Take note of the following quotes; they are all from the Wall Street Journal’s Feb 10, 2012 edition dealing with the $25 billion “settlement” between the Obama administration, state attorneys general, and the five big banks (Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan, Citi, Ally):
“The foreclosure deal is the product of a year of secret meetings, confrontations, and brushes with failure.”
“It took months of back-channel conversations between an Obama administration official and a reluctant attorney general . . .”
“The Obama administration took credit . . . Other possible winners include state attorneys general . . . The banks had already set aside most of the cost of the settlement.”
“Banks and government officials signed off on the accord in the early-morning hours Thursday, after an aggressive push by the Obama administration melted away opposition. . .”
“Mr. Donovan [Obama’s HUD Secretary] . . . told the group they weren’t going to leave the room until the deal moved forward . . . [a later] session lasted 14 hours.”
So Obama, the banks, and state attorneys general were all at the table. Deals were being cut; billions of dollars settled, agreements were being signed.
Who was left out? We, the people!
Not a single member of the Legislative Branch (our representation!) was at the table. Nary a judge was to be found. Instead, the Obama administration, five banks, and a host of attorneys decided for all mortgage holders what was right and what was wrong and the resulting remedies.
As a citizen, this is what I want: If a bank – any bank of any size – is suspected of violating the law, I want due process (not secret, back-channel deals) that finds the bank either guilty or innocent, and metes out the appropriate punishment if applicable. Due process is based on properly written law which is crafted by and voted on by a Legislature (thereby reflecting the will of the people), and signed off by an Executive. Suspected breaches are tried under the law through our established Judiciary, where our expectation is that justice will be served. This is called “rule of law.”
If we do not demand rule of law, we will be ruled by something other than law. In this case, a small group made a decision that affects 55% of all mortgage holders. Did they consider the 45% not covered under their “deal”? And what of this written agreement? Who will enforce it? This is indeed not the rule of law, but the rule of the few. It is not representative government; it is big government-big bank collusion, with some attorneys general on-board and others dragged, coerced, bribed, threatened, pressured – how can we know what made them change their minds since the meetings were secret, the stakes high, a Presidential election nearing?
Mortgage trouble, though serious, pales in significance to the real issues of this debacle: Constitutional separation of powers, representative government, the usurpation of powers that belong rightfully to the states, the steady and incremental erosion of the integrity of our most fundamental institutions.
What can we the people do? We can vote for a fellow citizen to represent us in our Legislature, a citizen who will demand, on behalf of the people, that the rule of law be kept. We can vote for a President who will honor the authority of his or her Constitutionally enumerated powers. We can – and must – be involved in our government in ways we have never been involved before, supporting candidates who will in turn support us.
Alternately, we can ignore this whole issue, and allow the cancer of apathy to reduce a nation of grandeur to a hollow shell of its former greatness. And make no mistake: we are on the road to financial ruin, having promised to ourselves $120 trillion of entitlements that cannot possibly be paid.
Did we think that freedom would be easy? Did we think that tending such a rich and marvelous garden (America) would require no work? I once did, until I came to realize that our beloved country is at stake. Please help with your time (even if only an hour), prayers (even if short) and money (even if little), and I will do my utmost to win this election and serve as your faithful Representative, working to re-establish Constitutional integrity and re-invigorate the rule of law.
“The foreclosure deal is the product of a year of secret meetings, confrontations, and brushes with failure.”
“It took months of back-channel conversations between an Obama administration official and a reluctant attorney general . . .”
“The Obama administration took credit . . . Other possible winners include state attorneys general . . . The banks had already set aside most of the cost of the settlement.”
“Banks and government officials signed off on the accord in the early-morning hours Thursday, after an aggressive push by the Obama administration melted away opposition. . .”
“Mr. Donovan [Obama’s HUD Secretary] . . . told the group they weren’t going to leave the room until the deal moved forward . . . [a later] session lasted 14 hours.”
So Obama, the banks, and state attorneys general were all at the table. Deals were being cut; billions of dollars settled, agreements were being signed.
Who was left out? We, the people!
Not a single member of the Legislative Branch (our representation!) was at the table. Nary a judge was to be found. Instead, the Obama administration, five banks, and a host of attorneys decided for all mortgage holders what was right and what was wrong and the resulting remedies.
As a citizen, this is what I want: If a bank – any bank of any size – is suspected of violating the law, I want due process (not secret, back-channel deals) that finds the bank either guilty or innocent, and metes out the appropriate punishment if applicable. Due process is based on properly written law which is crafted by and voted on by a Legislature (thereby reflecting the will of the people), and signed off by an Executive. Suspected breaches are tried under the law through our established Judiciary, where our expectation is that justice will be served. This is called “rule of law.”
If we do not demand rule of law, we will be ruled by something other than law. In this case, a small group made a decision that affects 55% of all mortgage holders. Did they consider the 45% not covered under their “deal”? And what of this written agreement? Who will enforce it? This is indeed not the rule of law, but the rule of the few. It is not representative government; it is big government-big bank collusion, with some attorneys general on-board and others dragged, coerced, bribed, threatened, pressured – how can we know what made them change their minds since the meetings were secret, the stakes high, a Presidential election nearing?
Mortgage trouble, though serious, pales in significance to the real issues of this debacle: Constitutional separation of powers, representative government, the usurpation of powers that belong rightfully to the states, the steady and incremental erosion of the integrity of our most fundamental institutions.
What can we the people do? We can vote for a fellow citizen to represent us in our Legislature, a citizen who will demand, on behalf of the people, that the rule of law be kept. We can vote for a President who will honor the authority of his or her Constitutionally enumerated powers. We can – and must – be involved in our government in ways we have never been involved before, supporting candidates who will in turn support us.
Alternately, we can ignore this whole issue, and allow the cancer of apathy to reduce a nation of grandeur to a hollow shell of its former greatness. And make no mistake: we are on the road to financial ruin, having promised to ourselves $120 trillion of entitlements that cannot possibly be paid.
Did we think that freedom would be easy? Did we think that tending such a rich and marvelous garden (America) would require no work? I once did, until I came to realize that our beloved country is at stake. Please help with your time (even if only an hour), prayers (even if short) and money (even if little), and I will do my utmost to win this election and serve as your faithful Representative, working to re-establish Constitutional integrity and re-invigorate the rule of law.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for your comment. The Wade Brown 2012 blog is currently moderated to screen out spam and vulgar content.