Bailout Recipients Bankrolled Conventions

by LukeAmerica2020
According to two private, nonpartisan organizations, some of the major corporations that received enormous sums in bailout funds and loans had just donated large amounts of money to the Democratic and Republican conventions weeks before coming to Washington to beg for their taxpayer-funded handouts.

These include American International Group (AIG), Citigroup, Ford Motor Company, Freddie Mac, General Motors Corporation, and Goldman Sachs. In all, big businesses, labor unions, and individual millionaires donated $118 million into the nominating conventions for Barack Obama and John McCain. The Democratic convention in Denver received $61 million and the Republican one in Minneapolis-St. Paul got $57 million.

Economic Fix: No 2008 Income Tax

by LukeAmerica2020
The latest bailout bonanza number, which includes the Citigroup rescue, is $7.7 trillion. That’s roughly half of America’s gross domestic product. However, some of the rescue efforts involve mere loan guarantees, which may cost nothing.

Louie Gohmert, a Republican congressman from Texas, has a common sense solution for our economic woes … no bailouts, no stimulus, and no income tax … a refreshing idea of actually putting more money into circulation.

Like millions of Americans, Congressman Gohmert was upset to hear disconcerting reports that some of the banks receiving bailout money will not use it to make more loans or shore up “troubled assets.” Instead the bailout money will be used to buy their smaller competition, basically using tax dollars to monopolize banking which will also provide fewer sources of credit and loans.

Irrational Bailout Entitlement Syndrome

by LukeAmerica2020
An unsettling discontent swells as I’m reminded of the closing words of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, “a government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth”. His resolute celebration of liberty has come to symbolize the very definition of democracy itself. Yet, who among us today could muster the fatuous optimism to rally truthfully that this founding creed is practiced by our designated representatives in DC?

Shouldn’t government authority be derived from the consent of the governed? Shouldn’t our elected representatives … represent us?

Some issues that confront us as a nation transcend political parties. The ongoing fervor for bailouts is one such example. Just two months ago democrats and republicans, ordinary citizens, of sundry leanings deluged Congress with demands to vote against the $700 billion bailout plan.

AmEx Requests $3.5 Billion in U.S. Aid

by LukeAmerica2020
American Express Company received approval earlier this week from the Federal Reserve to become a bank holding company, which is a similar structure to traditional commercial banks. The credit card company now has access to financing from the Fed and the ability to grow a large deposit base.