"I sincerely believe... that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies, and that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity under the name of funding is but swindling futurity on a large scale." - Thomas Jefferson to John Taylor, 1816.
Sep 29
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Tue, 10/13/2009 - 1:42am
End the Fed! Jefferson knew the threat that would exist when evil men conspire to control money; They control everything! The Federal Reserve is running this country. They along with the other globalist elite determine most economic and political agendas and see to there execution.
Tue, 09/29/2009 - 2:52pm
The government should regulate the banks. This will ensure that our money isn't stolen and lost and that if our money is stolen it will be paid for by the government. Also if the government regulated banks then they could help banks that are going bankrupt.
Mon, 09/28/2009 - 3:52pm
Yes, we the people do believe that the government should regulate the banks. Because since the Great Depression there have been problems with the banks. Due to the loss of money, banks have gone out of business.
Mon, 09/28/2009 - 12:22pm
Yes! Because without money this country is done for. Without financial aid we won't be able to trade stuff over seas and what not. If the government steps in I bet it would run a lot smoother. Can't you tell when the government isn't stepping in? We are in this recession and its really annoying because I have no money. So yeah, the government should step in every once in awhile.
Mon, 12/29/2008 - 3:17pm
Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of the LORD. 'Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and all that your fathers have laid up in store to this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,' says the LORD. 'Some of your sons who shall issue from you, whom you will beget, will be taken away; and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.'"
Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "The word of the LORD which you have spoken is good." For he thought, "Is it not so, if there will be peace and truth in my days?"
Is the cost of the increasing federal debt magically displaced to only future generations?
Thomas Jefferson wrote, "...the principle of spending money TO BE PAID BY POSTERITY under the name of funding is but swindling futurity on a large scale."
I would rather think Pres. Jefferson misunderstood the ledger account which is charged for deficit funding of federal (public) debt, than to think he knowingly misrepresented it.
The popular misunderstanding attributes the burden of federal debt to future generations. In truth, each increase in the federal debt immediately dilutes the money supply, which causes each dollar bill in your pocket to have proportionately less purchasing power.
Say the M3 money supply is $12.6 trillion, and Congress authorizes increasing the federal debt by $1.4 trillion to print that amount of fiat money. As soon as that new green paper goes into circulation, every dollar of the M3 money supply drops in value to $1.00 x 12.6 / (12.6 + 1.4), or 90 cents. Every person, institution, and nation holding U.S. currency or U.S. obligations pays the bill immediately. Likewise, everyone who owes money to the United States reaps an immediate windfall.
The cost of federal debt is NOT DEFERRED to future generations, no matter what profligate politicians tell you.
- gospelmidi
Mon, 10/20/2008 - 7:20pm
I would be much obliged if someone would explain the quote from Mr. Franklin. I fail to see how it bears upon the subject.
~ Publia
Mon, 10/20/2008 - 7:07pm
To the lady or gentleman from Arizona:
We separated from England because we were being taxed without representation, not because we were being taxed.
~ Publia
Mon, 10/20/2008 - 1:45pm
"It would be thought a hard Government that should tax its People one-tenth Part of their Time, to be employed in its Service."-Benjamin Franklin
Mon, 10/20/2008 - 1:22am
Jefferson and Washington would shed tears to see this great nation they bled for has been turned into a selfish greedy bankrupt mess, we left Europe as overtaxed and now face more taxes than imaginable.
Scottsdale, AZ
Sat, 10/18/2008 - 4:44am
Amen AND Amen!!!
Allen Fulghum
Pinehurst, NC, USA
Tue, 10/14/2008 - 8:14pm
I fear that I have permitted an egregious misplaced modifier in the second to last sentence of the second paragraph to escape my notice. Allow me to apologize and clarify: it is the banks who are confident that the price of the property would go up, not the borrowers of the money.
~ Publia
Mon, 10/13/2008 - 5:42pm
With all due respect to the previous commenters, a bail-out (I use the expression for want of anything better) is hardly "Heads I win, tails you lose." If the government does not do anything, everyone loses. It is foolish to say that the system on Wall Street should be allowed to fail because one resents them. It is, to put it somewhat bluntly, cutting off one's nose to spite one's face. If the system was to collapse, it would become almost impossible to borrow money. The best illustration is that of the small farmer (especially considering Jefferson's support of them over the financial industry). A farmer borrows money at the beginning of the season, enabling himself to buy seed and fix up his tractors, etc. After the harvest, he pays his debt off. Should it become impossible to get credit, the farmer would be unable to operate. If he had savings, he could self-fund, but the young farmer would in all likelihood be unable to support himself. All businesses work the same way, except on a shorter cycle. This is what happened the last time the government stood by while bank after bank failed: the result was the Great Depression.
It is also hardly accurate to blame it all on the Wall Street moneymen (to use a Jeffersonian word). Certainly there was greed at the corporate level, but there was also the mistaken notion among the rest of the people that real estate goes up forever, which caused many small-time speculators to borrow more money than they should have in hopes that prices would continue to rise and they would be able to sell the properties in a year and pay off the loans easily. The banks were also under this delusion, and in consequence lent money to these sorts of people and also to others who were not speculating but were no position to be buying a home regardless, confident that, should they default on their loans, the house would be worth more than it was when the loan was made and consequently no money would be lost. Of course, when real estate prices began to fall, everything went haywire.
