I believe those Founder’s who wrote the U.S. Constitution envisioned the Legislative Branch of Government as being the one that provided the ultimate checks and balance against abuse of power by either the Executive Branch or the Judicial Branch. This was the Branch that was supposed to have frequent turnover expressing the popular will of the people. Yet, over the last fifty years that Branch has been hyperactive in passing laws affecting every aspect of our daily life as average Americans. The latest Congressional act of hypocrisy was the Bailout of their rich and powerful friends at Fannie and Freddie. It also gave relief to the greedy speculators in Mortgage Banking. The spin is this will help that small percentage of homeowners who really need help with too much debt. Most Americans are aware that it really does more to help the greedy financial types who gambled away their capital to make exorbitant profits. Enough about that, it is a story that will be told over and over and in the future probably make Enron look small in comparison to the fraud those F&F folks perpetrated. Now Congress has a chance to really do something to put money in our Middle Class pockets. On September 30, 2008; let ALL restrictions on U.S. oil exploration expire, amen!

This Congress is already gaining a reputation in the national media because of their lack of legislative activity. Hooray, now they have it, limited government works if Congress quits interfering with our lives. However, this message will probably be forgotten if Madam Speaker and Senator Harry get their big majorities this fall. Since the Great Society exploded on the scene in 1965, Congress has messed with the “…Pursuit of Happiness,” in the lives of just about anyone who wasn’t part of their ruling class. Democrats have become the Socialist Democrats according to a good friend of mine, and I agree. They resemble the Social Democrats of Europe who really never lost their taste for royalty. Instead of Dukes, and Earls and Lords or Ladies; we now have the ruling elite who want to control everything. It seems a far cry from Harry Truman, Andrew Jackson, Thomas Jefferson or even FDR. Those Presidents were Democrats who seemed to show concern for the common man and woman.

Maybe Congress can do something worthwhile prior to adjournment. Help those of us struggling to pay our bills at least get some relief in food prices. They can reverse the exorbitant farm subsidies to millionaire farmers, eliminate ethanol subsidies and drop tariffs on Brazilian ethanol. This of course, is in addition to eliminating all restrictions on domestic oil drilling, something that an overwhelming majority of Americans want to happen! It boggles the mind to comprehend what the two actions, or one action and one just let bad law go away, could do. If just two of these events were to happen; gas prices and soon home heating prices, would continue their downward trend. Food prices, which are artificially higher because of Congressional tinkering with Ethanol issues, would also begin to come down. Can you imagine Congress doing something to actually help Middle Class America struggle with economic hard times they helped cause? I really don’t see this happening, but what a turn of events this would be.

Congress has always had their share of thieves, fraud artists, and other assorted felons including murderers. Dueling and fighting were common even on the floors of Congress in the early years of the Republic. I think what makes the collective United States Legislative Branch seem more criminal in their behavior these last 60 years is the increase in Tax Dollars available in the Treasury to dip into to than in the past. They also have succeeded in mortgaging not only our grandchildren’s future, but many generations to come. All this spending has been driven by selfish greed. The explosion of Government has led to the allure of raiding the Taxpayers pockets for more money and buying ever increasing power to ensure re-elections become as automatic as possible. What America still needs is something Congress will never give us. We need a Twenty-first Century Bill of Rights;

1)      Term Limits for Senators and Representatives; mandatory retirement for All Judges & Other Federal Employees.

2)      Balanced Budget Amendment and full compliance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles by the U.S. Government.

3)      A Flat Income Tax to prohibit favoritism in the Tax Code.

A hypocritical Congress has passed a bill it calls necessary to help homeowners keep their houses. This is what they in congress claim even though over 90% of homeowners who live in their houses are making their mortgage payments on time. While claiming to help the middle class keep their homes, they loot the Federal Treasury by using taxpayer money for the bailout. To whose benefit is all this Federal generosity directed? Why the same people who skimmed off Billions for themselves by setting up complex lending programs. While Congress is bailing out their buddies, they have decided to give a few Billion for organizations like Acorn that openly support the election of Liberal Democrats in elections. Your tax dollars are used to support people who want to take more money and power from you, while helping to elect people that will continue this effort. I guess that’s what the Democratic leadership means by Paygo? We pay, and they go on redistributing our middles class money to the wealthy and special interests who support them.

