursday, April 30) DownsizeDC.org President Jim Babka is scheduled to be a guest on Rob Johnson in the Morning on 840 AM KMPH, Stockton/Modesto, California, at 7:35 AM Pacific (10:35 AM Eastern). We believe you can Listen Live at their website, KMPH840.com
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Subject: Please test our log-in fix
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As many of you know, we’ve had a problem with the log-in system on our website. This has forced us to use elaborate work-arounds, but hopefully NO MORE. We think we’ve fixed the log-in problem. It’s passed our early tests, but now we need to give it the ultimate test . . . YOU!
Audit the Fed!
Quote of the Day: “With the monetary system we have now, the careful saving of a lifetime can be wiped out in an eyeblink.” — Larry Parks Executive Director, Foundation for the Advancement of Monetary Education (FAME)
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Subject: NEW CAMPAIGN! Audit the Fed!
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Congressman Ron Paul wants to audit the Federal Reserve. His bill to do this (HR 1207) already has 55 listed co-sponsors, and Congressman Paul’s website says the list will soon be up to 90. Bernie Sanders has introduced a similar bill in the Senate (S. 604).
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Today we’re joining with End The FED and the Campaign for Liberty to give this legislation a big push. First, send your reps a message supporting this bill, and then follow up with a phone call. Here’s what I wrote in my message to Congress . . .
The Counterfeiting Numbers
Quote of the Day: “Gold still represents the ultimate form of payment in the world.” — Alan Greenspan, former Chair of the Federal Reserve speaking before the House Banking Committee in May 1999
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Subject: The Counterfeiting Numbers
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Counterfeiters create new money, illegally. The Federal Reserve (FED) does the same thing, legally.
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The legal counterfeiting is worse than the illegal.
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Money created by illegal counterfeiters tends to be small, easily discovered, and quickly removed from circulation.
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FED counterfeiting is immense, seemingly hidden, and tends to remain in play. This “funny money” . . .
A Question of Values
Quote of the Day: “The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money” – Alexis de Tocqueville
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Subject: A Question of Values
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In 2005 Representative Tom Osborne of Nebraska thought the Central American Free Trade Agreement was a bad deal, but the Bush Administration threatened to punish his district in the next farm bill if he didn’t vote for it, so Osborne caved and the trade agreement passed by one vote.
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I mention this because Osborne didn’t seem like a typical politician. He was a famous college football coach, not a lawyer or career politician. He served only three terms and ranked near the bottom in receiving special interest contributions.
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But even he voted for what he thought was a bad bill, in order to protect something that a significant block of voters in his district valued.
Food Is Made From Yucky Stuff
Quote of the Day: “Being the state means never having to say you’re sorry.” — D.A. Ridgely (Source: Positive Liberty blog, March 23, 2009)
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Subject: The Incredible Cost of Utopian Food Safety Plans
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Crops grow in dirt. Animals don’t take showers or use toilets. Food is made from yucky stuff.
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This means there’s always a risk of contamination. We can reduce this risk, but not eliminate it. Attempts to make everything perfectly safe are Utopian fantasies that carry a high price in increased costs, reduced variety, diminished supply, and . . . increased risk.
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The free market already provides you with multiple ways to balance risks and costs. You can choose between . . .
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* Organic and non-organic food
:::* Locally grown food, or food from far away
:::* Processed or non-processed food
:::* Natural or genetically engineered food
:::The politicians want to reduce
Would You Have a Lot to Say?
Media Alert! Jim Babka will appear on the Liberty Roundtable tomorrow morning. See the Postscript for details.
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Quote of the Day: “Here’s something that has gotten lost in the drive to institute universal health insurance: Health insurance doesn’t automatically lead to health care. And with more and more doctors dropping out of one insurance plan or another, especially government plans, there is no guarantee that you will be able to see a physician no matter what coverage you have.” — Dr. March Siegel, writing in the Wall Street Journal
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Subject: Would you have a lot to say, if you had dinner with your Congressional employees?
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Some DC Downsizers think they should only send their Congressional employees one message on a given issue during any one week or month. But . . .
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If you had a chance to meet with your Congressional delegation in person would you really confine yourself to just one statement or argument per issue? Of course not. So here’s what we think . . .
Safety Net or Dragnet?
Quote of the Day: “Government welfare programs — if they should exist at all — should be limited to helping those who really need assistance. They should be safety nets, not dragnets that capture everyone.” — Mark Skousen, “Econopower,” page 55
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Subject: Safety Net or Dragnet?
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What politicians call a “social safety net,” isn’t. It’s a dragnet.
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- A safety net would catch people when they fall
- A dragnet entangles everyone, even when they don’t need help
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Voluntary cooperation vs. violence
Quote of the Day: “All political power comes from the barrel of a gun.” — Mao Tse Tung
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Subject: Voluntary cooperation vs. violence
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If not for the threat of government violence — of arrest, incarceration, and the loss of all your property — how would you choose to spend your money. Would you rather . . .
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- Give money to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, or Habitat for Humanity?
- Contribute to government foreign aid projects, or Doctors Without Borders?
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Trillion Dollar Question About ‘Tea Parties’
Quote of the Day: “Will these Tea Parties be a one-time event, where the participants expend considerable energy, and then when the world doesn’t change, will these same participants become discouraged, say to themselves, ‘That didn’t work,’ and then drop out and give up?'” – Mark, an Ohio activist.
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Subject: What happens the day after the Tea Party?
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There’s an exciting movement brewing. Crowds are showing up at demonstrations called Tea Parties. Scores of them are scheduled for this Wednesday, April 15, Tax Day.
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I’LL BE SPEAKING AT ONE IN STEUBENVILLE, OHIO. But I’m forced to wonder, with Mark, who provides our Quote of the Day . . .
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Will these Tea Parties result in continuing, growing activism? Or will they be another . . .
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RANDOM ACT OF LIBERTY
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When is something a random act? When you don’t come out of it bigger and stronger and able to do more and better things. The result is burn out and failure. That’s why . . .