Wapokoneta Daily News - "Simple Ideology Rules"

News Article

Wapokoneta Daily News - "Simple Ideology Rules"

Whether the federal government bails out investment banking industry or the mortgage industry or injects more money into the 2008 Farm Bill, an Ohio Congressman adheres to a simple ideology.

"When the federal government gets involved with something, it tends to make it worse — people instinctively understand that," U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana, told media Thursday during a teleconference.

Jordan, a member of the Budget Committee, said he is participating in negotiations as a member of a conference committee charged with hammering out the 2008 Farm Bill based on House and Senate versions.
The House passed its version of the Farm Bill in July, with the Senate passing a bill earlier this month which includes additional spending of $10 billion to $12 billion.

Jordan voiced concerns about raising taxes to fund the additional programming when America has the second highest corporate tax rate in the industrialized world stifling the economy, including farmers. "I am concerned the committee will come up with a tax increase to pay for the program," Jordan said. "We need to let the marketplace work, the marketplace makes much better decisions than the government and this program has a lot of government interference."

Congress is trying to reach a deal on the 2008 Farm Bill by its April 18 deadline.

Jordan also addressed the federal government's role in assisting homeowners affected by the foreclosure and mortgage lending crisis.
"For those families who were legitimately misled — because there was some type of fraud, there was some kind of wrong activity going on — we are all for looking at ways to help them, especially if there was some unscrupulous behavior that took place on the part of the lender, the broker or someone else," Jordan said.

"We need to investigate it and do what we can because owning a home is part of the American dream," he said. "If the people got led into something that they shouldn't have been involved with, they certainly deserve some kind of help."

Jordan questioned helping people who may have overextended their credit limits.

"Is it really fair for taxpayers to help that individual out who just spent too much money, when their neighbor next door is driving a smaller car, going on less expensive vacations and making their mortgage payments," Jordan said. "It is a fairness question, and it is an efficiency question — tell me one area that government gets into, besides the military, where it does a good job."
The Congressman said 94 percent of mortgages today are being paid on time.

Jordan continued to adhere to the same philosophy with the federal government's approach to the Bear Sterns investment bank problems, but he understood President Bush's and Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke's response.

"I hate to have the taxpayers and the government come in and impact the marketplace, but the one caveat I have is that what the Federal Reserve did and the federal government did prevented huge failures of banks all across the country and prevented a major failing of banks — then sometimes you have to do that," Jordan said.

"Again, I am always for limiting the government or letting it get too involved because the marketplace can better handle things in all areas," he said. "But what the Federal Reserve did may have prevented other financial institutions from failing, and we don't want that to happen because it has implications for families and individuals all across the country."

Source