The Housing Bill That Ate Kansas, or "What's a 14-digit debt between friends?"

[Pangloss]

Congress passed the housing bill today and the president is expected to sign it immediately. Not that that simple name really explains the 684-page bill very well.

 

- Bailouts for homeowners in trouble

- Bailouts for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae

- $7,500 tax credit for first-time home buyers

- Tax breaks for home builders and companies in the home construction industry

- Raises the national debt ceiling to $10.6 trillion (14 digits) to pay for all this (an increase of $800 bil)

 

And the proverbial partridge in a pair tree (i.e. earmarks galore):

 

There is also an array of items buried deep in the legislation, and the implications of some of them is not yet clear. There are provisions, for example, that grant or extend Section 8 federal housing subsidy eligibility to residents of specific properties in Malden, Mass., and San Francisco. And there is a provision tailored narrowly for Chrysler to ensure that it can benefit from a corporate tax incentive even though the company is now structured as a partnership not a corporation. The bill does not name Chrysler but rather describes an unnamed automobile manufacturer “that will produce in excess of 675,000 automobiles” between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2008.

 

This bill basically allows lawmakers to spend about 1.1 trillion dollars, entirely at their discretion. Gee, I wonder if they'll find some way to spend it. I think we've just signed ourselves up for a lot more debt for no good reason.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/washington/27housing.html?hp

[insane_alien]

So, the (US)governement is worried about a rescession rearing its ugly head and it goes in to more debt? Isn't that a bit of a backwards move?

[ParanoiA]

So, the (US)governement is worried about a rescession rearing its ugly head and it goes in to more debt? Isn't that a bit of a backwards move?

 

Yes, it seems the federal government aspires to mirror the impoverished in our country. Poor people typically use this mentallity and it's how they stay poor. Borrowing money to pay off previously borrowed money, with new promises and terms, incrementally growing out of control with each new transfer-with-augment of debt.

 

This is really getting ridiculous. We are putting off one hell of a miserable fall. I'm really, seriously getting concerned about our currency. I always figured it was one of those things that politicians would never let happen; that rhetoric and politics would never stand up to sound currency. I think I'm wrong.

 

Dr. Paul on this housing bill.

 

Or, for a more

[doG]

More evidence that the representatives of the people and those of the states are representing no one but themselves

[ecoli]

 

Or, for a more

good analysis. As the government supports these bailouts, these almost bankrupt corporations are what's backing american currency. Since when is it the government's job to prop up insolvent businesses?

 

edit: Paul said another provision of the bill is to let the IRS monitor every credit card transaction people make.

first of all, how the hell can the IRC do this without expanding its resources... and since when is the government allowed to conduct surveillance on private transactions made through a private creditor.

 

What the hell is going on with my country!

[Phi for All]

good analysis. As the government supports these bailouts, these almost bankrupt corporations are what's backing american currency. Since when is it the government's job to prop up insolvent businesses?

I wonder if a great deal of these types of bills isn't about exploitation approval. The public cries out for something to be done, the pols come up with a fix and it just happens to involve a lot of really great business opportunities (earmarks) for those who are in a good position to exploit them. The public says, "Do it!" and the exploitation is approved.

 

And now there's probably a guy who is a heavy contributor to someone's campaign who just happens to offer a fingerprinting service that is pre-approved by the FBI. Notice that the bill calls for the mortgage lenders to send in their fingerprints to the FBI, not have their fingerprints done by the FBI....

 

600 pages can hide a lot of exploitation.