The News and Ron Paul

This illustrates where we are with "news" in the United States.  I am not going to take a stance (other than my quotation marks), but would love to hear your point of view.  I have listed the "news" anchors responses to Ron Paul's words below the clip.

Mark Haines: "This is not going as planned"

ErinBurnett: "No it is not"

MarkHaines: "We were told that there would be a very limited number of opening statements, and it seems to be getting out of control."

ErinBurnett: "Here’s what we forgot, everybody is taking this live, you know what that means? Why would they miss an opportunity for free air time?"

MarkHaines: "We’re going to take a commercial break and get them out of the way, so that when something really substandard [hahaha-think he meant substantial] is happening, we don’t have to interrupt them."

Letter to Lamar Smith re: Economic Stabilization Bill

Thankfully, the vote to have working Americans pay for the golden parachutes of crooks and liars fell short today.  You can read the verbiage of the bill here.  The bill failed 205 to 228. 

I watched the news and they are saying that the bill needs to be renegotiated.  We need to keep on our representatives in both houses to keep them from redistributing wealth from working American citizens to banks and corporations that have acted irresponsibly.

Rep. Ron Paul provides his view on the failure of the bailout bill right after the vote:

I wrote a letter to my State Representative before and after the vote. If you feel like contacting your representatives, you can do it easily by clicking here and filling in your zip code in the "my elected officials" search box.  

Here is the letter I wrote to my State Representative.  (He is one of the few Texas Reps that actually voted for it.):

Dear Representative Smith,

I saw how you voted on the Economic Stabilization bill and am surprised. I have differed with your views in the past, but am shocked you voted for this...as is everyone I have spoken with today.

As a constituent, I ask that you stem the socialization of debt & privatization of profit this bill and others like it provide. This is one of the most impacting decisions of our time. Please side with conservatism, responsibility, accountability, free markets, transparency and the American way. Please be a fiscal conservative, please stand up for your constituency, please be a defender of our country's financial interests in the future.

I know you speak to people around you about the issues that face us. As someone who offices in the same complex as you, I speak to a lot of the same people you would. I have not met a single person in your district that supports the way you voted this time. I hope that you continue to speak to the people you represent and that time provides insight that might change your mind regarding this huge redistribution of wealth.

Sincerely,

Erik Kuykendall

Hope you write Your represenatatives and Senators.

World Banks Donate $100bn to Bail Out U.S. Sub-Prime Markets

The answer is more credit!!!

The worlds banks are joining together to make more than $100 billion *"available" this month.

The Federal Reserve is injecting $40 billion; the Bank of England $46.4 billion, the European Central Bank $20 billion, the Swiss National Bank $4 billion and the Bank of Canada is providing $3 billion. Sumitomo Mitsui, one of Japan's 3 largest banks was asked to invest $5 billion in a fund to bail out banks with sub-prime losses, but has not committed to it yet.

*By "making available", they mean dump money into our markets to try to bail out the economy as it is sliding due to the collapse of our sub-prime market.

So what is the credit crunch all about?

From the National Post's "Financial Post", Drew Hasselback stated:

Banks are hoarding cash against possible losses on investments related to the U.S. mortgage market, in which even borrowers with poor credit ratings were able to get loans. The problems in the wonky U.S. mortgage market are now so widespread that commercial banks are reluctant to lend to each other because the true extent of their mortgage losses remains unknown.

Too many funds are tied up in complicated, mortgage-related investments that can't be instantly unwound. This puts a strain on investors who want to pull their money out of the markets immediately. It also puts a strain on banks who want to loan money to customers. Because they're so busy trying to pay out the investors racing out of the market, the banks have less cash available for people who need loans.

The measures announced on Wednesday are supposed to make it easier for banks to access more cash. This extra "liquidity" would make it easier for banks to pay out the investors who want out of the market, and to provide loans to those who want to borrow.

It must be the fault of immigrants!

Did I mention that Congress just passed a defense policy bill that will authorize $696 billion in military programs, including $189 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Things that make you go, "hmmmmmmmmmm".

Thank you to my lovely wife for giving me the heads-up on this one. It was difficult locating information on the story ...especially within the U.S. press.