Freedom Update

The latest from Dick Armey's FreedomWorks:

Four Reasons to Oppose the Sub-Prime Mortgage Bail Out

Congress is falling over itself in the rush to bail out speculators in America’s mortgage and real estate markets. The House has already passed a sweeping new regulatory bill and Senator Hillary Clinton is proposing a $5 billion taxpayer fund to pay individual mortgages. These proposals come despite the fact that there is little or no economic case for government intervention, and polling shows that a majority of homeowners do not support a bail out. Further, many of the ideas Congress is currently considering will make the problem worse by reducing available credit or by rewarding irresponsible behavior by lenders and borrowers.

Members of Congress need to pause before doing more harm to mortgage markets, and consider some of the basic facts about our current real estate situation....[Read
More]


Sixty-One Economists Sign Letter Opposing Mortgage Bail Out

As President Bush prepares to announce a plan to freeze mortgage rates for many homeowners, FreedomWorks organized a letter signed by sixty-one economists from universities and think-tanks across America opposing a bail out.

The letter warns that “These [bail out] proposals would fundamentally alter the workings of the mortgage market, leaving consumers with fewer choices when seeking to buy a home and potentially increasing taxpayer exposure for bad loans.”

This letter should give policymakers pause. Most of the policy proposals before Congress would arbitrarily rewrite private contracts, reward speculative lending and borrowing, and expose taxpayers to additional risks. Though it's understandable that legislators might want to respond to homeowner difficulties, the proposed regulations only serve to decrease credit availability for the poor and disadvantaged. Today’s letter adds an important new voice to the debate, that of many of the nation’s professional economists, who are calling on Congress to act responsibly and allow the subprime market to work through the current repricing of mortgage-backed securities....[Read the full letter]


Pending Energy Legislation Threatens Your Wallet

Energy legislation now moving in both chambers of Congress threatens American taxpayers and the U.S. economy as a whole through a combination of tax increases and a new cobweb of regulations for energy producers. According to a recent study conducted by CRA International, fixtures in these different bills including tax hikes on the oil industry, renewable fuels mandates, stricter CAFE standards for automobiles, and curbing domestic exploration and production of both oil and natural gas. The results could amount to 4.9 million lost jobs, a trillion dollar hit on the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and diminishing the average American family’s purchasing power by approximately $1,700…not a very nice Christmas present.


A SMART Way to Prepare for Retirement Security

Many of you requested more information about Rep. Jeff Flake’s new SMART Act, which was introduced recently as part of the FreedomWorks Liberty Summit. I’ve made a short YouTube video that explains the plan, which modernizes Social Security and Medicare, in more detail: