Quote of the Day: “The whole reason we have elected officials is so we don’t have to think all the time.” — Homer Simpson
Yesterday we called falling home prices “good news” because they’re helping to clear the housing glut. Some may quarrel with this — especially if they’ve watched their home value plummet. Our praise for falling real estate prices deserves more comment . . .
Two responsible DC Downsizers are affected differently by the housing market.
* One member of our Downsize DC Team has an “upside down mortgage.” He continues to pay it. He wants an end to the crisis. He views falling home prices as the precondition for rising value — sooner, rather than later. He also recognizes that Federal Reserve monetary policy is to blame for his situation.
* Another member of our Downsize DC Team has been saving to buy a home for a long time. He recognized that there was a housing bubble, and looked forward to the day when home prices would fall to realistic levels. He “hopes” to buy a home soon.
Both of these responsible men view real, free market prices as essential to their personal financial aspirations.
* The upside down mortgage holder sees the elimination of the current housing surplus as the way to higher values. Clear the excess and marginal home sales will start to occur at slightly higher prices. This is the only way the upside down mortgage can ever become right side up.
* The hopeful homeowner wants to pay the true value, not the bubble price created by the Federal Reserve and various government housing policies. The proposed government housing bailout will deny this DC Downsizer the ability to buy a home at a real market price.
Do you really think politicians can make this better?
* Politicians lack power to help the upside down mortgage holder. The federal government couldn’t possibly borrow enough money to cover all the losses. Even the token attempts proposed by President Obama to stop foreclosures robs money from other people and other parts of the economy. This DC Downsizer’s only hope is that the housing glut will be allowed to clear, sooner rather than later.
* The hopeful home buyer is being robbed of the best opportunity to fulfill his dream by the politicians’ desire to rescue people who bought more housing than they could safely afford. This person’s prudence is being punished in order to reward the imprudence of others.
We reassert our claim: falling home prices are good news. Those who embrace liberty and reality understand . . .
The third installment of Judge Napolitano’s “Freedom Watch” went out over the Internet today. The Judge had his usual guests, Ron Paul, Cody Willard, Peter Schiff, and Tracy Byrnes.
Also joining The Judge today was Glenn Beck and Walter Jones, both discussing Obama’s speech last night and the recent successful efforts of the administration to push through more and more spending legislation.
Ron Paul and Schiff join the second half of the 60 minute show and as usual both speak candidly about what we’re doing and where we may be going once our Keynesian ways play out.
Watch the entire 60 minutes below. The show ran a little long and I had to cut off both the beginning and end to fit within 6 YouTube videos. It starts abruptly and ends abruptly but you didn’t miss anything of note.
(Thanks again to George Szucs, the shows producer for allowing and encouraging us to make the show available online.)
“Russia Today” ran a piece this morning asking the question which many Americans are asking themselves, “Is Obama heading in the right direction?” I think most Liberty Maven readers will agree that he’s actually headed in The Left direction, fast tracking us towards Socialism, or worse.
“It’s the wrong kind of stimulus. I think it’s the most foolish trend we’ve been involved in throughout our whole history,” Ron Paul said.
What continues to floor me to this day, and which this piece does an excellent job of covering, is how diametrically opposed other policy makers are to Ron Paul:
Former U.S. Ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, and Congressman and former Presidential Candidate Ron Paul don’t seem to agree on anything when asked to judge the recent statements by the new resident of the White House.
“To say that this is in any way comparable to the Great Depression is a huge exaggeration,” John Bolton said.
“I think it’s bad, I think he’s probably right on that, but I don’t think he has the full understanding of why it’s that bad,” Ron Paul said.
Commenting on the possible Wall Street meltdown, the two politicians also expressed opposite opinions.
“I don’t think that’s at all likely. I think what is likely to happen is just as the U.S. led the fall into recession it will likely lead the recovery out. Economists predict recovery toward the end of this year, or beginning of next year,” John Bolton said.
“I think it’s melted down pretty well already. And the melting down will continue unless we change our ways. We can expect this problem not to last for a year or two but for a decade or two,” Ron Paul warned.
Unfortunately, Ron Paul’s prediction will probably be accurate, and the “pooh pooh” assessments of John Bolton and others like him will once again prove to be way off the mark. I’m glad to see that the Mainstream Media in Russia gave Ron Paul some coverage, as his own country’s Mainstream Media did not.
“Slowly, inexorably, Ron Paul’s message is beginning to take. Members of his own party and liberal media personalities, some who would have been the least expected, have begun to sense the danger. Conservatives are coming home, some ashamed, acknowledging that it was they, not Ron Paul, who had drifted away. Some Governors and senators and televisions pundits are now mimicking Ron Paul’s message, even paraphrasing his exact words. There are Ron Paul look-alikes, such as Governor Mark Sanford. “He’s just like Ron Paul,” his supporters assure us, “only better.” Who would have thunk it? It is now popular to be like Ron Paul.”
