From Rep John Campbell’s Laptop to Yours…

August 12 & 25, 2009 Before going on Sean Hannity's "Great American Panel" on Fox News a few weeks ago, I was waiting in the "green room" before the live broadcast. While waiting to go on set, I had the privilege of meeting Daniel Hannan, a British Member of the European Parliament who had just finished a TV interview himself. For those of you who don't know, this is not a Member of the traditional British Parliament. Countries that are part of the European Union (EU) are able to send delegates to the European Parliament in Brussells, Belgium, where the 27 member countries decide what the EU will do and not do. Anyway, he asked about President Obama's socialized medicine plan and what might become of it. After we discussed that for a minute, he gave me a few facts about the socialized medicine plan in Britain, known as the National Health Service: 1. Britain's National Health Service (NHS) is the 3rd largest employer in the world, behind only the Chinese Red Army and the Indian National Railroad. 2. They have 1.4 MILLION EMPLOYEES in a country with less than a third of the population of the United States. This begs the question, how big would the American NHS be? 3. Among those employees, there are more people with the title of "manager" than there are actual doctors. 4. More than half of NHS employees are purely administrative and have nothing to do with being a nurse, doctor, technician, or otherwise dispensing care to patients. In other words, Britain's socialized medicine system is enormously inefficient, wasteful, and costly. This is part of the reason why Britons have seen higher costs and the rationing of care. Should we be surprised? Is it really any different than a big DMV or a LA Unifed School District? And this is the system that president Obama, Speaker Pelosi, and the vast majority of Democrats in Congress want to emulate!!!! This is nuts. This Member of the European Parliament became quite well known for his speech denouncing the economic practices of Gordon Brown's Labor government in Britain. This speech has received over 2 million hits, and I have included it below. Watch it and you will see why. Click Here to view Until next time, I remain respectfully, Congressman John Campbell, Member of Congress Thursday August 25, 2009 Bernanke: As readers of this missive know, I frequently voice my opinion when I believe the President is doing the wrong thing. That has been the case with virtually everything he has done thus far. However, when he takes action that I believe to be correct or helpful, I will point that out as well. Such is the case this week when the President announced that he will reappoint Ben Bernanke as Chairman of the Federal Reserve for another 4 year term. This is a hugely important and very positive decision for the following reasons: 1. