The American Spectator

The Public Policy

(Page 3 of 4)

, beginning with an immediate suspension of the capital gains tax. The RSC's chairman, Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling called for ending the monopolistic authority of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, "financial Frankensteins -- created in a government laboratory -- [that] are not creatures of the free enterprise system." p>The bill had its liberal detractors, too, but for every voice declaring that the Paulson bailout proposal ceded too much to capitalism, there were many more voices declaring that it ceded too much to government. FreedomWorks -- the free-market think tank led by former Republican Rep. Dick Armey -- issued a list of "Ten Reasons to Oppose the Wall Street Bailout." p>PERHAPS NO ONE EMBODIED the opposition as much as Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby, whom the Wall Street Journal described as "a Democrat-turned-Republican who espouses free-market principles with a populist streak." p>"I think we're going down the road of France now," Shelby told the Journal in expressing his opposition to the bailout. p>Despite such opposition, congressional leaders in both parties announced early Sunday morning that a deal had been reached, and it looked as if the plan would be rammed through Congress quickly. Even as the House prepared to vote, however, Barr sounded a warning. p>"The leaders of both the Republican and Democratic Parties are rushing ahead with their $700 billion bill," Barr said in a

topics:
Bill Clinton, Global Warming, Conservatism