I have been very busy this week calling congress people and Senators to voice my displeasure with the nearly Trillion dollar bailout bill.
From the very beginning I was in the camp that felt that we had to have an alternative to the initial plan. There was absolutely NO way that the pinheads up in DC that claim they represent USare clever enough to prepare a plan within a 24 hour period as they attempted. They not only asked us to believe that they can succeed in a correct plan of action in a short time frame but included in that request is a blank check for nearly a Trillion dollars of our money which in translation was to give the Treasury Secretary a nearly "defacto dictatorship" over our tax dollars.
There wasn't even an equation or strategy used to determine the unbelievable $770 Billion. They claim that they needed a "big number". This whole give away of our tax dollars is a terrible idea. The fact that the bill was defeated in the House of Representative was a success and victory for capitalism. The current plan is a shredding of our capitalist markets and an assault on our free market culture that our great country has been built on. Another very important thing to keep in mind in a free and capitalist market is that failure IS an option.
There have been a number of well stated opposition ideas that have been presented. I believe that pro-growth policies are the best way to provide the economic stimulus that this country and our economy needs. A well stated pro-growth plan has been presented today by South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint.
I ask that everyone calls there Congress and Senate Representative and ask them to vote NO on the bailout bill. Tell them that you support and ask them to support the Jim DeMint offered legislation which employs pro-growth policies to strengthen our depressed economy.
As a side note: I am a firm believer that the FANNIE MAE/FREDDIE MAC organizations are the root cause of our problem. Furthermore I am in strong favor of privatizing those taxpayer funded companies and getting OUR government out of the mortgage guarantee business. See below.
My Source: http://www.jimdemint.com/blog/2008/09/demint-outlines-economic-growth-plan/
DeMint Outlines Economic Growth Plan
September 25th, 2008
Today, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) outlined a plan to stimulate real economic growth for American businesses and families through lowering taxes, reforming government failures, and immediately expanding domestic energy production.
"The proposed bailout is a trillion dollar band-aid that does not contain a single item that will stimulate our economy," said Senator DeMint. "Now is the time to cut taxes on American investment, reform government failures, and expedite energy exploration so we can grow our economy. We must enact pro-growth economic solutions that will create jobs, open up our vast energy resources, encourage investment, and pave the way for long-term prosperity. Instead of giving government more power after its past failures, this plan provides our economy the tools it needs to work through this crisis and gives Americans the freedom to succeed. Given the serious problems we now face, we should all agree that a bold pro-growth economic plan is urgently needed with or without a bailout."
REFORM A TAX CODE THAT DISCOURAGES CAPITAL FORMATION
• Suspend Capital Gains Tax for 2 Years, Index it for Inflation: Immediately suspend the capital gains rate from 15% for individuals and 35% for corporations on assets, including stocks, homes, and commercial real estate investments. This provision would unleash funds and materials to create jobs and grow the economy. After the two-year suspension, capital gains rates would return to present levels but assets would be indexed permanently for any inflationary gains.
• Reduce the Corporate Income Tax Rate: Reduce the corporate income tax rate, which discourages job creation and investment in the U.S., from 35% to 25%. For over a decade, the U.S. corporate tax rate has been 50% higher than the average among our counterparts in the industrialized world and nine key trading partners cut their rates during 2007. According to the Tax Foundation, the corporate tax quietly taps family pocketbooks for nearly $370 billion per year, over $3,000 per household, in the form of higher prices, lower wages and poorer return on investment.
REFORM FAILED GOVERNMENT REGULATION
• Suspend "Mark to Market" Accounting: Suspend the mark-to-market regulatory rules for long-term assets. These rules require financial firms to mark assets at current market levels, even where no market exists and any immediate transactions would result in fire-sale prices. Instead of allowing firms to mark these assets to their true economic value, these rules contribute to a downward spiral as firms have to evaluate their assets not on the basis of their long-term investment but rather on a short-term panic.
• Reform Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley:Make voluntary the duplicative reporting requirements under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, allowing companies to comply with standards that better fit their size while still insuring that they protect their investors. The average compliance cost for a business under Section 404 is $3.8 million, with smaller businesses paying over twice as much in percentage of revenue as large businesses. Relieving this burden will reverse a policy that is chasing capital offshore and encourage more companies to go public in the United States.
• Repeal federal mandates for risky loans: Repeal the Carter-era Community Reinvestment Act, which requires banks to make loans available to borrowers who would otherwise be deemed as too high a credit risk, and who often cannot afford to repay the loans. Under this law that contributed to our current crisis, if banks don't make enough risky loans, community organizers can take financial institutions hostage during regulatory proceedings when banks try to merge, acquire or otherwise alter their status.
EXPAND ENERGY EXPLORATION
• Repeal Bans on Energy Exploration and Expedite Production:Expedite offshore and oil shale exploration, ensure states share in energy revenues, and prevent endless litigation from frivolous environmental lawsuits. American reserves offshore are estimated to hold over 20 billion barrels of oil and 97 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. In the West, oil shale is estimated to be between 800 billion and 2 trillion barrels of oil - that is more than three times the proven oil reserves in Saudi Arabia alone. Permanently ending these bans on American energy will help fuel our economy and stop sending billions of dollars overseas for foreign oil.
REFORM FAILED GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS
• Schedule the GSEs for Privatization:Transition Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over a reasonable time period to truly private companies without special government privileges and expose them to real market competition. This reform would 1) establish commonsense limits for their capital requirements and portfolio holdings relative to their size, 2) focus their mission on affordable housing only, not profit making, 3) require them to pay an appropriate risk-based amount for the government guarantee they enjoy, 4) subject them to state and local taxes and accurate SEC filings like every other private for-profit corporation, and 5) ultimately provide for the phase out of their GSE charters once their conservatorship has ended.
• Stabilize the Dollar:Repeal the Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment Act, which diverts the Federal Reserve's attention from long-term price stability to short-term economic growth. In an effort to fuel the economy, this additional mandate has encouraged the Fed to keep rates artificially low, leading to economic booms and busts, a rise in inflation and the decline of the dollar. This reform would require the Fed to establish a numerical definition for price stability and maintain a policy that promotes it over the long-term.
Best regards,
Owen Zweiback PA, GRI, Realtor, e-Pro
Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate
23421 Walden Center Drive
Bonita Springs, Florida 34134
239-269-3077 Cell
www.floridamoves.com/owen.zweiback
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