FreedomTalks

We recently set up AngryRenter.com, complete with a petition for renters and responsible homeowners to sign opposing a federal mortgage bailout. As I mentioned in the last post, opposition to a bailout is pretty high, as many view it (rightly, I think) as a taxpayer funded lottery payout for folks who gambled on property values. […]

Tell me again: Why is the federal government bailing out banks and irresponsible borrowers?

Take action AngryRenter.com.

So it looks like the government can’t even manage something as basic as employee purchases using government-issued credit cards. You’ve got federal employees running up tabs for iPods, luxury dinners, and dating services, and $2 million worth of purchased stuff unaccounted for. In the grand scheme of our $3 trillion federal budget, that’s […]

The New York Times reports on the latest method legislators are using to mask wasteful spending — “soft earmarks.”
With great fanfare, Congress adopted strict ethics rules last year requiring members to disclose when they steered federal money to pet projects. But it turns out lawmakers can still secretly direct billions of dollars to favored organizations […]

FW Chairman Dick Armey has an op-ed in RCP on how John McCain should address economic issues:
That John McCain places great importance on honor and fairness is plain to see in every speech and every campaign appearance. These values have made him a strong and steadfast leader on foreign policy, but on economics, his direction […]

Hillary Clinton wants Congress to put up $30 billion to prop up investors and others who can’t made bets on the housing market and can’t afford their mortgages. Meanwhile, she’s reiterating her call for a five-year freeze on subprime interest rates, an idea with serious potential detriment. Clinton is doing her best to […]

Over at the Atlantic, Megan McArdle predicts that more regulation is certainly in store for the financial sector — but isn’t sure it’ll do much good:
[T]he broad demands for “stricter scrutiny” and “more transparency” are meaningless…
The problem is not transparency but complexity: The value of the securities was as opaque to those who held them […]

While I might quibble with a few of his points, I think Larry Kudlow is generally right that fears of economic catastrophe right now are overblown. He’s especially right when he says that Democrats have “adopted pessimism as their national pastime, and want us to believe we’re already in a long and deep recession.”
Now, […]

Steve Chapman wonders why the presidential candidates aren’t more interested in the nation’s finances:
It’s good to know they are preparing themselves for that 3 a.m. phone call. But I’m not convinced any of them is ready for the 8 a.m. call from the budget director reporting that the deficit is raging out of control. […]

The Heritage Foundation’s Brian Riedl has a new analysis of the House Budget Committee’s budget blueprint. Among his findings, the budget plan:

* Raises taxes by $1.265 trillion over five years and $3.911 trillion over 10 years, or more than $3,135 per household annually;
* Includes 17 reserve funds that could be used to raise taxes […]