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The credit bubble bailout continues

May 5, 2008 in The Economy by Tony Steidler-Dennison | No comments

(Via AmericaBlog.)

Supporting education makes fantastic sense but aren’t we just feeding the bubble by injecting even more cash? The cost of universities in the US has become crazy, unlike any other Western/rich country. No matter how you spin it, it’s impossible to say that the easy money credit hasn’t fed the high cost of universities. Take a look at the endowment funds that the top schools have and ask how tuition could be so out of control when these schools are sitting on so much money. A few schools are now changing their tuition plans for normal families but that’s only because of pressure (or threats of action) by Congress.

Graduating from college with over $120,000 of debt not to mention credit card debt that students all have these days is a bad way to enter the working world. Sure, we can and we should help but this system needs a drastic overhaul and one that does not center around the credit industry cashing in.

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Big Tax Breaks for Businesses in Housing Bill

April 16, 2008 in Featured by Tony Steidler-Dennison | No comments

(Via New York Times.)

The Senate proclaimed a fierce bipartisan resolve two weeks ago to help American homeowners in danger of foreclosure. But while a bill that senators approved last week would take modest steps toward that goal, it would also provide billions of dollars in tax breaks — for automakers, airlines, alternative energy producers and other struggling industries, as well as home builders.

Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut, was the main author of the Senate bill meant to help homeowners.

The tax provisions of the Foreclosure Prevention Act, which consumer groups and labor leaders say amount to government handouts to big business, show how the credit crisis, while rattling the housing and financial markets, has created beneficiaries in the power corridors of Washington.

It also shows how legislation with a populist imperative offers a chance for lobbyists to press their clients’ interests.

This has proved especially true on the housing legislation, which many lawmakers and lobbyists view as one of the last opportunities before Congress grinds to a halt amid election-year politics.

In the Senate bill, the nation’s biggest home builders, some now on the verge of bankruptcy, won a provision that would let them claim millions in tax refunds by charging their current losses against the huge profits they made three or four years ago. Other struggling industries would benefit from this provision.

Full story here.

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