On July 23, Paul Gigot of the Wall Street Journal wrote a piece called “The Fannie Mae Gang.” He mentioned that Fannie Mae “…helped to make Countrywide as profitable as it once was by buying its mortgages in bulk. Mr. Raines -- following predecessor Jim Johnson -- and Mr. Mozilo made each other rich.” He then wrote about the incestuous relation between the powerful mortgage monopoly and Congress, “…explains why Mr. Johnson could feel so comfortable asking Sen. Kent Conrad (D., N.D.) to discuss a sweetheart mortgage with Mr. Mozilo.,” Of course another sweetheart deal was provided to the Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Sen. Dodd.  He finally concluded; “Fannie has been able to purchase political immunity for decades by disguising its vast profit-making machine in the cloak of ‘affordable housing.’ To be more precise, Fan and Fred have been protected by an alliance of Capitol Hill and Wall Street, of Barney Frank and Angelo Mozilo.”

The real danger is also exposed in that same article. Mr. Gigot further wrote, “I know this because for more than six years I've been one of their antagonists. Any editor worth his expense account makes enemies, and complaints from CEOs, politicians and World Bank presidents are common. But Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are unique in their thuggery, and their response to critics may help readers appreciate why taxpayers are now explicitly on the hook to rescue companies that some of us have spent years warning about.” Imagine the extent of their boldness when these same people who now want us the taxpayer to pay for their wealth accumulation actually threaten the Editor of the Wall Street Journal. I guess this is a preview of what will happen when the Leftist Leadership attempt to get their bill passed in the next Congress to suppress dissenting opinions in print, or any other media?

Investors should always be wary of complex investment instruments. Large financial institutions have learned from Congress that by making that which should be easily understood complex you can discriminate against those who can’t afford expert advice. If you make the investment complex, like the tax code, you can fool most of the average investors while manipulating the use the investment product to get rich.  Like a new improved laundry detergent, whose brand has been around for a hundred years, are the new products really better, or just hype? Traditional mortgage backed securities have been manipulated to get better credit ratings and hiding their risks in layer upon layer of the same investment, simply being repackaged every time. Of course every transaction generates obscene fees for the packagers and the risk is further increased. The mortgages are sold to homeowners and those purveyors of risk to the homeowners are further rewarded by substantial fees. I wonder whether the people involved in this Ponzi scheme will ever be indicted for their fraudulent acts. But wait, why indict, let’s just hide the whole sordid mess with a bailout and move on to the next scam?

Alan Greenspan was quoted as saying the Bailout was necessary, but not handled properly.  At the Fed, Mr. Greenspan warned for years that the two mortgage giants' business model threatened the nation's financial stability.  He now says they both should be dismantled over time. All right, now we have a strong voice for restoring stability in the financial markets, how about restoring “fairness” in financial markets. While head of the Federal Reserve he engineered low interest rates for financial institutions and businesses large enough to finance by selling Commercial Paper. What about Small Business, the real engine of job growth, and what about the poor consumer? If there was one late payment on a credit card, the financing method by necessity for many small businesses, the result is 30% interest. Their was no money for small business loans at banks, because they were busy funding and selling mortgage packages with all the fees those products generated. Financial Institutions no longer make a modest income working on the spread between interest earned and paid. They charge regular customers with high interest and excessive fees.  

Congress seems determined to gain power beyond that prescribed by Article I, the article that describes the Powers of the Legislative Branch. And yet one power, that to regulate the value of money, has been around since the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. Section 7 states; “To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures.” Originally, it was left to States to determine what interest rates were usurious. But the mismanagement of government finances after the imposition of the Great Society programs led to an interest rate crisis, created Stagflation. This made it necessary that by 1980; national banks, federally chartered savings banks, installment plan sellers and chartered loan companies were exempted from state usury limits by the federal government through a special law. This effectively overrode all state and local usury laws. So the Fed sets the interest rates for Large Companies and today it is around 4-8% or so. Yes, risk is a factor and some large organizations pay higher rates because they are riskier. But how about a Bailout for Middle Class America, and re-establish usury rates for the consumer and small business? There will always be those who will be risk rated, but perhaps a Federal Usuty law will curb the appetite of Large Financial Instituiton to overcharge the smaller accounts to make up for their bad management of the Larger Risks they took? It may also curb their appetite for taxpayer bailouts.

The difference between the Founders of America and the current excuse we have for our governing body on Capitol Hill is ever apparent. While reading a wonderful book; "Almost a Miracle" by John Fehrling, I am again marveling at the sacrifices made by the Founder's of this Great Republic and the impossible job they did to create this Country. I read these Historical books and Biographies of early Americans, not to dwell on the human weaknesses and mistakes like so many "modern" scholars, but to reinforce myself with the vision the majority of them possessed. They may be tainted with the impurity of injustice or other flaws, but they still compare more favorable than most in government these last 50 years. What moved me most was the quote by Thomas Paine in his pamphlet "The American Crisis.'' This was in early winter of 1776, the low point of the American Revolution; "These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from their service to this country..." These again are times that try our souls, but the threat is now from within, not from a foreign power.

