Saturday, May 23, 2009

Getting Judge Napolitano’s “Freedom Watch” on the air

Fox News is considering putting Judge Napolitano’s “Freedom Watch” on the air. Napolitano would be a great spokesman to expose more people to libertarian ideas. Here's a sample of his show.





Please write Fox News at yourcomments@foxnews.com to ask them to put the show on the air. This is a great opportunity to get libertarian, freedom-loving ideas into the main stream media. Most freedom loving people have no love for Fox News, but encouraging them to put this show on the air will only help our cause.

Here's the email I sent them:
I wish to request that Judge Napolitano’s “Freedom Watch” be aired on Fox News Channel. I've been watching the show on youtube for a while and I absolutely am addicted to it.

There is a huge untapped freedom-minded audience that the mainstream media does not really cater to. While this started as a few hundred thousand people on the fringe following Ron Paul, it is now growing into a major nation-wide movement. Recent events only assure that this will continue. It's also likely where the Republican party will turn to in order to find a new voice now that the neo-conservative, social conservative agenda is dead.

I would definitely get my friends and family to watch the show. It would also be a chance for Fox News to change its image as being a mouthpiece for the Republican Party. Please put it on the air.





Friday, May 22, 2009

Austrian Economics in Action: Ron Paul versus Barney Frank

Here's a recent interview with Ron Paul on Morning Joe. Joe reads a prophetic speech that Ron Paul made in 2003 explaining Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's roles in the housing bubble and predicting exactly what would happen.









Here's a speech from Barney Frank in 2005 (two years later) explaining how it was impossible for there to be a housing bubble.



For those of us who subscribe to the theories of Austrian Economics, it isn't surprising that Ron Paul could see in 2003 what Barney Frank still couldn't see in 2005.

By the way, guess which one of these politicians was one of the top recipients of campaign donations from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Peter Schiff on the Housing Crisis

Peter Schiff wrote a great article explaining how we got into this economic mess and how all the policies the government is making are just going to make things worse. He really nails it here:

Although both lenders and borrowers were acting in their own perceived self-interest, what can we say of our economic policymakers who are expected to protect the good of all? Their actions encouraged the whole sad circus. Were it not for the excessively low interest rates provided by the Fed, the lax lending standards and moral hazards supplied by Congress courtesy of Freddie, Fannie, and the FHA, and the many real estate subsidies built into the tax code, none of these predatory loans would have been possible.

Had lenders exercised better judgment and had borrowers avoided overly burdensome debt loads, both parties would clearly be in better financial positions today. Instead, as borrowers were demanding the credit to fuel their dreams of instant real estate riches, lenders were being ordered to accommodate them.

In past generations, homebuyers were required to save for down payments and postpone their purchases until they could actually afford conventional 30-year fixed mortgages. But in recent years, as home ownership became a matter of public policy, the government accused lenders of discrimination and urged lower standards and easier terms. With government guarantees in place, the mortgage industry was happy to both expand their revenues and promote a better society.

But by denying credit, even if it requires borrowers to forgo something they clearly want, lenders not only provide a valuable service to borrowers, but to society. Given the mess in which we now find ourselves, due to the bad loans made during the real estate bubble, this lesson should have been well learned. Unfortunately it hasn't, as the same dynamic is now playing out on a much larger scale.

Faced with a prospect of downgrading its lifestyle, the U.S. government is instead borrowing trillions of dollars to artificially inflate our deflating bubble economy. The money is being used to both expand the size of government and finance additional consumer spending. Given our financial position, this is the exact opposite of what we should be doing.