Senate wants $5M to study financial crisis

Posted by: Stephanie King

Written by: Anne Flaherty

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has agreed to spend $5 million to investigate the cause of the economic crisis as it moves toward passing a $245 million bill that would substantially increase the number of FBI agents and prosecutors working mortgage fraud.

The legislation is aimed at showing voters that lawmakers are serious about getting to the bottom of the nation's financial woes, even as they struggle to agree on how to improve the economy and prevent it from getting worse.

"We must hold those responsible for this calamity to account," said Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D.

President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats have vowed to complete by the end of the year an overhaul of the federal regulatory system governing the nation's financial institutions. Democrats say that had regulations been tighter, banks would not have taken many of the risky bets that ultimately put them in danger of collapsing and required a $700 billion government bailout.

But as Republicans and Democrats debate the finer points of that longer-term effort, lawmakers are pitching ways to provide immediate relief to cash-strapped voters.

The $245 million fraud bill is "our chance to authorize the necessary additional resources to detect, fight and deter fraud that robs the American people and American taxpayers of their funds," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who co-sponsored the bill with Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.

The Senate agreed 92-4 on Wednesday to designate $5 million for a congressionally appointed, independent "Financial Markets Commission." The panel, which would be modeled after the 9-11 Commission that investigated the 2001 terrorist attacks, would be given 18 months to issue its recommendations.

Lawmakers also agreed to create a separate Senate committee focused on the financial meltdown.

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$10 Trillion in debt

Posted by: Lisa Crowley

Where does the money come from to fund the national debt?

The clock is ticking for the national debt. As the seconds go on our government is racking up an enormous bill that they are unable to pay off, and for the short term you want that. I have always wondered where the government gets the money to spend on the programs to enhance and maintain the society we live in. They mostly get there money from themselves, as a matter of fact over 40% of our debt is owed to the Federal Reserve, while foreign investment makes up 22%. Currently our national debt is 10 trillion dollars and from that we owe 400 billion dollars to ourselves. If we were to just start printing off money so we would no longer be in debt, then our money would become inflated and our economy would spiral further into a recession; therefore it is better for the government to slowly get rid of the debt not creating inflation.

So how do we solve this problem?

There is no easy solution to this problem because while we keep our debt, the tax payers are wasting there money on paying off the interest. One possible solution is having the private sector create a competing currency until the U.S. is able to bring there currency back to a stable level.

Anyway you look at it, our debt has been rising since 1961.

Sources:
http://www.alkalizeforhealth.net/Ldebtclock.htm
http://www.chrismartenson.com/forum/us-national-debt-will-default/11586
http://www.federalbudget.com/