Who's Afraid Of Big Government?
The answer is, neither the Democratic or Republican candidate. The question is, will our country collapse if we don't have a bailout? I am not qualified to answer that -- neither, I suspect, are many of the people who answer that question either way.
Regarding this topic, the Libertarian Party just sent me this message:
McCain, Obama Support Shows Both are Big Government CandidatesAtlanta, GA - "The Senate is set to vote on the Wall Street bailout later today, but the attempt to dress up this bad bill with a few more political goodies is like putting lipstick on a pig," notes Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party candidate for president. "Yet Senators John McCain and Barack Obama, as well as the congressional leaders of both parties, are all backing the bailout. It is evident that there is not a dime's worth of difference between the two major parties: Neither of them will stand up for the taxpayers," observes Barr.
"The Senate bill is even less responsible than the House measure," warns Barr. "It would more than double federal insurance coverage of bank deposits, even though the vast majority of Americans already are protected. Some supporters are hoping to add tax measures and increase unemployment insurance benefits in an attempt to turn the bailout into a special interest Christmas tree. In the mind of Washington politicians, $700 billion isn't a large enough bill to stick to the American people," notes Barr.
"Although Sen. McCain likes to pose as a defender of the taxpayers, he is pushing the Bush administration to further intervene in the credit markets and to purchase up to a trillion dollars worth of private mortgages even without Congressional action," Barr observes.
"Sen. McCain says we should call the bailout a 'rescue.' But regardless of what they call it, the bill remains a trillion dollar or more effort by the federal government to bailout private industry," says Barr.
"We need a market work-out, which includes encouraging private investment purchases of assets that both McCain and Obama claim have value if taxpayers buy them. We need to let the business processes work, including receiverships and bankruptcy liquidation," Barr explains.
"To prevent a reoccurrence of this financial crisis, we need federal fraud prosecution--not a government bailout," says Barr. "The starting point for this painful adjustment process is for Wall Street to understand that there will be no further bailouts. Then, Congress should get to work addressing issues such as scrapping harmful federal regulations like 'mark-to-market' accounting standards, which have helped turn serious, but manageable, losses into a full-fledged economic crisis."
"We need political change," Barr notes. "But Senators Barack Obama and John McMain have proved yet again that, despite their rhetoric, they are charter members of the Washington establishment. It is not change that they will give us, but more of the same. Only a vote for Bob Barr and the Libertarian Party will yield the change that the American people so desperately want and deserve," Barr concludes.
Oh, really? How? When there's little chance of Bob Barr getting elected?
And when a libertarian candidate mentions lipstick on a pig in the forest, will anybody notice in the slightest?
Here's the one that makes me laugh - when you have two candidates who both suck, but people say you are "throwing your vote away" if you don't vote for one of them! Or they say that you are contributing to the problem if you don't at least try to vote against the worse of the two evils.
I always explain that first, you don't get a prize for voting for the winning candidate. Secondly, the only way you are throwing your vote away is if you don't vote at all. Third, you are contributing to the problem if you think you have to vote for one of the two main parties.
People put up with such a lack of choice in political candidates, being stuck with two major parties. Don't they get tired of the fact that there's not a dime's worth of difference between them? Sure, Obama will increase government spending on social programs, but McCain will have us in Iraq for a hundred years, so what's the difference? We're going to be broke in the end either way. What if you don't want to be broke at all? Voting for third parties gets them on more ballots, gives us more to choose from in the long run, and believe me - the political arena could certainly benefit from some competition.
If you can't stand either of the two major candidates, why the hell would you feel compelled to vote for one of them? Vote for a third party, and at least let your vote do something to change the system. Improve the system, and we might see some improvements in the candidates, too.
Pirate Jo at October 1, 2008 2:03 PM
Agree with you, Pirate Jo. Those who continue to vote for the same old Republicrats time after time, are not being responsible stewards of the system. Quite the opposite -- they are guaranteeing the perpetuation of the same corrupt system that our politicians have given us.
