Ron Paul Speaks Out Against The 2008 Bush Administration’s Federal Bailout Plan - Why It Will Not Work And How It Will Hurt You Even If You Have No Money Invested In The Market
Now that Ron Paul isn’t a presidential candidate anymore, he seems to be in great demand by the mainstream media. As odd a pairing as it is, especially given that the mainstream media was one of his movement’s greatest enemies, it is great to have such an honest voice of reason help explain things to us when we’re not sure who to believe. Ron Paul is one of the few people who have been consistent for decades on why our federal reserve system is flawed. Not only did he predict the bailout earlier than anyone else, he’s also been honest in both good times in bad. Something other politicians refused to do - speak out against the market when it was good.
Secretary Henry Paulson has been pushing not only for a quick vote on the Bush Administration’s $700 billion bailout package, but also for complete control and discretion over how and where the money is spent. There is an argument that more government red tape, political posturing, grandstanding, and bickering will only bloat the process of fixing the US economy. For the most part, it could be believed that one person could do things better than a committee. Meetings are often a waste of time.
However, the problem with this is that Henry Paulson, as early as last month, was stating how strong our economy was and how we had little reason to worry. Now that he’s so sure we’re in trouble that he needs close to one trillion dollars to fix it, it definitely puts the amount of confidence his opinion deserves into question.
The other day Ron Paul was speaking with Wolf Blitzer on CNN and had some amazingly strong points about why the bailout won’t work and why it could affect those without a 401k.
Ron Paul vs John McCain and Barack Obama’s Plans
Here is a quick recap of Ron Paul’s thoughts and some reasons he disagrees with John McCain and Barack Obama on what needs to be done.
So what do you say to the president who wants you and your fellow Republicans and Democrats to quickly pass this $700 billion bailout package?
Well, I think that’s a mistake because we don’t have the money. But that doesn’t mean you have to do nothing… We could return to sound money, balance our budget, lower taxes … there’s a lot of things we can do. But the worst thing we can do is perpetuate the bad policies that gave us this trouble in the first place.
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Capital is supposed to come from savings, we’re supposed to work hard and save. In fact, the Chinese are working hard and they’re buying up the world! But we borrow and spend and consume and now it’s caught up to us and it’s undermining our whole system.
When the war in Iraq started they said we needed $50 billion. Larry Lindsay predicted we’d need $200 billion and he lost his job for it.
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So this $700 billion is not going to do it.
What they’re saying is this is no longer a bailout of the Wall St. firms, this is a bailout of main street because people’s life savings, 401ks, IRAs, their homes, everything would be lost - this would make the great depression look like small potatoes if they didn’t take this immediate action right now.
But destroying the dollar is much worse. You don’t even have to have a 401k to be injured by the destruction of the dollar. Sure they should be frightened, but boy it’s a lot different and a lot bigger than they’re saying.
You can’t solve the problem of inflation, which is the creation of money and credit out of thin air, by more money and credit out of thin air and not changing policy!
We have to change basic policy. Yes, it would be painful, but it wouldn’t last as long. The government is propping up a failed system so the agony last longer.
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The bubble has been blown up, it needs to deflate, and they won’t allow it.
I think that last paragraph is the most telling. People don’t like to hear bad news and they don’t want to be told that it will be painful. They would much rather have something be done and then face the fact that it wasn’t enough, later on. The American people seem to be supporting a mantra that they’d rather have the pain be a result of the consequences of failure, rather than the cost of the solution.
Even if this plan works, we’re going to see the basics go up in price, house prices will still be falling, and in the end, we’ll still be taxed for making money as well as taxed for spending it. Only now, we’ll also be taxed for doing nothing with it at all.
Ron Paul’s comparison to the Iraq War and the Battle On Terror was most appropriate: It Will Not Be Enough. After all the money is spent, we’ll likely find that they only sold us on the number that we could swallow, rather than the number it would take. In cases like this you overestimate and come back later with great news - it didn’t cost as much as we thought. Instead, we’ll face this in the near future as we’re told that the problem was bigger than expected and our initial investment wasn’t enough.
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I still don’t understand why people don’t listen to this guy. He nails the economy every freaking time.