That’s not a typo. It’s $7.4 trillion in bailout cash, that according to Bloomberg, is $24,000 for every man, woman, and child in the United States. Put in perspective, the article finds that this is the equivalent of half the value of everything produced in the U.S. last year—half the value of every house built, every car manufactured, every ad placed in the newspaper or served on the Web, every bag of groceries bought, every custom piece of glass cut by the local hardware store: half of everything.
Your tax dollars at work. And now we’re hearing about $325 billion in bailouts and loan guarantees for Citibank.
This is one more reason for legislation like that which I introduced last week to cut the $700 bailout in half. (A bailout plan that I opposed from the start). But this article also demonstrates the need for Congress to take a serious look at the financial activities of the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve, and the FDIC.
Bloomberg has the context:
Most of the spending programs are run out of the New York Fed, whose president, Timothy Geithner, is said to be President- elect Barack Obama’s choice to be Treasury Secretary.
The money that’s been pledged is equivalent to $24,000 for every man, woman and child in the country. It’s nine times what the U.S. has spent so far on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to Congressional Budget Office figures. It could pay off more than half the country’s mortgages.
“It’s unprecedented,” said Bob Eisenbeis, chief monetary economist at Vineland, New Jersey-based Cumberland Advisors Inc. and an economist for the Atlanta Fed for 10 years until January. “The backlash has begun already. Congress is taking a lot of hits from their constituents because they got snookered on the TARP big time. There’s a lot of supposedly smart people who look to be totally incompetent and it’s all going to fall on the taxpayer.”
And the rough breakdown of the $7.4 trillion, according to Bloomberg News:
“Bernanke’s Fed is responsible for $4.4 trillion of pledges, or 60 percent of the total commitment of $7.4 trillion, based on data compiled by Bloomberg concerning U.S. bailout steps started a year ago…
The FDIC, chaired by Sheila Bair, is contributing 20 percent of total rescue commitments. The FDIC’s $1.4 trillion in guarantees will amount to a bank subsidy of as much as $54 billion over three years, or $18 billion a year, because borrowers will pay a lower interest rate than they would on the open market, according to Raghu Sundurum and Viral Acharya of New York University and the London Business School.
Congress and the Treasury have ponied up $892 billion in TARP and other funding, or 12 percent.
The Federal Housing Administration, overseen by Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Steven Preston, was given the authority to guarantee $300 billion of mortgages, or about 4 percent of the total commitment, with its Hope for Homeowners program, designed to keep distressed borrowers from foreclosure.
Any way you slice it, this is taxpayer money. Your money is being used to pick winners and losers and string along entities that made terrible business decisions. It must stop.
During the past few weeks my campaign has picked up several big endorsements from groups like the National Rifle Association, National Right to Life and National Federation of Independent Business. These endorsements are important to me because I know these are the types of organizations that you want supporting your member of Congress.
As our economy struggles under the weight of a financial crisis I believe that it is our small businesses that will prove to be the catalyst for future economic growth. That is why I have worked so hard to promote policies that help small businesses thrive and support our communities. It is also why I was so pleased to receive the endorsement of the National Federation of Independent Business, a group that represents small businesses around the country.
The NRA, the nation’s preeminent supporter of your Second Amendment rights, gave me their endorsement for my strong voting record in support of your constitutional right to keep and bear arms. In their endorsement the NRA said my record demonstrates “a proven commitment to the of Second Amendment rights of North Carolina’s gun owners, hunters and shooters.”
The Pro-Life group National Right to Life also endorsed my candidacy saying, “Virginia Foxx’s strong pro-life record has earned her the support of all voters who are concerned with the right to life and the protection of the most vulnerable members of the human family.”
But as Election Day approaches I am asking for the only endorsement that matters on November 4—your vote. With your vote on Election Day I will continue to work to get our economy growing again, to keep our nation strong and secure and to make sure your taxes are low by putting the government on a much needed diet.
With all the talk these days about government bailouts of Wall Street firms it’s looking like Washington thinks that more and bigger government is the answer to our economic problems.
Even though big-spending liberals are pushing massive plans to jack up government spending, big government is not the answer. A big-spending government will give you a big-taxing government. And if there’s anything our economy can’t afford right now, it’s a big-spending, big-taxing government.
By keeping taxes low and cutting government spending we can ensure that businesses small and large can invest and grow, and create the new jobs that will get economy back on track. But with big government on their backs, growth will be slow and painful.
An affordable and secure supply of energy is a bedrock of American economic vitality. But paying $4 a gallon for gas has taken a heavy toll on North Carolina’s families and businesses. I am fighting for a comprehensive approach to America’s energy needs that will help make America free from the Middle East’s oil.
Opening up America’s vast oil and gas reserves will free us from the trap of Middle Eastern oil and spur economic growth. We can safety drill for oil in our deep sea reserves and in Alaska’s Arctic north. If we combine the use of our own resources with increased investment in alternative and renewable energy we can be energy independent.
Our economy can recover from the current economic downturn. But not if Washington liberals are allowed to promote policies that halt our recovery. I will fight to keep your taxes low, to protect your tax dollars from the bloated spending habits of Washington’s bureaucracy, and to chart a course for making our economy run on affordable, American-made energy.
Check out my latest video about keeping your taxes low and cutting government spending.
By now you may know that I voted against the bill presented to the House on Monday. My no vote on that specific bill came in opposition to the bill’s ill-advised plan, not in opposition to Congress taking decisive action. In my opinion and the opinion of 227 other House members from both parties from all over the country as well as many other experts who understand economics and our financial system, this was the wrong approach.
The core of the problem is the fact that Democrats in Congress have allowed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to run wild and dramatically distort housing prices. Additionally, the Securities and Exchange Commission has also imposed rules on banks that have distorted the pricing of their assets. There are many ways to solve these problems but the bills that the Senate passed and the House defeated WILL NOT ADDRESS those issues at all.
What these bills do is give Henry Paulson $700 Billion to bail out Wall Street investment firms, with an additional $150 billion in completely unrelated spending, despite what the media tells you. Unfortunately, he and President Bush have handled this situation very badly. They have refused to consider alternative plans and have presented a one-sided point of view that has stirred up fear and panic.
I support an alternative bill, H.R. 7223, that gets to the underlying issues and gets our capital markets moving again. Congress must take action, but rushing headlong into Paulson’s $700 billion, taxpayer-funded fire sale is the wrong plan.
Here are links to a few articles that I think you will find useful.
Please know that every action I take is focused on abiding by my oath of office to uphold the Constitution and on serving the people of this country by making decisions that are in the best interest of the country now and in the future.
woman, and child in the United States. Put in perspective, the article finds that this is the equivalent of half the value of everything produced in the U.S. last year—half the value of every house built, every car manufactured, every ad placed in the newspaper or served on the Web, every bag of groceries bought, every custom piece of glass cut by the local hardware store: half of everything. 