Here's how it operates: no one votes third parties, so none of the third parties are able to automatically qualify their candidates for the ballot under the ballot access rules. This means that, every election cycle, these parties have to spend ALL their time and money collecting signatures on petitions, just to get on the ballot. They have no resources left to get their message to voters. Thus, no one votes for them, and the cycle goes on. Meanwhile, the Republicrats who run things make sure that ballot access is kept unnecessarily restricted, in order to preserve their cushy status quo.
So a vote for a third party, in the end, and if enough decide to do it, is not a wasted vote, but a vote for much-needed competition in the arena of politics and ideas.
cpabroker at October 1, 2008 6:07 PM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2008/10/01/whos_afraid_of_1.html#comment-1594573">comment from cpabrokerThose who continue to vote for the same old Republicrats time after time, are not being responsible stewards of the system. Quite the opposite -- they are guaranteeing the perpetuation of the same corrupt system that our politicians have given us.
Don't lay that one entirely on us. The Libertarians have to be realistic -- get a candidate in there who's charismatic enough that they cannot be ignored. Bob Barr is not the man. Ron Paul is not the man.
I'm with Crid in feeling sick voting for any of these four losers.
Amy Alkon
at October 1, 2008 6:59 PM
Well it looks like the bailout bill passed, despite 100-to-1 opposition by the American people against it. With "sweeteners," I am sickened to say, that largely made the bill even worse. My optimistic hope is that people will be so outraged that we vote these miserable bums out of office. My failing hope is that none of the alternatives will be any better.
This package, set to the tune of over $2,300 for every man, woman and child in America, is still a small drop in the bucket compared to the looming debt and unfunded liabilities that await us, thanks to these self-serving idiots in government. Which really isn't a positive way of looking at the situation.
Pirate Jo at October 1, 2008 7:04 PM
Jo -
Unfortunately, Congress' continued meddling and bungling makes such a thing required because nobody's going to walk up to the bankers and hit them with a clue stick.
I will say this - after learning what "mark to market" REALLY means, I'm with McCain that Chris Cox (SEC chair) needs to be fired - with prejudice.
Were it not for two simple changes (mark to market, and the suspension of the "uptick rule"), the collapsing of the CDS and MBS financial instruments would have been much easier to contain, and much smaller.
brian at October 1, 2008 9:29 PM
Amy -- I'll grant you that the Libertarians haven't run the most charismatic people. But your assertion that they need someone with more charisma is in itself an indictment of the voters, who apparently require candidates to be like American Idol contestants to be paid any attention at all. The sad fact is that no one can register on the Richter scale with the American people, just by conducting a dialogue about the issues. They have to be flashy and "charismatic" -- and it helps to focus on the negative aspects of the other guy, and in the most bellicose way possible. That's what this shallow Jerry Springer/Britney Spears-loving citizenry apparently responds to. They prove it time after time.
cpabroker at October 2, 2008 3:51 AM
Call your respective jackass and tell them to kill this thing.
Aderholt R AL legislator No 225-4876
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Snoop-Diggity-DANG-Dawg at October 2, 2008 7:05 AM
I've been watching this coming for the last 10 years or so.
About two years ago I was talking with a friend about some rule change that had occurred. Essentially they have yanked every protection that was put in place after the Great Depression. It became about protecting the business and share holder and screw the general pubic. The bankruptcy rules now screw the people and try to protect the businesses.
All that was needed was something to pull the trigger. That trigger was the rise in interest rates, fuel and the down line trends in food and other normal daily use consumer goods.
Another point in all this will $700 billion be even close enough to stem the tide. During the 1929 Crash several people carried $1 million cash onto the floor to try to stop it. The market was worth $30 billion at the time.
Jim P. at October 2, 2008 9:06 AM
Libertarians arent charming ever.
If you're gonna be in the public service you've got to have a public persona.
I always think I could have been a great actress not because of any inherent talent just because I've got the typical actors personality! Think Greta Garbo.
Purplepen at October 3, 2008 12:47 AM
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