Bailout: I Told You So,-- Says Bob Barr
www.lp.org
Richard Nixon once said that we are all Keynesians now, meaning that Republicans and Democrats alike believed in government micro-management of the economy,-- observes Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party candidate for president.
It appears that President George W. Bush should say that we are all socialists now," says Barr, as he explains that the government has now taken over insurance giant AIG with an $85 billion loan, for which it received an 80 percent equity stake in the company. "In other words, the federal government now will own and run one of the nation's largest insurance companies."
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Moreover, the latest bailouts are being made in secret by the Federal Reserve. At least the housing and Fannie/Freddie bailouts came with congressional authority, if not understanding,-- notes Barr. However, no one voted to pour taxpayer funds into Wall Street. And no one voted for the government to take over an insurance company. If the Federal Reserve can spend as much money as it desires to bail out any company that it desires, is there anything that it cannot do with taxpayer funds?-- asks Barr.
President Bush should fire Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson," insists Barr. "We need a Treasury Secretary who can be trusted with the keys to the taxpayer vault. It is imperative for Congress to explicitly limit the authority of the Federal Reserve. The Fed was not created to take over parts of the U.S. economy. Its authority must be limited and its officials must be held accountable for their actions,-- says Barr.
These are some very interesting points no one else is bringing up.
