Posted on 09/25/2008 6:17:23 AM PDT by TBP
Former Reagan diplomat Alan Keyes commented Sept. 23 on the federal government's bailout of mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The former Assistant Secretary of State, currently running for president as an independent, said the bailout plan as proposed by the Bush administration would effectively transform our nation into "a socialist society."
The following is the text of Keyes' statement:
What I have to say about the bailout is that, with a concrete proposal on the table, it becomes much more obvious what is actually going on right now, and I think that we have to confront it. And I've noticed a little bit with satisfaction that some voices are being raised which call this by its right name and which understand that what we are watching is the transformation of our nation from a society that was based on a concept of economic freedom to a socialist society.
And unhappily, it means that, in the elections and the parties that are offered us in terms of the Republicans and Democrats, we've got what I would call the bureaucratic socialists — the people who believe in government domination for its own sake, like Barack Obama, who are essentially communists in their orientation and who want to push us down a socialist road which represents the supremacy of that government bureaucracy; and on the other hand, you have what I think of as the corporate socialists — the people who are pushing us down a socialist road because their corporate clients now see themselves as the kind of premier recipients of the tax dollars of the American people and can operate in an environment where, after they have made profit through risk-taking that could not be justified on a sound business basis, they can then be rescued from the results with taxpayer dollars while keeping their profits intact.
I think it's important to note that. And it's why some people have been so outraged that the failed CEO's are trotting off with umbrellas that amount to tens of millions of dollars, and it shouldn't be surprising to us because in a lot of ways — whether it's Lehman Bros. employees with their profits in a trust fund or others — they, along the way, have secured themselves so that in essence, the money that's being spent on the bailout is just to bailout the rich investors who took the risk. It's a way of re-distributing that risk so that the American people, who didn't realize that they were co-signing these investments, now have to end up footing the bill.
But at the end of the day, however, all of this — whatever its terms, whatever comes out in terms of financial transfers — the key is that in the Paulson plan, the Federal Reserve takes over the financial system lock, stock, and barrel. It has already been recognized in a regulatory role in various ways with the institutional banking system, but now the great financial institutions, including those that attract the investment capital, are by fiat going to be placed under the control of the chairman of the Federal Reserve and become essentially agents and factors of the government — and also, by the way, of the quasi-government, yet private sector, institutions that constitute the Federal Reserve Banking system.
In all of this, where are the American people? Well, they're sitting on the sidelines, waiting for the next time they will be called upon to foot the bill, and watching as one of the key and most important elements of a socialist takeover of the whole society is put firmly in place. And to add insult to injury, and irony to everything else, it is put in place under the leadership and with the approval of a Republican from a party that supposedly has, over the years, championed free enterprise, opposed socialism, and won power and votes on the basis of what now turns out to be a hollow lie.
And this is happening in the context of an election year where, no matter if they turn in one direction with the Democrats or the other direction with the Republicans, they get no one except one of these socialists. You get the Barack Obama government, bureaucratic-socialist with their government programs and handouts, or you get the John McCain corporate-internationalist socialists with their bailouts dipping into the pockets of the American people. Between the handouts and the bailouts, it should become clear that from the point of view of those who are now competing for and holding onto political power, we are to be subject not to a government of, by and for the people, but to a government that consists of three factors: the political elites, the allegianceless corporate elites, and the bureaucratic elites who are now colluding with one another in order to impose this yoke upon the American people and essentially bring the republic to an end.
And I think that the events that we are seeing simply confirm my sense that in some way and by some forces in this country, our liberty was never intended to survive this election year. And sad to say, what is being put in place with this so-called "bailout plan" is nothing of the kind.
We ought to be debating not some bailout, not some so-called rescue plan, but whether or not we are in fact, as a people, ready to accept socialism as our form of government. But since we have amongst our political elites so few voices — though some have been raised — that will tell the truth, the debate is not centering on these realities, but instead it is centering on a bunch of buzz words that act as if this is once again the government doing something for the rest of us, when in point of fact, all it is the consolidation of a form of government that will leave the American people out in the cold, bearing the yoke, but no longer having the power to do anything that really determines the destiny of their country.
And I have to say over all, that the spectacle is heart-breaking, and it confirms the sense of urgency I still feel that if the American people have sense to wake up and take directly the power that is being taken from them — don't take these phony choices, don't accept these phony alternatives — if they don't find a way to wake up, then they're only going to wake up into the bondage that is being prepared for them.
And with this, we will see the loss of that hope that Lincoln spoke of and that republic that our framers put in place, and we will lose what has been, in some ways, the most unique opportunity any people ever had in the history of the earth to be free.
Socializing risk only creates more risky behavior, which creates more massive losses, which creates more need for bailouts.
("Oh, goody! Something else we can nationalize!")
