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U.S. Lacks Constitutional Authority for AIG Loan

On the day following the 221st anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution, WTP Chairman and constitutional activist Robert Schulz today filed a federal lawsuit in United States District Court in Albany seeking to halt the execution of the emergency bailout of American International Group, Inc. (AIG) by the United States Government and the Federal Reserve.


The lawsuit asserts that the commitment of public funds and credit for the direct benefit of privately owned AIG is an ultra vires action by the United States Government and Federal Reserve, i.e., beyond the limited legal authority granted by the Constitution. The lawsuit asks for a "show cause" hearing demanding that the Government produce evidence of its legal authority to commit public funds for such a purpose, as well as emergency and permanent injunctions halting the bailout transaction.


Beyond the Constitutional deficiencies, the bailout establishes a dangerous precedent enabling the Fed and/or Government to nationalize virtually any business or property within the United States without legal authority or congressional approval.


The defendants include the Federal Reserve System, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, the U.S. Treasury, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson Jr. and the United States Government.


The WTP Foundation today issued a press release citing Schulz:

"Beyond the moral hazard and dangerous precedent established by this action, it is of vital importance that the American people recognize that the present financial crisis is a direct and predictable result of decades of constitutional violations by the Federal Government. Through a long-standing policy of disinformation and collusion with the Federal Reserve and Wall Street financial elite, the United States Federal Government has denied public access to information about the secretive operations of the privately owned and operated Federal Reserve and its monopoly control of America's money system.


"This monopoly control of our currency by a private banking cartel has resulted in increasing distortion, volatility and cyclical (boom and bust) economic conditions in the U.S. and abroad. America's fiat currency (produced from thin air) is manipulated by the Federal Reserve for the benefit of its owners, major Wall Street financial institutions and the Federal Government and is not unaccountable to the taxpayers. These abuses of the Constitution have taken our financial system to edge of the abyss. The chickens have come home to roost."

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  • +3 raves SMOKEY September 19, 2008 15:17:46
    SMOKEY
    and in case we forgot here is the start of this new depression recession era of 2008
    600,000 jobs lost so far this year and only 5.5 million created in 8 yrs...oops make that less than 5 million as of this writing
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...



    http://banking.senate.gov/pre...



    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
    CONTACT: CHRISTI HARLAN

    Friday, November 12, 1999
    202-224-0894


    GRAMM'S STATEMENT AT SIGNING CEREMONY
    FOR GRAMM-LEACH-BAILEY ACT

    Sen. Phil Gramm, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, made the following statement today in a ceremony at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, where President Clinton signed the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act into law:

    "The world changes, and Congress and the laws have to change with it.

    "Abraham Lincoln used to like to use the analogy that old and outmoded laws need to be changed because it made about as much sense to continue to impose them on people as it did to ask a man to wear the same clothes he did when he was a child.

    "In the 1930s, at the trough of the Depression, when Glass-Steagall became law, it was believed that government was the answer. It was believed that stability and growth came from government overriding the functioning of free markets.

    "We are here today to repeal Glass-Steaga...







    and in case we forgot here is the start of this new depression recession era of 2008
    600,000 jobs lost so far this year and only 5.5 million created in 8 yrs...oops make that less than 5 million as of this writing
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...



    http://banking.senate.gov/pre...



    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
    CONTACT: CHRISTI HARLAN

    Friday, November 12, 1999
    202-224-0894


    GRAMM'S STATEMENT AT SIGNING CEREMONY
    FOR GRAMM-LEACH-BAILEY ACT

    Sen. Phil Gramm, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, made the following statement today in a ceremony at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, where President Clinton signed the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act into law:

    "The world changes, and Congress and the laws have to change with it.

    "Abraham Lincoln used to like to use the analogy that old and outmoded laws need to be changed because it made about as much sense to continue to impose them on people as it did to ask a man to wear the same clothes he did when he was a child.

    "In the 1930s, at the trough of the Depression, when Glass-Steagall became law, it was believed that government was the answer. It was believed that stability and growth came from government overriding the functioning of free markets.

    "We are here today to repeal Glass-Steagall because we have learned that government is not the answer. We have learned that freedom and competition are the answers. We have learned that we promote economic growth and we promote stability by having competition and freedom.

    "I am proud to be here because this is an important bill; it is a deregulatory bill. I believe that that is the wave of the future, and I am awfully proud to have been a part of making it a reality."



    On November 12, 1999, the Gramm-Leach-Bailey Act, was signed into law. This Act repealed the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933. One of the effects of the repeal was to allow commercial and investment banks to consolidate. Some economists have criticized the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act as contributing to the 2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis.[8][9]

    The repeal enabled commercial lenders such as Citigroup, the largest U.S. bank by assets, to underwrite and trade instruments such as mortgage-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations and establish so-called structured investment vehicles, or SIVs, that bought those securities. Citigroup played a major part in the repeal. Then called Citicorp, the company merged with Travelers Insurance company the year before using loopholes in Glass-Steagall that allowed for temporary exemptions. With lobbying led by Roger Levy, the "finance, insurance and real estate industries together are regularly the largest campaign contributors and biggest spenders on lobbying of all business sectors [in 1999]. They laid out more than $200 million for lobbying in 1998, according to the Center for Responsive Politics..." These industries succeeded in their two decades long effort to repeal the act.[10]
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  • HairlessKat the Gnostic September 26, 2008 17:17:49
    HairlessKat the Gnostic
    hehehe.. I must be slippin.. I just had an odd realization. The stuff going on in congress is soooooo important. But NOT quite ... life or death apparently,,, cause they keep taking commercial breaks. I know I know... they still gotta pay their sponsors... but uh... if the economy is tanking as bad as they are sayin it is.... who in the hell will have the money to buy any of that stuff they are advertising.

    Starting to suspect this IS 2008 'shock and awe' for the american public.
  • +1 raves
    Rog [Ninja]™ September 26, 2008 17:14:15
    Rog [Ninja]™
    exactly.
  • +1 raves
    WinterHawk "IN GOD WE TRUST" September 22, 2008 00:23:37
    WinterHawk
    They'll probably just steal more fom SOCIAL SECURITY.
  • +1 raves
    Mister Six September 19, 2008 18:48:47
    Mister Six
    These people are idiots, flat out. Times are bad right now, but they're going to get a lot worse if the company that insures the risks that other companies want to take is gone. You think corporations are going to take uninsured risk with their corporations survival at stake? You think the economy will be made better or worse by flat-out stagnation?
  • +1 raves
    NickName his Dudeness September 19, 2008 18:39:06
    NickName his Dudeness
    This guy needs a better lawyer because he has a point, but the way he is bringing it to court is probably going to get him summarily and unceremoniously tossed out of the courtroom.
  • +3 raves
    SMOKEY September 19, 2008 15:17:46
    SMOKEY
    and in case we forgot here is the start of this new depression recession era of 2008
    600,000 jobs lost so far this year and only 5.5 million created in 8 yrs...oops make that less than 5 million as of this writing
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...



    http://banking.senate.gov/pre...



    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
    CONTACT: CHRISTI HARLAN

    Friday, November 12, 1999
    202-224-0894


    GRAMM'S STATEMENT AT SIGNING CEREMONY
    FOR GRAMM-LEACH-BAILEY ACT

    Sen. Phil Gramm, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, made the following statement today in a ceremony at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, where President Clinton signed the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act into law:

    "The world changes, and Congress and the laws have to change with it.

    "Abraham Lincoln used to like to use the analogy that old and outmoded laws need to be changed because it made about as much sense to continue to impose them on people as it did to ask a man to wear the same clothes he did when he was a child.

    "In the 1930s, at the trough of the Depression, when Glass-Steagall became law, it was believed that government was the answer. It was believed that stability and growth came from government overriding the functioning of free markets.

    "We are here today to repeal Glass-Steaga...







    and in case we forgot here is the start of this new depression recession era of 2008
    600,000 jobs lost so far this year and only 5.5 million created in 8 yrs...oops make that less than 5 million as of this writing
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...



    http://banking.senate.gov/pre...



    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
    CONTACT: CHRISTI HARLAN

    Friday, November 12, 1999
    202-224-0894


    GRAMM'S STATEMENT AT SIGNING CEREMONY
    FOR GRAMM-LEACH-BAILEY ACT

    Sen. Phil Gramm, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, made the following statement today in a ceremony at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, where President Clinton signed the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act into law:

    "The world changes, and Congress and the laws have to change with it.

    "Abraham Lincoln used to like to use the analogy that old and outmoded laws need to be changed because it made about as much sense to continue to impose them on people as it did to ask a man to wear the same clothes he did when he was a child.

    "In the 1930s, at the trough of the Depression, when Glass-Steagall became law, it was believed that government was the answer. It was believed that stability and growth came from government overriding the functioning of free markets.

    "We are here today to repeal Glass-Steagall because we have learned that government is not the answer. We have learned that freedom and competition are the answers. We have learned that we promote economic growth and we promote stability by having competition and freedom.

    "I am proud to be here because this is an important bill; it is a deregulatory bill. I believe that that is the wave of the future, and I am awfully proud to have been a part of making it a reality."



