We’ve got another major reform about to get jammed down our throats! Are you excited? It’s the financial reform bill, because those greedy Wall Street fat cats need to be stopped. And this will stop them, because Barney Frank is putting the final touches on this bill.
I have complete confidence that Chris Dodd and Barney Frank have finally ensured there will never be a recession ever again. The Frakendodd monster is at it again and they’re throwing our children in a well.
They’ve got a great track record, especially when it comes to knowing what’s wrong with the financial sector. Remember when Dodd said: “Fannie and Freddie are very, very liquid; they’re in good shape, in my view.” Or when Barney Frank said this:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. BARNEY FRANK, D-MASS.: I think this is a case where Fannie and Freddie are fundamentally sound, that they are not in danger of going under. They’re not the best investments these days from the long-term standpoint going back. I think they are in good shape going forward.
They’re in a housing market. I do think their prospects going forward are very solid.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
We’re in trouble, gang. We’re in big trouble. Last time they did this was with health care and you know what happened? Oh no, you don’t. Well, here’s a couple of things about the law that you may not know:
• Free rider provision: If a company offers coverage, but the premiums are above 9.5 percent of an employee’s household income, the coverage is “deemed” unaffordable and the employer gets slapped with a penalty and the worker may then qualify for (say it with me) federal subsidies. The penalty is $3,000 a year for each employee. Hmm, I wonder who does the “deeming”?
As health care costs go up, dropping coverage likely will be the cheaper option. And then more people will end up having their health care subsidized by the government.
• Deficit neutral: Remember when the CBO came out with the “low cost” estimate below $1 trillion? And Democrats couldn’t stop saying, yeah well the CBO says it’s deficit neutral? I haven’t heard any Democrats talking about how the CBO has now come out and said yeah, about those health care costs. We were off by $115 billion. It’s more expensive than we thought. Oh, and the “doc fix” just cost you $65 billion in a bill they just passed in the middle of the night.
• Major companies talked about the hit they were about to take from the bill: AT&T said the health care law’s tax increase alone would cost them $1 billion. Do you think they will pass the savings on to you? John Deere’s director of labor relations said they were considering denying employees coverage and paying the penalty.
• Small businesses are required to provide insurance, supposedly offset by a tax credit. But that tax credit arbitrarily shrinks as the company grows, resulting in a likely hiring freeze.
Those are great surprises, thanks. And this is nothing compared to what’s coming in the financial bill.
I want you to think about something for a second. Think of how much this health care bill was debated: town halls, protests, rallies, talk radio, cable news — you knew more about doc fixes and HMOs and PPOs than you ever could have imagined. And guess what? There are still surprises popping up.
How much debate has their been on this financial bill? Not much. Does anyone really believe that this 1,500 page bill is merely a benevolent, powerless, meaningless stack of paper? Where is the outrage? Did the health care bill fight wear you out? Are you tired? I know the president isn’t tired:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Those folks who are trying to stand in the way of progress, they’re all — let me tell you, I’m just getting started. I don’t quit. I’m not tired, I’m just getting started.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
What about you? Are you quitting? We told you before they are trying to overwhelm the system and wear you out: health care; cap-and-trade; financial reform; immigration bill; regulations. It’s not going to stop and neither should you. Because this financial bill is gigantic; it’s even worse than the health care bill. I’ll show you why.
The United Nations in their Human Development Report says: “Governance is not government — it is the framework of rules, institutions and practices that set limits on behavior of individuals, organizations and companies.”
Wow, let that one sink in. The basic progressive agenda is always the same: They know better than you, so they have to control what you do. Look at how they’re controlling health care.
And here’s what is coming in the House’s financial bill:
• First and foremost, it does nothing to address the problems with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Those two helped create the housing mess and then needed a $125 billion bailout, which they haven’t even scratched the surface on a payback.
• It creates a special protected class of “too big to fail” firms. In section 113, a “Financial Stability Oversight Council” is established, which will choose the firms deemed too big to fail. Hmm, can you think of any other massive financial institutions that don’t care if they fail because they know they will be bailed out by the government? Fannie and Freddie. So not only is this bill not doing anything to stop Fannie and Freddie, as they continue to lose hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars, this bill will create more of them.
