“I do not believe in supporting bailouts without strongramifications. It is a fool’s fantasy to think we can live in a globallyconnected economy and never have a situation arise where the governmentprudently steps in to prevent a failure that might lead tocatastrophic ramifications. In most cases, I believe it would be muchbetter to let bailed-out companies fail when they have mismanagedthemselves, rather than waste taxpayer money propping up greedyidiots who are trying to salvage their own bonuses; however, thereare exceptions to almost every rule. The wiser course would be topenalize the CEO or board of directors who drove the companyto the brink of failure. The most obvious punishment would be theelimination of any “golden parachutes” or bonuses for the executiveand seizure of all company-derived assets, including any attempts tohide company assets in the spouse’s name. When C-level executivescome to the realization that managing a company is not a game andthat there are serious consequences for their actions, we will see fewerinstances of requests for bailouts.”

“I do not believe in the power of brand names or in emulatingany of the brand name investors out there. It is a fact that all—ifnot at least most—of the biggest names in American finance andindustry out there today have proven after the 2008 crisis to be someof the most incompetent people there are. Starting with the untouchableGoldman Sachs, who was bailed out by over $5 billion fromWarren Buffett, to AIG and Citibank, who were bailed out by thehundreds of billions of dollars from the Troubled Asset Relief Program(TARP), having a name and a history does not make you the brightestand the best. All it takes is one nincompoop with a huge ego or aboard of directors who think they are smarter than everyone else todestroy what has taken generations to build.”

“People succeed or fail on the merits in America, not on who theyknow or whose reelection campaign they supported. This absolutelyAmerican principle must be reestablished and permanently fortified.There can be no more “too big to fail.” If you are reckless, greedy,and arrogant, the American taxpayer should not bail you out.”

“I strongly support liquidating the corporation that is the FederalReserve and returning to a monetary system based on a marketproducedprecious metal, like gold, which is represented by a currencyprinted and managed by the U.S. Treasury Department as stipulatedby our Constitution. The assets currently owned by the Fed shouldbe liquidated and parceled out on a pro-rata basis to its creditors. All we need is the will.”

“We are in an economic war. It is a war between those who createwealth and those who believe they have some sort of divine mandateto appropriate wealth. They don’t have such an authoritative command.I don’t think they ever did. We have tried their command-andcontrolmethods for nearly a century because they said they knewbetter. It is now obvious that they didn’t.”

“Even the most well-meaninggovernment policies have unintended consequences that have harmedthe economy. If government policies were today held accountable the wayprivate businesses are, the scoreboard would say government is failingto help people...and this is a fact.”

“The recession, which started in 2007, is ongoing. Theunderlying fundamental causes of the meltdown have not beenaddressed. Banks are still not lending. Companies are still not hiring.Congress has still not seriously addressed the growing debt. Neitherhas Congress checked its own out-of-control spending. The muchlauded reforms installed by Frank-Dodd are nothing more than anotherexpansion of federal government control over the engines of wealthcreation.”