Arguably our greatest economic thinker, Milton Friedman, said in his wonderful must read, “Free to Choose;” “the combination of economic and political power in the same hands is a sure recipe for tyranny.” Since the Great Society of January, 1965, the Federal Government has gained economic and political power on a scale never imagined. The “Guns and Butter,” State of the Union address by Lyndon Johnson was the beginning of the end of fiscal responsibility and the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a ruling elite. The U.S. Congress originally passed a 10% surcharge to pay for Viet Nam and the explosion of Government Programs created by the Great Society. The unpopularity of the surcharge was immediate. The response was a system of taxation so complex only the elitists can afford to hire professionals to protect them. In addition, Congress cooks the books on a regular basis. Their greed has created deficits, whose $11 Trillion plus liability would be a felony if perpetrated by the private sector.

John Fund wrote in a Wall Street Journal Article yesterday: "The Republican Party is facing what Ronald Reagan called "a time for choosing." A real argument is raging over how much it should turn its back on the bad habits that cost it control of Congress in 2006. The recent indictment of one of the greedy reasons the Republicans broke the "Contract with America" that put theme in power in 1994, Senator Ted Stevens, has put the proverbial fat in the fryer. An Honest Senator, made fun by most of his colleagues, Tom Coburn, was chastised by the Alaskan Money Monger, for losing the 2006 Congressional Elections. Senator Coburn's criticism of earmarks and Republican lust for wealth and power was blamed for the loss. Yet Mr. Fund points out in his article, " The data favored Mr. Coburn: 2006 exit polls revealed that corruption in government was second only to the Iraq war as the driving force behind the Democratic takeover. A major part of that corruption was earmarks -- pork projects members often secure in secret." The Democrats used that to win, but quickly forgot it and put new hands in the power and money cookie jar.

Another small government, freedom of choice Senator is Jim DeMint of South Carolina. He called the Democrats to task for their lie to the electorate that claim the earmarks will now be transparent. In fact, Democrats hide them more and abuse power far beyond what the Republicans had done. Senator Coburn's final comment referring to the Democrats, "(they) not only failed to drain the swamp, but gave the alligators new rights."  But that isn't the end of Congressional Misfeasance, or maybe Malfeasance? With gasoline at $4 a gallon and an energy policy driven by a denial of reality and pandering to radical leftist elitists, the Speaker of the House will not even tolerate debate on energy and adjourned the House. This done in haste to continue her attack on free markets. All the left keeps shouting is; "More government. More control over the economy, More laws to extort money for tort lawyers, and don't forget, More regulation to stifle the only real driving force in our country, small business!" Co-conspirators abound in the Media who amplify their broken message without regard to the truth and with their suppression of opposing opinions.

Not only is the Democratic leadership in Congress trying to curb Free Speech by not letting issues of concern even get to the floors of the House of Senate, they are proposing other legislation to limit opposition in the media.. Something called the Fair Information Act will stifle the source of information patriots can get from the radio and internet sources of their choice. Of course freedom of choice of ANY kind seems to be unacceptable.  I hope the Liberal Left Wing realize that they are the antithesis of what traditional Liberals stood for; Freedom of debate and most importantly, freedom of choice without coercion from big government. For that matter free from coercion from big labor, big business or any other group that thinks they comprise the ruling elite; able to dictate to the masses while ensuring privilege for themselves.

Senator Stevens indictment is the tip of an ice berg named "A National Disgrace" whose presence is oozing down Capitol Hill. A Senator from Illinois being talked about by a fawning media using "Change" as if it it were some miracle drug. A blogger from the Liberal Daily Kos.com, recently wrote, " If Obama's political career was created in what is believed to be the most politically corrupt city in the United States, then his background must be thoroghly checked..." Of course most of the media never tells this story. Three Illinois Governors went to jail in the last 40 years. The current one seems on the verge of making it four. Hundreds of Illinois Legislators, Judges, Chicago Aldermen and assorted other politicians have gone the same way. It doesn't matter who wins the Presidency or Congress in November. If Constitutional limts on an Imperial Congress that rules without regard to the wishes of the citizenry, Thomas Paine's America may be finished.