Maybe Senator Joe Biden didn't actually quote word for word from another politician this time, but his tactic of shaming Americans for not wanting to pay more is as old as the New Deal politics he and Senator Obama will inflict on the nation if they are successful in their bid for the White House.
In a speech given to the American Retail Federation on May 22, 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt voiced the following sentiments:
"The second condition is that in the repeal of this tax we shall not return to the old tax evasion loophole by which a very small group of people with incomes in the very high brackets were able, until two years ago, to leave their profits in closely held corporations, thus avoiding the full rates of the higher brackets on their personal incomes. It seems to me that patriotic people everywhere will not want to go back to that old pernicious habit." Source in link
Compare that to Biden's quote from his interview on ABC's Good Morning America program of September 18, 2008, speaking to the wealthier Americans.
"It's time to be patriotic ... time to jump in, time to be part of the deal, time to help get America out of the rut."
It seems as though the only that has changed in 70 years with the Democratic Party is the ability to condense FDR's desire to put the government's hand in everyone's wallet into a snappy sound bite.
Cross-posted at Unequal Time http://unequal-time.blogspot.com
Posted by thesenator2012 at September 18, 2008 08:19 PM | Email ThisLEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL FOR TREASURY AUTHORITY
TO PURCHASE MORTGAGE-RELATED ASSETS
Section 1. Short Title.
This Act may be cited as ____________________.
Sec. 2. Purchases of Mortgage-Related Assets.
(a) Authority to Purchase.--The Secretary is authorized to purchase, and to make and fund commitments to purchase, on such terms and conditions as determined by the Secretary, mortgage-related assets from any financial institution having its headquarters in the United States.
(b) Necessary Actions.--The Secretary is authorized to take such actions as the Secretary deems necessary to carry out the authorities in this Act, including, without limitation:
(1) appointing such employees as may be required to carry out the authorities in this Act and defining their duties;
(2) entering into contracts, including contracts for services authorized by section 3109 of title 5, United States Code, without regard to any other provision of law regarding public contracts;
(3) designating financial institutions as financial agents of the Government, and they shall perform all such reasonable duties related to this Act as financial agents of the Government as may be required of them;
(4) establishing vehicles that are authorized, subject to supervision by the Secretary, to purchase mortgage-related assets and issue obligations; and
(5) issuing such regulations and other guidance as may be necessary or appropriate to define terms or carry out the authorities of this Act.
Sec. 3. Considerations.
In exercising the authorities granted in this Act, the Secretary shall take into consideration means for--
(1) providing stability or preventing disruption to the financial markets or banking system; and
(2) protecting the taxpayer.
Sec. 4. Reports to Congress.
Within three months of the first exercise of the authority granted in section 2(a), and semiannually thereafter, the Secretary shall report to the Committees on the Budget, Financial Services, and Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committees on the Budget, Finance, and Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate with respect to the authorities exercised under this Act and the considerations required by section 3.
Sec. 5. Rights; Management; Sale of Mortgage-Related Assets.
(a) Exercise of Rights.--The Secretary may, at any time, exercise any rights received in connection with mortgage-related assets purchased under this Act.
(b) Management of Mortgage-Related Assets.--The Secretary shall have authority to manage mortgage-related assets purchased under this Act, including revenues and portfolio risks therefrom.
(c) Sale of Mortgage-Related Assets.--The Secretary may, at any time, upon terms and conditions and at prices determined by the Secretary, sell, or enter into securities loans, repurchase transactions or other financial transactions in regard to, any mortgage-related asset purchased under this Act.
(d) Application of Sunset to Mortgage-Related Assets.--The authority of the Secretary to hold any mortgage-related asset purchased under this Act before the termination date in section 9, or to purchase or fund the purchase of a mortgage-related asset under a commitment entered into before the termination date in section 9, is not subject to the provisions of section 9.
Sec. 6. Maximum Amount of Authorized Purchases.
The Secretary's authority to purchase mortgage-related assets under this Act shall be limited to $700,000,000,000 outstanding at any one time
Sec. 7. Funding.
For the purpose of the authorities granted in this Act, and for the costs of administering those authorities, the Secretary may use the proceeds of the sale of any securities issued under chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, and the purposes for which securities may be issued under chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, are extended to include actions authorized by this Act, including the payment of administrative expenses. Any funds expended for actions authorized by this Act, including the payment of administrative expenses, shall be deemed appropriated at the time of such expenditure.
Sec. 8. Review.
Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.
Sec. 9. Termination of Authority.
The authorities under this Act, with the exception of authorities granted in sections 2(b)(5), 5 and 7, shall terminate two years from the date of enactment of this Act.
Sec. 10. Increase in Statutory Limit on the Public Debt.
Subsection (b) of section 3101 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by striking out the dollar limitation contained in such subsection and inserting in lieu thereof $11,315,000,000,000.
Sec. 11. Credit Reform.
The costs of purchases of mortgage-related assets made under section 2(a) of this Act shall be determined as provided under the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990, as applicable.
Sec. 12. Definitions.
For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply:
(1) Mortgage-Related Assets.--The term "mortgage-related assets" means residential or commercial mortgages and any securities, obligations, or other instruments that are based on or related to such mortgages, that in each case was originated or issued on or before September 17, 2008.
(2) Secretary.--The term "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Treasury.
(3) United States.--The term "United States" means the States, territories, and possessions of the United States and the District of Columbia.
Posted by: Bush Brain on September 21, 2008 05:53 PMAt a time when much of the world is poised to capitalize on American weakness and steal power from us when are attention is drawn home, the issues of national security and economic stability become vitally entwined.
So, we face this challenge again. Whatever choice the country makes, I will be one of the voices reminding us the perils described so clearly by Nobel-winning economist Friedrich Hayek in his novel "The Road to Serfdom". Although Reagan, Hayek, Friedman and Pope John Paul II have all passed from this earth, the cause to preserve every individual right to determine their place in the world, based on their contributions and merits, will live on in those of us who refuse to give in when life ebbs and flows.
Posted by: Bryan Myrick (thesenator2012) on September 21, 2008 07:09 PMFDR made it efficient, his administration did not invent it. Get it straight. Republicans are socialists and hand over taxpayer receipts to unaccountable private interests. It is soviet cronyism comrade.
Posted by: Bushwhacked on September 22, 2008 10:54 AMI never said that FDR invented government intervention. Hoover's attempts at intervention were just as ill-advised as FDR's wholesale nationalism, but it is incorrect to say that his programs and policies were helpful in the larger sense. FDR was the first to implement the widespread nationalizing - and quasi-nationalizing - of United States industries.
When most of the world was emerging from the global depression, sometime around 1936 to 1937, the United States was plummeting into another recession. US unemployment in 1938 had climbed to 19.0% while world unemployment was falling. This was largely due to the regressive tax policy of FDR that made it very difficult for businesses to grow and begin serving the awakened global demand.
Jobs are not useful to an economy unless they are adding to GDP. Certainly, the US benefited from the BPA and TVA. Those sources of cheap power really came in handy when the war started, but they were utterly underutilized prior to that because the demand for power wasn't present. When factories aren't moving, they don't use power. Unemployment offices, in contrast, use very relatively little power.
It is entertaining that the cliched insult cast by communists at the West is that we are bourgeois and lazy, but expecting to be taken care of cradle to grave is the epitomy of sloth.
(BTW: If you want to be taken seriously, stop using those ridiculous fake email addresses. Truly strong ideas can stand the light of day, and those who believe in those ideas don't shy away from recognition.)
Posted by: Bryan Myrick (thesenator2012) on September 22, 2008 12:06 PM