From Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez's (D- Orange County, CA) question to Ben Bernanke (Sorry about the caps, that's the way the transcript came. Bold is mine):
THANK YOU, MR. CHAIRMAN. THANK YOU FOR BEING BEFORE US. WE HAVE HAD MANY CHIP -- WE HAVE HAD MANY YEARS WHEN YOU'RE THE PRESIDENT ECONOMICS ADVISOR AND NOW FED CHAIRMAN.Ms. Sanchez should read Government-sponsored income inequality.
I HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR -- ABOUT THE ECONOMY. I REMEMBER WHEN CHAIRMAN GREENSPAN WAS BEFORE US. I SPOKE TO WHAT I THOUGHT AT THE TIME WERE HOUSING MARKETS. OF COURSE, SINCE HAVING LEFT, I COMPLETELY MISSED WHAT WAS GOING ON. I WANT TO GO BACK TO HOUSING BECAUSE I THINK IT IS SUCH AN INCREDIBLE HE'S OF THE AMERICAN FAMILY'S BUDGET. THEIR SENSE OF WEALTH CREATION. IN MANY WAYS, IT IS THE FIRST STEP. IT IS WITH GREAT VIEWS TO PUT KIDS THROUGH COLLEGE, ETC. AROUND THE NATION, AND A LOT OF MARKETS, IN PARTICULAR IN CALIFORNIA, HOUSING PRICES ARE GOING UP. EVERYBODY IS CHEERING, AND EVERYTHING. WHAT I SEE IS FOREIGN MONEY COMING IN. MONEY BEING BOUGHT AS INVESTMENTS. BANKS ARE FLUFFING OFF LARGE AMOUNTS OF HOMES AND PUTTING THEM INTO HEDGE FUNDS. THESE FUNDS HOLDING ONTO THESE AND RENTING THEM OUT, ANTICIPATING AT SOME POINT, I AM SURE, FIVE OR 10 YEARS DOWN THE ROAD, TO GET APPRECIATION OUT OF THOSE ASSETS. RENTAL MARKETS TIGHTENING THEIR BID RENTS GOING THROUGH THE ROOF. YOUR AVERAGE WORKING FAMILY, AT LEAST WHERE I LIVE, IS NOT ABLE TO BUY A HOME BECAUSE OF THESE, IF YOU WILL, HOUSE -- IF YOU WILL, HAVES, WHO HAVE THE MONEY TO BUY THE HOME, [...] BUT ACTUALLY HOLD IT [...] FOR RENT TO THE FAMILIES WHO NOW ARE BECOMING, UNLESS WE CHANGE SOMETHING, PERMANENT RENTERS. HOUSING MARKET GETTING BETTER, BUT NOT FOR THE MIDDLE CLASS OR THE HIGHER-LOWER INCOME CLASS. ALMOST CHANGING THEM, I WOULD SAY, INTO THE INABILITY TO FIND THEIR WAY TO HOMEOWNERSHIP. DO YOU SEE THAT GOING ON? DO YOUR PEOPLE SEE THAT GOING ON IN THE MARKETS? WHAT CAN THE CONGRESS DO TO ENSURE, NOT THE OTHER WAY, WHERE WE WENT WRONG, THAT TOO MANY PEOPLE THAT SHOULD NOT HAVE GOT IN, BUT THAT WHAT WE WOULD NORMALLY CALL THE MIDDLE CLASS AND PEOPLE WHO SHOULD BE ATTEMPTING TO BUY HOMES, NOT GET CAUGHT IN THIS CYCLE OF, I DID NOT GET IN AND I DID NOT GET A HOME.
HT: T-Dub
2 comments:
fluffing off
"YOUR AVERAGE WORKING FAMILY, AT LEAST WHERE I LIVE, IS NOT ABLE TO BUY A HOME BECAUSE OF THESE, IF YOU WILL, HOUSE -- IF YOU WILL, HAVES, WHO HAVE THE MONEY TO BUY THE HOME, [...] BUT ACTUALLY HOLD IT [...] FOR RENT TO THE FAMILIES WHO NOW ARE BECOMING, UNLESS WE CHANGE SOMETHING, PERMANENT RENTERS."
"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered...I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies... The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs."
But don't listen to him....he was just a racist, slave owning, cranky old honky who wore funny hats.
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