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CHICAGO—The head of one of the nation’s largest taxpayer organizations today called Chicago’s plan to install more than 100 speed-trap cameras in the city “discriminatory, racist and unconscionable.”
“The greed of Chicago politicians knows no bounds,” said Jim Tobin, President of Taxpayers United of America (TUA). “Chicago and the city’s government-employee pension funds are in dire financial condition, but rather than standing up to the unions and cutting spending and forcing pension-reform, Mayor Emanuel and his rubber-stamp city council once more will stick it to Chicagoans and motorists unfortunate enough to be passing through Chicago.”
“These speed-trap cameras have nothing to do with safety. They will provide a windfall of many millions of dollars for city coffers, which will be used to prop-up the finances of the city and its government-employee pension funds.”
“To be blunt, the speed-trap camera program is racist and discriminatory, impacting minorities and the poor who will struggle to find $100 for going 11 miles per hour over the speed limit.”
“How much of a penalty will be assessed for non-payment of the fine? These fines are often twice the amount of the ticket or more. There are government laws to protect us from private businesses gouging us, but who protects us from the government gouging us?”
“I strongly urge the Chicago City Council to say to Mayor Emanuel, ‘Enough is enough!’ and review and reconsider this entire program.”
TUA testified against the speed-trap cameras at the City Council hearings held on April 11, 2012.
TUA’s commentary on the federal government’s debt default crisis was featured in an article at mystateline.com.
CHICAGO — The President of a Chicago based tax group is urging the U.S. to end its debt default crisis by simply cancelling a portion of the debt.
Jim Tobin, President of ‘Tax Accountability,’ is endorsing an idea floated by Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL 9) that the Federal Reserve should forgive all debt the U.S. government owes its own Federal Reserve Bank. “The solution … is brilliant and elegant,” said Tobin in a news release. “(Federal Reserve Chairman Ben) Bernanke should simply cancel the Treasury debt that it owns. The government can just forgive the government’s debt.”
The Federal Reserve owns roughly $2 trillion of of the nation’s $17 trillion in debt. Canceling this portion of the debt would, in Grayson’s words, “give the government substantial room under the debt ceiling standoff in Congress, and it would prevent a default.” Tobin adds that this portion of the debt, “…. is a bookkeeping artifact corresponding to the money supply. In essence, the government owes this money to itself. This is not a debt problem; it is an accounting problem.”
The move would not do anything to end the government shutdown. Many believe, however, that the possibility of the federal government defaulting on its debt is a far bigger problem than the shutdown. Business and financial leaders have warned of catastrophic economic consequences should Congress allow the government to default by not raising the debt ceiling.
Grayson concedes the debt idea is not his. He’s quoted in ‘Business Insider’ as saying that “…this idea was put forward not by me…but by Republican Rep. Ron Paul.”
It’s highly unlikely the Fed would consider such a move, even though Tobin believes that if Bernanke were to do it, “his legacy would be his being considered the greatest Federal Reserve Chairman in U.S. history.”
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CHICAGO—The President of Tax Accountability, economist, former Federal Reserve Bank examiner, and legendary tax fighter Jim Tobin, today endorsed the plan by U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson (D-9, Florida) that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke use his powers to end the debt limit crisis.
Grayson, quoted in Business Insider, Oct. 11, 2013, states that “…this idea was put forward not by me…but by Republican Rep. Ron Paul.”
“The solution advocated by Paul and Grayson is brilliant and elegant,” said Tobin. “Bernanke should simply cancel the Treasury debt that it owns. The government can just forgive the government’s debt.”
The Federal Reserve doesn’t own all of the U.S. government debt, but it does own roughly $2 trillion of it. Canceling this portion of the debt would, in Grayson’s words, “give the government substantial room under the debt ceiling standoff in Congress, and it would prevent a default.”
“Grayson is absolutely correct when he says the debt held on the balance sheet can be canceled without any significant consequence,” said Tobin. “It is a bookkeeping artifact corresponding to the money supply. In essence, the government owes this money to itself. This is not a debt problem; it is an accounting problem.”
Grayson, a Democrat, and Ron Paul, a Republican and former U.S. Rep. from Texas, are among the strongest critics of an out-of-control Federal Reserve.
Paul has campaigned to dissolve the Fed for 35 years, and wrote an entire book called “End the Fed.” Grayson has repeatedly slammed the Fed. Paul and Grayson also co-sponsored a bill to audit the Federal Reserve.
“Rep. Grayson has written to Chairman Bernanke asking that he cancel the debt held on the Fed’s balance sheet. If Bernanke were to do this, his legacy would be his being considered the greatest Federal Reserve Chairman in U.S. history.”
Tax Accountability is the political action arm of Taxpayers United of America.
