Conservative Leaders Urge Senate To Reject "Financial Reform" Bill

From The American Spectator:

Conservative Leaders Urge Senate to Reject Dodd-Frank Financial Bailout Legislation


7.7.10 @ 4:46PM



MEMO FOR THE MOVEMENT



Senate Should Reject Dodd-Frank Because it Not Only Takes Away the Freedom of a Large Wall Street Firm to Fail, It Also Takes Away Main Streets Freedom to Succeed



"As a physician, I fought tirelessly against the Democrats' government takeover of health care because it will do irreparable harm to Americans' access to quality, affordable health care. Tragically, the Dodd-Frank permanent bailout proposal will deliver a far more formidable blow to American families and main street entrepreneurs. With Dodd-Frank, they have set out to reorder America's entire economic system and sever ties with the free market principles that have guided our nation to unprecedented prosperity."



--Tom Price, Member of Congress, Georgia



RE: The so-called financial "reform" legislation, agreed to by House and Senate Democrats in Conference, and then passed by the House of Representatives, (also know as Dodd-Frank) not only takes away the freedom of a large Wall Street firm to fail, it also takes away Main Streets freedom to succeed. The legislation would increase the size and scope of the federal government, regulating every phase of economic activity. The legislation would also make permanent taxpayer funded bailouts of large Wall Street firms. Due to the bill's excessive taxes and government red tape, families and small business owners would no longer have access to low cost credit, and a bureaucrat would stand between them and living the American dream.



ACTION: The United States Senate should reject the Dodd-Frank bill because it is a job killer that will only bailout politically connected firms. Moreover, the Senate should insist that any financial regulatory reform legislation addresses the taxpayer subsidies of Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac.



"Government cannot make man richer, but it can make him poorer."



--Ludwig von Mises



ISSUE-IN-BRIEF:



Institutionalizes Taxpayer Funded Bailouts



Dodd-Frank gives politicians and federal regulators the power to continue to bail out politically-connected Wall Street firms with taxpayer money rather than allowing failing firms go into bankruptcy. Wall Street bailouts become permanent at the expense of Main Street.



Fails to deal with the Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac Debacle



Dodd-Frank continues to finance the bailouts of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac-despite the central role they played in causing the turmoil that devastated our economy. To date, over $140 billion of taxpayer funds have been spent bailing out Fannie and Freddie. The (Congressional Budget Office) CBO estimates that, in the final analysis, the taxpayers may lose up to $400 billion on the two firms.



Expands the Size of the Federal Government



Dodd-Frank grows government by creating numerous new federal offices that would regulate every phase of economic activity in the U.S. and create a maze of new regulations, all funded by consumers. Additionally, the legislation would create a powerful new Office of Financial Research (OFR). The OFR would, by subpoena if necessary, monitor, record, and report on any financial transaction, including any consumer transactions that it deems appropriate (and without consent of the consumer).



Increases Taxes



Dodd-Frank further stifles economic growth by authorizing federal regulators to impose as much as $1 trillion in additional costs on various financial transactions. As CBO recently noted: "[T]he ultimate cost of a tax or fee is not necessarily borne by the entity that writes the check to the government. The cost of the proposed fee would ultimately be borne to varying degrees by an institution's customers, employees, and investors..."



Rewards Liberal Interest Groups



Liberal interest groups -- from Big Labor to radical animal rights groups -- will get new power under "proxy access" to nominate Left-wing directors to corporate boards and shake down public companies at the expense of ordinary shareholders. Saul Alinsky envisioned the "proxy tactic" as a strategy for the Left in "Rules for Radicals."



CONSERVATIVE ACTION PROJECT



Fred Smith, President, Competitive Enterprise Institute



Virginia Thomas, President, Liberty Central



William Wilson, President, Americans for Limited Government



Wendy Wright, President, Concerned Women for America



David N. Bossie, President, Citizens United



Karen Kerrigan, President, Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council



Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring



Becky Norton Dunlop, former Deputy Assistant to President Reagan



Mario H. Lopez, President, Hispanic Leadership Fund



Edwin Meese III, former Attorney General



Duane Parde, President, National Taxpayers Union



Tony Perkins, President, Family Research Council



Craig Shirley, Chairman, Citizens for the Republic



Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform



Gary Aldrich, Chairman, CNP Action, Inc.



J. Kenneth Blackwell, former Treasurer, State of Ohio



Jordan Sparks, Executive Director, Young Americans for Freedom



Andrea Lafferty, Executive Director, Traditional Values Coalition



Alfred Regnery, Publisher, American Spectator



James Martin, Chairman, 60 Plus Association



Herman Cain, President, THE New Voice, Inc.



Gary Bauer, President, American Values



Tom Winter, Editor-in-Chief, Human Events



David McIntosh, former Member of Congress, Indiana



Curt Levey, Executive Director, Committee for Justice



Richard Viguerie, Chairman, ConservativeHQ.com



Myron Ebell, President, Freedom Action



Mathew D. Staver, Founder & Chairman, Liberty Counsel



T. Kenneth Cribb, former Chief Domestic Advisor to President Reagan



Rev. Louis Sheldon, Chairman, Traditional Values Coalition



Marion Edwyn Harrison, Past President, Free Congress Foundation



John Berlau, Director, Center for Investors & Entrepreneurs, CEI



FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THE SO-CALLED FINANCIAL "REFORM" LEGISLATION PLEASE VISIT THESE WEBSITES:



http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703964104575334611037072320.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop



http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/dodd_jobs_killer_YiIK9mow10v cdfvdaMq1PL



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/22/AR2010062205279.html



http://www.gop.gov



http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/03/business/economy/03crisis.html?ref=politics&pagewanted=print



http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1461603624&play=1



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/20/exclusive-dem-insiders-ec_n_544187.html



http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703426004575338732174405398.html



http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/06/30/obama-healthcare-legislation-reform-finance/



http://biggovernment.com/jberlau/2010/03/01/proxy-access-the-obama-dodd-alinsky-shareholder-jujitsu/



http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/536821/201006091838/Fat-Cats-Feed-On-Durbins-Fee-Change.aspx



http://www.libertycentral.org/ask-questions-dodd-frank-financial-overhaul-bill-2010-07



http://biggovernment.com/jberlau/2010/05/11/dodds-bank-bill-worse-than-obamacare-its-the-nationalization-stupid/