For all of Wead’s articles on Ron Paul, I think I enjoyed this one the most thus far. He outlines the history and reasons for Ron Paul’s popularity and then explains why we should look to him for solving our economic crisis.
After Wead’s series of articles on Sarah Palin being the GOP front runner and listing Ron Paul’s chances of the GOP nomination at 25-1 he goes back again to trumpeting his candidacy.
Ron Paul’s opening remarks during Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s testimony today are below. As usual, he tells everyone what they may not want to hear, but they need to hear.
I’m afraid it will take a bricks falling down on their heads before they wake up and realize, “Maybe Ron Paul was right.” A few of his words are below.
“It’s the end of an era.”
“You can’t reinflate the bubble.”
“We have to recognize that the system has failed.”
“We have a total misunderstanding of what credit is versus capital!”
They discuss how America really recovered following the Great Depression, among other topics. I’m surprised he didn’t mention Ron Paul when asked about others who share his opinion about the free market. He did mention Peter Schiff and Mark Thornton though.
I’m in the middle of reading Woods’ new book and I can’t recommend it enough. If only the economic meddlers in the Obama administration would take a break from their meddling and read the book, maybe we’d see ourselves in a better place a year from now.
Listen to the interview here:
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“We are not quitters!” Obama ejaculated during his pseudo State of the Union speech last night. His fellow politicians cheered. I imagine they did so because they were on TV and no one who votes likes quitters. Some may call Ron Paul a quitter because he preaches a policy of non-intervention, both in foreign policy and economics. Ron Paul is an elixir of free market reality floating in a sea of socialist stupor.
Obama delivered his speech perfectly. So perfectly in fact, I’d wager his critics were seduced as much as his apologists were in awe. I think I saw Nancy Pelosi holding back joyous tears sitting behind the rhetorical magician. I know I saw more of Joe Biden’s teeth than I cared for.
The gathering was a pep rally for the swollen power of the State. It was a self-congratulatory festival celebrating government power over private ownership and the individual. In his speech, Obama spoke the most honest words I’ve ever heard from him when he said, “We will act with the full force of the federal government”. Well, that’s redundant. As George Washington said, “Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”
Ron Paul appeared on Glenn Beck’s TV show this afternoon. They discussed the potential collapse of the U.S. (and global) financial system paving the way for a world government. Once again Beck gives Paul a chance to deliver his wise words on the state of what is left of the Republic.
Beck opens with praise for Paul, “You are the one guy that has had this right from the very beginning.”
Paul continues…
“They believe in world government.”
“They’re more out in the open than they were 25 years ago.”
It is refreshing to hear this view on the main stream airwaves. Watch the interview below.
We’ve received word that Judge Andrew Napolitano will have Ron Paul, Cody Willard, Peter Schiff, and Tracy Byrnes on his Internet show “Freedom Watch” tomorrow at 2pm EST.
Also joining those regulars will be Glenn Beck (via telephone) who now hosts his own television show on Fox. While Beck differs on foreign policy with Paul, they are on the same footing when it comes to the economy and free markets.
If you listen to Beck enough you will find that he really isn’t too far away from Paul on foreign policy. He claims that we need to do something to fight terrorism abroad and that we don’t have the luxury of being complete non-interventionists when it comes to “protecting” our borders. It’s like he “wants” to believe in non-interventionism, but he just can’t seem to get there. He is constantly quoting the Founders to his guests, using their words to emphasize his own beliefs.
Perhaps at some point he’ll quote the non-interventionist “entangling alliances with none” and come back with an argument FOR bringing our troops home. If that never happens, at least there is another voice out there preaching the free market message.
And sales in Southern California as a whole grew from 9,983 to 15,227
This is happening because the free market works. Housing prices are doing what prices should when there’s a glut of supply, they are falling. Over the past year the median price has fallen from $429,000 to $280,100 in San Diego, and from $415,000 to $250,000 in Southern California as a whole.
Think about all the people who didn’t buy houses they couldn’t afford. The free market is now rewarding their prudence by making homes available at affordable prices. This will also help people who are upside-down on their mortgages, because housing prices can’t move upward again until the glut clears. All hail the free market and personal responsibility!
Screeeech!
That’s the sound of the politicians hitting the brakes. Politicians hate personal responsibility. Everyone must be dependent on them, instead. No one should be able to benefit from being responsible and prudent. INSTEAD, SUCH PEOPLE MUST BE PUNISHED!
Failure and irresponsibility must be rewarded. Not only that, failure must actually be encouraged, because only then will people become more dependent on the politicians. That’s why Congress and the President are now considering legislation that will . . .
Liberty Maven
“, was interviewed on FOX Radio’s Brian and The Judge today. Tom Woods is one of the best voices speaking out in support of the free market today. Woods dismantles the notions of today’s Keynesians in the interview (audio below) with logic and facts about history.
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