Do we really wat to encourage this behavior? Remember that as the best President of my lifetime reminded us, "When you subsidize something you get more of it."
Stop the bailout!
The message is right. But this comes from a messenger who socialized risk of his own political campaigns and failed to pay back debts for years. Kinda hollow.
I already called my congressman again this morning.
Keyes gets it. He understands.
He should have run for President.
Oh, wait. He did.
We all laughed.
We get what we deserve.
I feel conflicted about this bailout. Reading Keyes thoughts have me questioning the wisdom of this act. However, I can’t see another workable alternative. I’m no economist.
This statement is spot on:
“And I have to say over all, that the spectacle is heart-breaking, and it confirms the sense of urgency I still feel that if the American people have sense to wake up and take directly the power that is being taken from them — don’t take these phony choices, don’t accept these phony alternatives — if they don’t find a way to wake up, then they’re only going to wake up into the bondage that is being prepared for them. “
This issue is so simple I don;t know what all the fuss is about.
ANY taxpayer funded involvement by the government in private business or the private economy is socialism. The government should do nothing.
It’s unfortunate that the government is what got us into this mess in the first place, but the only solution now is scorched earth - pull the government completely out and let the economy reset itself.
Some people may get hurt, but maybe that will wake people up to the kind of socialist a-holes they’ve elected over the years... doubt it, but at this point, I think it best for everyone’s future.
Kinda hollow.
The message? Or the messenger? The message was spot on. We need to be able to separate such things or we’ll keep getting Bush and McCain, or Obama et al.
OK, what does Keyes suggest? A complete collapse of the banking system? Mutual fund and hedge fund collapse? Etc?
There is a time and a place for intervention and this is it. If done correctly.
Hint: Forbes likes the bailout, Soros is against it. That told me all I need to know.
As I said, the message was not the problem...but the messenger is made of straw.
I'm not either, but I know more econ than most people. (I learned good, solid economics at Hillsdale.)
Ed Feulner of Heritage has a good article in today's Washington Times laying out some free market solutions.
http://www.washtimes.com/news/2008/sep/25/a-free-market-fix/
And Thomas Sowell has some good ideas:
http://www.washtimes.com/news/2008/sep/25/political-solution/
I guess maybe we're damn if we do and damn if we don't.
“Hint: Forbes likes the bailout, Soros is against it. That told me all I need to know.”
A couple of billionaires fighting over how to spend $700 billion taxpayer dollars. Excuse me if I’m not impressed.
If I screw up my finances, NOBODY bails me out... even if it wasn’t technically my fault.
I’m actually excited about what might happen if the government does nothing. This is mostly panic hype in my opinion anyway. so I’m more than willing to roll the dice keep my $700 billion and see what happens.
As I said, the message was not the problem...but the messenger is made of straw.
You’re right. I read in haste, wrote wrongly. Apologies.
As long as the architects of the meltdown walk away with millions in profits, yes.
No problem :-)
Fannie, Freddie Should Be Split Up: Steve Forbes
In the short term, the U.S. government's bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac does remove the uncertainty from markets, said Steve Forbes, Chairman & CEO, Forbes Inc. However, there will be implications for the U.S. taxpayer and shareholders of the two companies.
"What should be done is instead of having these (Fannie and Freddie) become permanent wards of the government, is to split the companies up into ten different pieces, recapitalize them, allow old shareholders to exchange their shares for new shares, have the government take warrants so that the taxpayers can get some of their money back, and to sever the ties and ship them out into the private markets,"
Soros says something without saying anything...Soros: Fannie, Freddie Crisis Not the Last
"This is a very serious financial crisis and it is the most serious financial crisis of our lifetime," Soros said. "It is inevitable that it is affecting the real economy. It is an idle dream to think that you could have this kind of crisis without the real economy being affected," he added.
That told me all I need to know.
I know what I need to know as well.
When we did the Big Bank Bailout in ‘83, a coalition ranging from libertarians to the Conservative Caucus to Ralph Nader opposed it. The mere fact that folks on the left oppose it is not a reason to support it. Even a blind bird catches a orm once in a while.
Besides, Soros is simply trying to play it for his own advantage. As Eliot wrote:
The last temptaion is the greatest treason:
To do the right thing for the wrong reason.
That’s Soros in this case.
When we did the Big Bank Bailout in ‘83, a coalition ranging from libertarians to the Conservative Caucus to Ralph Nader opposed it. The mere fact that folks on the left oppose it is not a reason to support it. Even a blind bird catches a worm once in a while.
Besides, Soros is simply trying to play it for his own advantage. As Eliot wrote:
The last temptaion is the greatest treason:
To do the right thing for the wrong reason.
That’s Soros in this case.
And somehow you've determined that to mean...Forbes likes the bailout...?
I don't get it.
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