The May 2 letter entitled No Tea at Party was virtually pure fiction. Those attending the Tea Party on the Cook County courthouse steps, myself included, are gravely concerned with America’s future, one that is being bankrupted by the current administration at an unprecedented rate. It truly is an issue of “taxation without representation” in that future generations will have to pay the bills.
The current economic situation began with the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) that “encouraged” banks to engage in risky lending practices. In 1995 the CRA was modified to require banks to make such loans, and allowed “community activists,” e.g. ACORN, to participate in annual bank reviews, shaking them down for even more money. From 2001 through 2008 Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (government-sponsored enterprises) bought up billions of dollars worth of shaky loans, cooked their books, lied to Congress about their financial status (their CEOs subsequently served as candidate Obama’s “economic advisers”), and contributed huge sums to various politicians, particularly Senators Chris Dodd and Barack Obama, and Congressman Barney Frank.
Numerous proposals to improve regulation of the GSEs were obstructed in Congress until 2006, when, after the election, they simply were dead on arrival. Thus, the collapse of the banking industry.
If Congress were serious about problem solution, it would revoke the CRA. Instead, politicians bleed us while buying votes from various special interest groups, “bailing out” otherwise nonviable industries, expanding largely unconstitutional domestic spending programs, and defending foreign countries unwilling to care for themselves (e.g., NATO).
Tragically, responses to my letters indicate that our congressional representatives support the administration’s policies, thus ensuring our continued downward spiral. Frankly, our situation and our politicians make me sick.
Nevin D. Holmberg
Hovland
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