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  1. #1
    Senior Member AirborneSapper7's Avatar
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    Next on the Agenda... Price Controls



    Next on the Agenda... Price Controls

    Posted by Bobby Eberle
    March 17, 2009 at 6:35 am

    With Democrats in control of the U.S. House, the Senate, and the White House, we have been witnessing an all-out assault on capitalism and the "American" form of government. Obama and others on the far left are using the current state of the economy to literally transform America. With each new bill that is said to "help" the economy, America is getting more government control over banks, health care, jobs, housing, and on and on.

    Now, our dive toward socialism appears to be gaining steam and some elected officials around the country are considering another anti-capitalist move: price controls. That's right... in the good, old U.S.A. you could be the owner of a rental property where the government tells you how much you can charge. Own a grocery store? Better not raise the price of milk unless the government says it's OK.


    As noted in a story on FOXNews.com, "One controversial solution (to the bad economy) being considered is a move back to price controls. The New York Legislature and the San Francisco City Council are considering expanding rent controls. Some politicians in Vermont are trying to limit the price of milk. And in Alaska, a bill to cap oil prices is pending in the state legislature."

    Thankfully, a number of economists are speaking out, and trying to remind people of just how bad price controls are.

    "Economists widely agree that price controls often lead to shortages. There are many examples throughout history, and we have seen more recent demonstrations of this principle of economics in Venezuela and Zimbabwe," said Dr. N. Gregory Mankiw, a Harvard University economics professor and former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President George W. Bush.

    Speaking of Venezuela, the San Diego Union-Tribune is reporting that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez "is threatening to take over food company Empresas Polar, a company that makes the country's top beer."

    Chavez's popularity fell in 2007 after his efforts to enforce price controls led to shortages of staples like milk. ... Chavez this month nationalized a mill owned by U.S. food giant Cargill after occupying two Polar rice mills on charges they were not producing enough rice at regulated prices. ... In 2003 Chavez imposed price controls on staples, including much of what Polar produces, and frequently accuses it of selling above regulated prices or controls with specialty products such as flavored rice not subject to them.

    Dr. Edward Glaeser, another Harvard University economics professor quoted by Fox News, said price controls "a whole litany of problems that make them among the most foolish forms of economic populism known to man."

    "In a free market system," Glaeser said, goods go to the people who value them most; in a price-controlled system, goods go to whoever is lucky enough to get them. As a result, people hold on to rent-controlled apartments even if they barely use them."

    However, the advice of economists and the results we've seen in places like Venezuela, are falling on deaf ears. New York State Assemblyman Jonathan L. Bing is a sponsor of a rent control bill and brushes aside the lessons of the past.

    "The housing affordability crisis trumps any theoretical recommendations of economists," he told Fox News.

    Housing affordability crisis? Homes are going into foreclosure, and in some places, are being auctioned off for a thousand bucks or less. I've never heard such a ridiculous phrase. An "affordability" crisis? Again... I'm amazed. So, the government is supposed to come in and force goods, services, or whatever to be "affordable?" Affordable in whose eyes? Who is the affordability czar?

    Bing supports bills that would further limit the amount landlords can increase rent after tenants move out, and that would increase to $240,000 the maximum income of people who qualify for rent control.

    San Francisco Tenant Union Director Ted Gullicksen supports legislation that would allow tenants to avoid rent increases that would make them pay more than 30 percent of their income in rent. The city's proposed law would also force landlords to let tenants take in roommates, who, Gullicksen said, could help with the rent.

    But should landlords be compensated for the new restrictions on their property? "I don't think so," Gullicksen said. "Rents are so extraordinarily high. Landlords in San Francisco are just making huge amounts of money."

    In Vermont, legislators are considering fixing the price of milk. In Alaska, the talk turns to oil. Faced with a poor economy, these legislators 1) seem to have forgotten history, and 2) are all to willing to throw capitalism out the door in favor of even more government control.

    "You had gas lines in the '70s.... The tougher thing is to think of cases where there was not a shortage due to price controls," said George Mason University economics professor Dr. Tyler Cowen, author of "Discover Your Inner Economist."

    Rent controls are among the most pernicious of price controls, economists say.

    "In many cases rent control appears to be the most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city -- except for bombing," said Swedish economist Assar Lindbeck, a former socialist who has been researching rent control since the 1960s.

    We need to get our of this recession, and we need to do it fast -- not just for the jobs and the families, but for the country. As White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel is quoted as saying recently, "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste." Well, they are not letting this crisis go to waste. Those on the far left are doing everything they can with their opportunity in power. I fear for our country and the American way of life.

    http://www.gopusa.com/theloft/?p=1105
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  2. #2
    Super Moderator Newmexican's Avatar
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    All of this at once is beginning to feel very uncomfortable and it is past alarming. It is like baiting a bear you don't just when you went to far but you find out quickly.
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  3. #3
    Senior Member Bowman's Avatar
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    We are now more Communist than China.
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  4. #4
    ELE
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    We have to impeach some key political figures.

    The American people must push back. Time to impeach Obama, Pelosi, Biden, Reid for starters.
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