“In a 21st-century version of the age of discovery, teams of computer scientists, conservationists and scholars are fanning out across the globe in a race to digitize crumbling literary treasures.”
Chief Justice Roberts is awesome! Compare his final comment to the weak apologia of Stevens with Breyer’s concurrence.
I wish America had statesmen who would speak in this frank and direct manner to the President and our spendthrift Congress!
“The same prudence which in private life would forbid our paying our own money for unexplained projects, forbids it in the dispensation of the public moneys. … The multiplication of public offices, increase of expense beyond income, growth and entailment of a public debt, are indications soliciting the employment of the pruning knife. … We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. … The principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale. … If we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people, under the pretence of taking care of them, they must become happy. … I think we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious. … The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground. … [A] wise and frugal government…shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government. … Sometimes it is said that man can not be trusted with government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the forms of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.” – Thomas Jefferson
“I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents… If Congress can do whatever in their discretion can be done by money, and will promote the General Welfare, the Government is no longer a limited one, possessing enumerated powers, but an indefinite one, subject to particular exceptions. … The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite. … There are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.” – James Madison
“I apprehend no danger to our country from a foreign foe … Our destruction, should it come at all, will be from another quarter. — From the inattention of the people to the concerns of their government, from their carelessness and negligence, I must confess that I do apprehend some danger. I fear that they may place too implicit a confidence in their public servants, and fail properly to scrutinize their conduct; that in this way they may be made the dupes of designing men, and become the instruments of their own undoing. Make them intelligent, and they will be vigilant; give them the means of detecting the wrong, and they will apply the remedy.” – U.S. Senator Daniel Webster (1782-1852)
“A Republic, if you can keep it.” – Benjamin Franklin
These words are as relevant today as when they were authored. The issues regarding the relation of people and their governments have not changed and have been debated at least from the time of Plato. The ideals of the Enlightenment were subsequently incorporated into the U.S. Constitution and establish the correct balance. To posit that somehow the issues of today are unprecedented displays a profound ignorance of history to the contrary.
For those who pontificate regarding Israeli “proportionality” and argue for a status quo ante, I recommend reading The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement – Hamas. An excerpt:
The Prophet, Allah’s prayer and peace be upon him, says: “The hour of judgment shall not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them, so that the Jews hide behind trees and stones, and each tree and stone will say: ‘Oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him,’ except for the Gharqad tree, for it is the tree of the Jews.” (Recorded in the Hadith collections of Bukhari and Muslim).
Via the BBC:
“The US space agency’s (NASA) Mars rovers are celebrating a remarkable five years on the Red Planet.
The first robot, named Spirit, landed on 3 January, 2004, followed by its twin, Opportunity, 21 days later.
It was hoped the robots would work for at least three months; but their longevity in the freezing Martian conditions has surprised everyone. The rovers’ data has revealed much about the history of water at Mars’ equator billions of years ago.”
The advances in electronics, robotics and communications these planetary missions demonstrate are absolutely amazing!
“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” – John Adams, ‘Argument in Defense of the Soldiers in the Boston Massacre Trials,’ December 1770 US diplomat & politician (1735 – 1826)
Charles Krauthammer describes the latest Gaza conflict cogently:
“Some geopolitical conflicts are morally complicated. The Israel-Gaza war is not. It possesses a moral clarity not only rare but excruciating.
Israel is so scrupulous about civilian life that, risking the element of surprise, it contacts enemy noncombatants in advance to warn them of approaching danger. Hamas, which started this conflict with unrelenting rocket and mortar attacks on unarmed Israelis — 6,464 launched from Gaza in the past three years — deliberately places its weapons in and near the homes of its own people.”
Why can’t AP communicate with such clarity?
Peter Wallison from AEI speaking at the Reason Foundation Dinner. In 25 minutes no less!
Another amusing thread on the issue du jour. Read from the bottom up.
Nameless CU Flack:
I find your bona fides from advocacy groups unpersuasive. Many of these same groups are responsible for substantial lobbying efforts to block further regulatory oversight of the primary buyers of mortgages for packaging into securities, e.g. GSEs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Have you read a Community Reinvestment Act Performance Evaluation from a bank that is in “substantial noncompliance”? I have and am not in the banking or investment field and have zero financial interest in same. It’s rather obvious to anyone with critical thinking skills what’s required to move from the noncompliant status. Excerpt: “The bank does not use any innovative or flexible lending practices or products to target low- and moderate-income borrowers.” No matter the language stating “safe and sound loans”, the actual CRA reports influence business behavior. Reference: http://www.chicagofed.org/cra_pes/2001/850036.pdf
It simple to anyone with a basic understanding of economics: Gov’t intervention/mandates + politics = market distortions = failure = taxpayer bailout or at the minimum increased cost
There’s plenty of blame to spread around and Wall Street investment banks made serious errors in buying these securitized mortgages as did anyone taking a stated income ARM for $500k when they’re making $12/hr. But to place all the blame on the former is disingenuous.
Unless you’re willing to engage in substantive debate rather than a forward of advocacy group talking points, do not email me again on this topic.