~ Publia
Sun, 10/12/2008 - 3:21pm
It seems that the same issues that had confronted our founding fathers in their quest for freedom and individual liberties have once again reared their ugly heads of tyrany. We as a country need to revisit the past and crush and attempts for a corrupt government to socialize our banking institutions as well as everything else. One has only to look at how the government bankrupted Social Security. The same kind of inept, greed oriented governing will destroy our banking institutions as well as destroy our rights. As long as our elected "Leaders" serve term after term after term, with little recourse pertaining to lobbists showering them with gifts that influence how they vote, we the people will have our liberties and freedoms taken away. Can one imagine if the rhetorical splendor of Patrick Henry was listened to in the present day? He would be called a racist and be considered inciting violence.I suppose things have not changed that much in 232 years. The America in which so many gave their lives for I fear is forever gone. Within several generations as the history books are rewritten we will lose that which was so crucial to the great success of our country individual freedom and independence.
Sat, 10/11/2008 - 7:39pm
MR. JEFFERSON'S THINKING WAS ALWAYS AHEAD OF HIS TIME. TOO BAD WE DIDN'T PAY ATTENTION TO THIS WARNING. OUR FOREFATHERS ARE MORE THAN QUAINT GENTLEMEN IN SHORT PANTS AND HOSE. OH THAT WE COULD BE MORE LIKE THEM.
ANONYMOUS IN SOUTH CAROLINA
Sat, 10/11/2008 - 4:55pm
In response to the comment on 9/29: "though the markets are complicated, we or our government must moniter and suprintend the banking insustry's actions"... I would just like to note that the banking industry is already quite regulated. In fact, part of the reason for this subprime mess was legislation passed by Congress "encouraging" banks to create "favourable" loans to increase the rate of home ownership in America. Obviously, that has not turned out very well. This doesn't mean that there was no corporate greed involved, but I think that most financial institutions would not have thought of drastically changing their lending practicies had not this new legislation arisen. Ironic, is it not? Makes one wonder whether more regulation is really the answere here...
Fri, 10/03/2008 - 4:33pm
I am responding specifically to the thought that "CEOs and financial giants...business is to 'make and create' goods and services." Wrong! Once upon a time, that might have been true - but with the rise of "Generation X" as the product of late 20th century schools of business, it is now the principle assumption that business is NOT about making goods and services, but merely about making money. So, now whole companies and their irrelevant employees and the rusting communities in which those companies and employees live, the lobbyists and politicians, even whole countries are bought and sold by multi-national "CEOs and financial giants" with the sole purpose NOT of producing any product, any service, or any real "wealth" but only the making of "money." The 21st century economy - a logical extension of the financial genius of Alexander Hamilton - has in fact become the society of "stock jobbers" that Mr. Jefferson predicted.
Thu, 10/02/2008 - 9:23am
The Federal Reserve is actually composed of private banks, so I would have to say that sadly, Jefferson's prophecy has come true.
K. Suarez
Wed, 10/01/2008 - 6:47pm
"This industry does not make or create anything but panic for their own gain."
Are you talking about government? You can't possibly be talking about CEOs and financial giants who's business it is to "make and create" goods and services. Your comment is nonsensical.
The quote from Jefferson is talking about banks issuing their own currency. Where in the quote does he talk about government forcing banks to loan money to people who have horrible credit ratings and obviously can't afford houses they are applying for mortgages for?
Tue, 09/30/2008 - 1:23pm
We recently watched the movie, "1776", about the Continental Congress' debates leading up to the Declaration of Independence. The Congress of that day and the Congress of today are too much alike. Note the goings-on of the past month. The Continental Congress members in Philadelphia, PA, for the most part, didn't care about the people of the soon-to-be USA. Neither do the majority of the representatives in Washington, DC, today. They are too much concerned with the green in their own wallets and the prestige of being the big guys and gals on campus. What a total shame.
Tue, 09/30/2008 - 12:44pm
I definitely agree with the first two comments; Mr. Jefferson was frightenly accurate in 1802. A good deal more of us will suffer in 2008 and beyond because the American banking industry has enjoyed wide latitude in lending policies. The U.S. market has affected the global market--sadly, our influence crosses all borders.
A taxpayer
Tue, 09/30/2008 - 11:53am
'Tis funny what Mr. Jefferson said 207 years ago. People underestimated the enlightened thoughts that our fore fathers envisioned for us. "They" say..."Oh they were primitive in their ways of thinking and times have changed since the development of our country."
Ladies and gentlemen, yes, times have changed but their so called primitive ways of thinking were and are ahead of their time and in some ways ahead of ours. I agree with "Anonymous'" blog. Our country is being wrapped around the financial institutions and innocent people are being put on the street because of it! Our country is now like the little child who did not listen to his or her parents.
He was right! Not bad for a 207 year thought huh?
Mon, 09/29/2008 - 6:41pm
This was an insightful quote that must be taken seriously by America. Even though the markets are complicated, we or our government must moniter and suprintend the banking insustry's actions. This will help to insure that our hard earned dollars that are invested on Wall Street, aren't stolen by corporate CEOs and financial giants. This industry does not make or create anything but panic for their own gain. Atlas will shrug.
There is certainly manipulation in our financial markets. We should not give in and support a bail out. For these financial manipulators it is " heads I win, tails you loose"
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