Holy Fiscal Responsibility, Batman! Ryun wants to give you $12,000 & to let banks fail!

After a miserable start to his Kansas Values Tour in Baldwin & Ottawa (a grand totally of six fine folk in Baldwin!), former Congressman Jim Ryun spent 20 minutes with Raubin and Megan on Topeka's WIBW AM580.

And, Lord, did he unload some things he's going to wish he hadn't said.

He obviously has taken a page of John "I don't really know much about the economy" McCain, because our "fiscal conservative" knows just what to do to fix everything: Let the souring market eat financial institutions alive!

Oh, and you know that stimulus check you're getting from the government? If you were happy with $1,200, how about ten times that?

Ryun: Let me just say this- if the amount of money coming back, lets say to the to the typical average family, if $1,200 was good, why not $12,000? You know, let's really stimulate the economy and make it go forward.

[...]

You really need to give a sense of confidence to the market and to families.

No kidding "confidence," Jim. Why don't you just buy them a new car while you're at it? How 'bout some free land and a donkey, too?

Then this exchange:

Raubin: Shouldn't the federal government have stepped away and allowed Bear Sterns to falter?

Ryun: I would have liked to see that in the sense of "let the market take it's place" you know- the back and forth which is what this county is mostly, is dependent upon and it's been the best success for this country. The market is where, the market forces are what really helping our country in terms of determining our future.

This from the self proclaimed "fiscal conservative" in the race- let's give everyone a government handout of $12,000 and then let the failure of a huge investment bank have a market-driven ripple effect all over our already devastatingly weak economy. That'll fix everything!

Ryun was quoted in the Ottawa Herald saying this:

There’s a need for more market-based solutions for economic problems, he said.

Ryun said he’s opposed to efforts by Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernacke [sic] to provide federal financial packages for large mortgage financial institutions.

Really, Jim? Market-based solutions? Opposed to the efforts at the Fed to stave off financial collapse?

Fed Chairman Bernanke said this today before Congress:

He said that "the damage caused by a default by Bear Stearns could have been severe and extremely difficult to contain."

[...]

"We did what we did because we felt it was necessary to preserve the integrity and viability of the American financial system, which in turn is critical for the health of the economy," Bernanke said.

But Jim Ryun disagrees. As the economy grows weaker, and as the talk of a recession intensifies, Jim Ryun says we need to just let the market play out- just let it alone and we'll all be fine. Sure, short tern you'll all go bankrupt, lose your homes and your jobs, but, really, in the long run...

Someone page Herbert Hoover.

Keeping Promises

As part of her strive to keep campaign promises to the Kansas Second District, Congresswoman Nancy Boyda voted to strip oil industry of subsidies it receives from the federal government.

This comes on the same day Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testified that he considered "a surge in oil prices and food prices ... worrisome."

Rep. Boyda was quoted in the Topeka Capitol Journal saying

"For years," Boyda said, "nobody in Washington had the guts to stand up to Big Oil. This bill says, 'Enough is enough.'"

The bill would create tax incentives for renewable energy by repealing tax subsidies for five large oil companies."

Further, Boyda said, "Renewable energy offers tremendous promise for our state's economy. Kansas has the soil to grow crops to be converted to biofuels, the skies to harvest wind energy, and the research base to nurture new technology. Now all we need is a national commitment to energy independence. That's what today's bill is all about. It should be called the ‘Kansas Economic Development Act’ – that's how important it is to our businesses and communities."

This arrives following a recent opening of a BioFuel gas station along Highway 59 in Lawrence.

According to Boyda,

The bill is fiscally responsible. It pays for these energy incentives by repealing unnecessary tax subsidies for the large five integrated oil companies. The big five oil companies recently reported record profits for 2007, with ExxonMobil earning $40.6 billion - the largest corporate profit in American history. That’s earnings of more than $111 million a day or $77 thousand dollars a minute! While oil company profits have quadrupled, high energy prices continue to squeeze American families – gas prices have skyrocketed and home heating oil has jumped along with other household costs.