Senate Bailout Bill Full of Pork and Other Chops

As is par for the course, the Senate managed to take a bill that had a very specific purpose and stuff it like a Christmas Goose. I guess no crisis legislation is complete without the gifts for the cronies.
They have been calling this skunk a bail out then they started calling it a rescue. Ok Mr. Clinton what is the meaning of is? I call it what it is, a cover-up. This bill is designed to do two things bail out the failed policies that urged mortgage lenders to make loans to people who should have been renting and then to cover-up immoral if not illegal activities of the elected officials and beaurocrats who enforced “affordable housing” a.k.a. affirmative action housing on the world. As evidenced by the article The Diversity Recession, or How Affirmative Action Helped Cause the Housing Crisis and the administrations of more than the last two decades have been forcing the issue of affordable housing and loans to unqualified recipients. A project of governmental social engineering at taxpayer expense.

Setting aside the fact that it is completely unconstitutional for congress to buy out private businesses. I am trying to wrap my head around this wheel of Limburger the Senate passed tonight. They kept screaming this is the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. So if we accept that, which by the way I strongly contest that last statement, then we must enact a rescue package now. Ok so if a rescue package is needed then pass a rescue bill. If it is needed so badly and it is so obvious that only congress can do it, then it should pass with out opposition.
Where then did all of the “sweetener” as CNBC’s website calls it, y was it necessary?
If the “sweetener” was only required to get the bill to pass and contained no pork or excessive spending then why is the MSM not telling you exactly what was added to all those 451 pages? The original bill was only 3 pages long. CNBC’s website is an example of this, in a story entitled “What’s in the Senate Financial Rescue Plan” they wont tell you. Well they do tell you some of the more moderate politically correct stuff, but not the real eye openers.
Here are some great ones I just love:
New Pork Programs
Film and Television Productions (Sec. 502)
Wooden Arrows designed for use by children (Sec. 503)
6 page package of earmarks for litigants in the 1989 Exxon Valdez incident, Alaska (Sec. 504)

Extensions to old Pork Programs
Virgin Island and Puerto Rican Rum (Section 308)
American Samoa (Sec. 309)
Mine Rescue Teams (Sec. 310)
Mine Safety Equipment (Sec. 311)
Domestic Production Activities in Puerto Rico (Sec. 312)
Indian Tribes (Sec. 314, 315)
Railroads (Sec. 316)
Auto Racing Tracks (317)
District of Columbia (Sec. 322)
Wool Research (Sec. 325)

You can read the full text of the bill here (PDF Format)

Please tell me what any of that has to do with a financial sector rescue package?

I direct your attention to dailypaul.com here you will find a complete list of the roll call vote so you can plan to vote out the Senators who voted yes.

I do have a side note, I wonder exactly how many of the 25 Senators who voted no are up for reelection.

This bill will not benefit anyone except the recipients of the pork and the ole boys inside of the beltway. If we are to rescue the financial sector, we must first get to the heart of the problems and correct them.
Now everyone seems to understand that Congress, Fannie and Freddie are pretty much at the heart of this. Here is the video of the 2004 Senate hearing where you can clearly find Democrats praising Freddie and Fannie and Republicans expressing concerns.

Also it is interesting to note that the Bush administration expressed concerns about them as well.
Bush Called for Reform of Freddie and Fannie

Bush and the Republicans do not get a pass here, Mr. Bush could have made a sweeping reform without the aid of congress or any legislation. He could have made changes to the mark-to-market accounting system as it was crippling Bear Stearns. That one change could have been affected by the S.E.C. and it would have avoided most of if not all the bankruptcies and F.D.I.C. shutdowns of some banks this year.
Take a gander at this 65 min speech given by Newt Gingrich at the National Press Club on Sept. 30th. He addresses this very issue. He also makes a point that someone needs to investigate Treasury Sec. Paulson due to his seemingly ongoing ties with Goldman Sachs.
Newt Speech at the National Press Club.

It becomes clearer to me everyday that come Election Day we need to clean our national house. Incumbents are at fault and Barney Frank is the ringleader. They need to find their place on the unemployment line.
Then be very careful, sending more Liberal Democrats back to D.C. will only put the foxes right back in charge of the hen house.

That’s how I see it anyway.

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