Taxpayers Oppose Big Bank Bailout

The President of Taxpayers United of America (TUA) today announced the organization’s opposition to the $700 billion big bank bailout being considered in Washington, D.C.
“People who detest wasteful government spending have about 700 billion reasons to complain right about now” said Jim Tobin, president of TUA. “The Federal Government unveiled its plan to buy up roughly 700 billion dollars in ‘toxic’ debts from America’s largest investment firms, giving the government greater control of America’s financial institutions. This is the same government that spent the last half century jumping at the throat of any country that even hinted at nationalizing any of its industries.”
“The unlucky U.S. taxpayers may soon be the owners of these bad loans.”
“Now the government wants to buy some of the largest financial institutions in the world.  This big bank bailout will cost over $2,000 per person, bringing the national debt to $37,000 per person,” said Tobin.      “Our market is built on a system that rewards those who take risks. However, for this system to work, the opposite must also hold true. If one takes excessively high risks, one should be liable for excess losses that might occur. These banks took excessively high risks by making loans to people who were terrible risks.”
“The government originally created this mess by passing the Community Reinvestment Act, which outlawed ‘redlining,’ forcing the banks to give loans to those persons who could not repay the loans. Now the government wants taxpayers to foot the bill for problems caused by this stupid legislation.”
“This big bank bailout is not going to un-foreclose anyone’s house, nor will it create jobs or lower gas prices. It’s probably not even going to work. Remember those stimulus checks?”
“To ensure against future financial meltdowns like this, Congress should repeal the Community Reinvestment Act.”
Economist Jim Tobin was a Federal Reserve Bank Examiner for nine years.
Click here to view the news release.