• Provides for seizure of private property without meaningful judicial review. The secretary of the treasury can order the seizure of any financial firm that he finds “in danger of default.” Again, a bureaucrat arbitrarily getting to make the distinction to just take over a financial firm whenever they feel like it. And, once the decision is approved, it’s nearly impossible to reverse.
• This Financial Stability Oversight Council, they’ve got nine regulatory authorities out there and this expands the reach outside of just financial firms. They can declare if a non-bank financial firm (insurance, finance companies, hedge funds) are “in trouble.” And guess what? They can turn it over to the treasury for regulation. Again, this distinction is completely arbitrary and comes from bureaucrats.
• Opens a line of credit to the treasury for additional government funding. Guess who’s irrelevant? You are, Congress! No more begging those pesky politicians for billions of dollars, like with TARP. No, we’ll just skip that and tap the ATM.
• Regulators can guarantee the debt of solvent banks as well. If there is a ‘liquidity crisis’ …
• The bill creates a new “Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.” They just want to “protect” consumers. Uh-huh. This bureau will have broad powers to limit what financial products and services can be offered to consumers.
(This is so weird, as I was reading that sentence I couldn’t help but think of Congressman Anthony Weiner trying to “protect consumers” from Goldline. You can go to weinerfacts.com for more on that.)
It’s supposed to help, but it will only reduce choices and likely make credit more expensive and harder to get. It also allows them to track all of your financial transactions, just to “protect you.”
• Non-financial firms would be subject to financial regulations. Listen to how broad this is: Section 102 defines a “non-bank financial company” as a company “substantially engaged in activities… that are financial in nature.” Aren’t all companies financial in nature? Sure, bakeries are making cupcakes and bread, but isn’t that financial in nature?
And they’re making sure this bill is jammed down America’s throat by, I’m not kidding, July 4th.
So here is the Frankendodd monster giving us our independence by chaining our children and our freedoms by snooping through our credit cards.
This fits the progressive agenda to a T: Power and control. These guys are power hungry. This financial bill is the biggest reform since FDR. We’re making the same mistakes we make in the 1930s, except the first time we made these mistakes, the American people didn’t know what progressives were really about and there was no global structure in place. When FDR died in office, we could still reverse many of the things he tried to do. But this time, we won’t be able to, because your representatives won’t have any control.
Again: “Governance is not government — it is the framework of rules, institutions and practices that set limits on behavior of individuals, organizations and companies.”
Again, I ask you to call your representative at the IMF and complain if you don’t like that fact that America spent $50 billion in tax money to bail out Greece. Call your representative at the U.N. and say you won’t vote for him next time. Contact the World Bank and let them know that you’ll close your bank account with them if you have to.
This is why all of this matters: You have no representation. It’s just the way the world is now. It’s a global community.
Another thing FDR did not have, but Woodrow Wilson did, was Cass Sunstein.
He’s the regulatory czar, the head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. He controls everything — he nudges you. He never tells you what to do — he nudges you. Remember “The Truman show”? Sunstein is the director up there in the control room. You still have his “freedoms.” Sunstein is just using a lot of “choice architecture” around you.
Cass Sunstein has wanted that job in the control room his whole life — his whole life! In 2008, on the campaign trail, he went on a date with his soon to be wife, Samantha Power. She asked him what his dream job was. She said, “I expected him to say he dreamed of playing for the Red Sox… his eyes got real big and he said, ‘Ooh! OIRA!'”
Most people will say what’s the big deal with that job? Here’s a guy who’s wanted this job. What kind of geek wants this job? Well, any geek who knows history knows that’s one of the most powerful jobs in the world. You are looking at the power of the Fed and more.
Oh, by the way, if this financial regulation bill passes, how much control does government have over the economy? Twenty percent? Forty-eight percent? No — 60 percent.
— Watch “Glenn Beck” weekdays at 5 p.m. ET on Fox News Channel
Leave a Reply