by Tina Grazier
The Tea Parties held this week, with fantastic spontaneous participation across America, were not just about anger over high taxes. They were about government overstepping its Constitutional bounds. They were about legislation and regulation that put undo burdens on American citizens and business. They were about government run amok.
A perfect example can be found in a Wall Street Journal editorial today. It features none other than Barney Frank, the Democrat who insisted for years that a collapse at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would not pose a threat to taxpayers. We know how that turned out. So what does Frank have in mind to create a similar scenario for taxpayers? Oh, just a simple little program to federally insure municipal bonds. It isnt that he hasnt learned from his mistakesits that he doesnt carehe just wants more power and control. Please read the details in the article, Barney Franks Double Indemnity, which concludes:
** One Fannie Mae debacle ought to be enough for any career, but Mr. Frank wants taxpayers to double down on his political guarantees. There are currently some $1.7 trillion in municipal bonds held by the public, and Barney thinks we can insure them at “zero cost.” Considering the source, and the potential size of the bill, someone in Congress needs to sound the alarm. **
Another great example of American Tea party anger and distrust can be found today in an Investors Business Daily editorial. This article features Nancy Pelosi, the queen bee of the House, who is smugly calling for a probe of Wall Street over the financial crisis. She will call it the Pelosi-Pecora commission. What the article states, and I agree, is that she should direct that probe right back onto herself and her fellow members of Congress. Congressmen, and particularly the leadership, are great at pointing fingers of blame. They are also very good at covering up for the egregious errors and flagrant failings of members and policies:
** On NPR Thursday, a reporter confronted Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the Financial Services Committee, with the fact that his $300 billion “Hope for Homeowners” program, passed with much fanfare last fall, had so far helped just one homeowner. One. *** Frank’s response: It was the fault of the “right.” And Bush. *** Truth is, Frank’s party has been in charge since 2006. And during that time, Democrats have presided over one of the most disgraceful and least accomplished Congresses in history. This financial mess began on their watch, yet they pretend otherwise. *** What better way to take the heat off yourself than by pointing accusing fingers at those most unlikable of people Wall Street bankers? That’s what the Pelosi-Pecora Commission will do. *** It won’t get to the bottom of our financial crisis; it will carefully select scapegoats to be ritually shamed by the liberal media, stripped of their wealth, and exiled. Then new rules will be imposed that will no doubt make things worse. And the cycle will begin again. *** We’re not saying Wall Street has no blame for the financial meltdown. But Wall Street didn’t create the subprime mess. Congress, through repeated interventions in healthy markets, did. And when the whole thing failed, it was Congress’ fault. **
We the people are tired of taxes, yes, but we are even more weary of the corruption, the fraud, and the power hungry ways of our representatives. We are tired of cover ups and lies. We are tired of the waste that accompanies so many programs. We are tired of phony commissions and failures piled upon failures.
Hope and change have not come to America. What has come is an expansion of government policy the likes of which we have never seen before. What has come is a plan to put the finishing touches on an already tarnished and tattered American Dream. It’s up to you and I to stop this plan and restore our birthright in the greatest country ever conceived. That’s not bragging and it’s not right wing or extreme…it’s an invitation to embrace freedom.
Keep those signs and flags at the ready…the fourth of July is right around the corner. It’s time Barney, Nancy and all the rest got a taste of our bitter brew.