Sincerely,
Ron Bischof
On Oct 30, 2008, at 1:52 PM, action@cu.consumer.org wrote:
Statement from National Civil Rights, Consumer, Community Development and Housing Groups Regarding Attacks on the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA)
Washington, DC – The following group of civil rights, consumer, community development, and housing groups today made the following statement:
Recent conversations pointing to the Community Reinvestment Act as the cause of the foreclosure crisis and credit market crisis are an attempt to deflect attention away from the real problem affecting our financial system. That problem is failed regulatory policy and oversight.
For more than a decade, community leaders, civil rights proponents and housing groups have raised concerns about unfair, deceptive and abusive lending practices that have undermined homeownership aspirations for millions of working families. Those pleas for better regulatory policy and oversight not only went ignored, in some cases they were contradicted by regulatory policy that made predatory lending more virulent and prevalent in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color.
Over that same period, thousands of pages of local, state and federal testimony, peer reviewed policy papers and speeches (many from the groups signed onto this statement) have forewarned of a pending crisis stemming from lax regulatory oversight and enforcement. Yet no serious federal response was made. As Harvard University law professor Elizabeth Warren has artfully stated, consumers had better protection buying a toaster or microwave oven than they had when purchasing the family home.
One example of regulatory failure is that many vital financial institutions – and the products they created and sold — were not covered by meaningful regulation. Some market players clearly knew their actions were creating a potential market crisis. A Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Report recently found that in December of 2006 one analytical manager at a prominent credit rating agency wrote to another senior analytical manager to say “let’s hope we are all wealthy and retired by the time this house of cards falters.”
Improved regulation of the financial system – including brokers, lenders, appraisers, rating agencies and securitizers – was essential. If the Community Reinvestment Act – and other appropriate regulation — had been applied to independent mortgage companies and other non-bank financial institutions, it is likely that our nation would not be confronted with a foreclosure crisis. Critics of the law conveniently ignore that about 75 percent of sub-prime loans were not covered by CRA. They also ignore the fact that most reckless and damaging subprime lending occurred between 2003 and 2007, long after CRA’s passage in 1977.
CRA exams provide clear and strong incentives for banks to make safe and sound loans and penalize them for making loans that are unfair and abusive. CRA is an antidote, not a cause of the current crisis.
Signed by:
Accion USA / Chicago / New Jersey / New York
Center for American Progress
Center for Responsible Lending
CDFI Coalition
Consumer Action
Consumer Union
Consumer Federation of America
Dēmos: A Network for Ideas & Action
Enterprise Community Partners
Housing Assistance Council
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
Local Initiatives Support Corporation
NAACP
National Association of Consumer Advocates
National Alliance of Community Economic Development Associations
National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC)
National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low income clients)
National Council of La Raza
National Council of Negro Women
National Housing Conference
National Housing Institute
National League of Cities
National Low Income Housing Coalition
National NeighborWorks Association
National Policy and Advocacy Council on Homelessness (NPACH)
National Rural Housing Coalition
National Urban League
Opportunity Finance Network
Rainbow PUSH Coalition
US Conference of Mayors
Contact:
Pamela Banks
202-462-6262
—– Original Message —–
From: Ron Bischof
To: action@cu.consumer.org
Sent: Saturday, October 18, 2008 6:30 PM
Subject: Re: A Sobering Time (for blame shifting & nanny state activism) (Fwd By Digital Impact)
Mr. Guest:
Please spare me the current iteration of Big Gov’t cheerleading that overlooks the role of GSEs and the Community Reinvestment Act in the hopes that recipients are ignorant to the consequences of government intervention in market behavior.
This is merely your current platform in a career of activism for the nanny state and socialistic policies. It has little to do with informing consumers about products/services from productive sectors of society and everything to do with politics. As a result, I’ve engaged in a little activism of my own and non-renewed my Consumer Reports magazine and Health newsletter subscriptions. And now, I’m unsubscribing from these emails.
May you receive all the government you deserve as you and your ilk squander our heritage of freedom and limited government.
Sincerely,
Ron Bischof
On Oct 15, 2008, at 7:06 AM, Consumer Reports Advocacy wrote:
Dear Ron,
You watched helplessly as the stock market sank. Then Washington
prepared a $700 billion dollar rescue for Wall Street without
ensuring an end to the practices that caused the problem in the
first place.
Where was the “cop” when the financial institutions engaged in
a frenzy of gambling on complicated new investments and bad
loans? Well, there was no “cop,” and there were very few rules.
After years of deregulation, financial institutions got used to
doing exactly what they wanted. And we got deceptive mortgage
loans, credit card rip-offs, and now a credit crunch and a near
collapse of the stock market that’s hurting individual Americans
like you.
It’s time to tell lawmakers to get serious about holding
corporations accountable for their actions.
No longer do we want our government to stand idly by while
corporations ship unsafe foods and products to our local stores.
No longer do we accept that sick people without health insurance
must just file for bankruptcy as their only solution.
This is a serious time. We need a new approach.
Take a moment right now to call for real change.
Then, please take another moment to forward this on to others,
your friends and family, who may also want to help jumpstart
a new approach to governance that respects you and holds
corporations to a higher standard.
Sincerely,
Jim Guest
Consumers Union of the U.S.
Nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports
101 Truman Ave.
Yonkers, NY 10703