    On November 12, 1999, the Gramm-Leach-Bailey Act, was signed into law. This Act repealed the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933. One of the effects of the repeal was to allow commercial and investment banks to consolidate. Some economists have criticized the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act as contributing to the 2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis.[8][9]

    The repeal enabled commercial lenders such as Citigroup, the largest U.S. bank by assets, to underwrite and trade instruments such as mortgage-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations and establish so-called structured investment vehicles, or SIVs, that bought those securities. Citigroup played a major part in the repeal. Then called Citicorp, the company merged with Travelers Insurance company the year before using loopholes in Glass-Steagall that allowed for temporary exemptions. With lobbying led by Roger Levy, the "finance, insurance and real estate industries together are regularly the largest campaign contributors and biggest spenders on lobbying of all business sectors [in 1999]. They laid out more than $200 million for lobbying in 1998, according to the Center for Responsive Politics..." These industries succeeded in their two decades long effort to repeal the act.[10]
    (more)
  • Hairles... SMOKEY September 19, 2008 15:23:48
    HairlessKat the Gnostic
    thankyou Smokey... appriciated!
  • +3 raves
    SMOKEY September 19, 2008 15:10:24
    SMOKEY
    I am taking this form the NY Times



    “If an activity is important enough to justify a government nationalization to prevent default, it is important enough to be regulated. The regulators need to know what risks are being taken and by which institutions, in time to act before a crisis develops.”
  • +2 raves
    Skunk " In God We Trust" September 19, 2008 14:35:34
    Skunk
    Hk.We are now part owners of AIG.This is a bad situation.The govt.cannot willy nilly go do stuff such as this bailout.It is leading to total govt control of everything.It is happening all around the world.Can you say one world govt?
  • +2 raves
    KellyDe... Skunk ... September 19, 2008 18:37:10
    KellyDew~YES WE CAN
    Yes, WE are owners and paying dearly for it. The government needs to let it go, like the article said, this has been bubling for some time and they knew it.
  • +2 raves
    Skunk ... KellyDe... September 19, 2008 20:16:20
    Skunk
    Yup they knew about it years ago.kinda makes ya wonder,doesnt it?
  • +2 raves
    NickNam... Skunk ... September 19, 2008 18:56:21
    NickName his Dudeness
    It's not even entirely clear as to whether we are owners, creditors, or what exactly; a pretty weird situation, especially considering the Bush administration has pounded the free-market drum for its entire tenure.

    I'm no free-market apologist, but this government takeover really worries me.
  • +1 raves
    Skunk ... NickNam... September 19, 2008 20:15:20
    Skunk
    Ya got that right NickName.
  • +3 raves
    bolrog September 19, 2008 14:31:47 (edited)
    bolrog
    moderated...
  • +2 raves
    NickNam... bolrog September 19, 2008 19:00:18
    NickName his Dudeness
    Nice post Bolrog; although I gotta say, I haven't seen the word perfidious since I was thinking about taking the GRE.
  • +1 raves
    bolrog NickNam... September 20, 2008 15:13:39
    bolrog
    moderated...
  • +2 raves
    NickNam... bolrog September 20, 2008 23:07:22
    NickName his Dudeness
    No worries here. It's a sad state when so many people are proud to be ignorant, and disdainful of the well-educated. That kind of thing doesn't bode well for a society.
  • Hairles... NickNam... September 21, 2008 01:23:31 (edited)
    HairlessKat the Gnostic
    I love how when somone is shown to be a scoundrel people fall back on their ego to try and make themselves feel better. Yes.. your so much better educated and smarter than any democrat.. I wont pretend you believe that but if it makes your hurt feelings better your welcome to believe it.

    Mabey its karma.. Iv spent alot of time listening to republicans tell democrats how stupid and ignorant they all were so they didnt even deserve the smart rich peoples hand outs and scraps.... mabey its time everyone start waking up and seeing ALL MEN AND WOMEN ARE CREATED EQUAL.. until that happens I have a feeling this is just gonna get alot worse before it gets better.
  • +2 raves
    Mike (the original sodahead... September 19, 2008 13:36:23
    Mike (the original sodahead 'Mike')
    An otherwise legitimate lawsuit that could have a beneficial impact in reforming the way our government conducts economic policy is ruined by all the anti-federal reserve rhetoric. I agree that the federal reserve is an unconstitutional mess that has promoted the enormous indebtedness of our government to the benefit of the large banks which fabricate the money they loan to the U.S. government. However, efforts at a direct assault on the constitutionality of the federal reserve have failed and it is well past time that advocates for a sound monetary policy realize that fact and try alternative methods. This suit which involves special favors and tax-payer money to the benefit of a single company is such an angle, but it will be thrown out and ignored if it is not argued on its own merits, but rather seen as a publicity stunt for the anti-federal reserve movement. In other words, those who put this suit in place should focus on the particulars of this single instance and the best way to win accepting the current state of affairs and then use it as a stepping stone for greater reform, rather than try to use it as an attempt to reform everything all at once.
  • +3 raves
    MOM September 19, 2008 12:59:43
    MOM
    moderated...
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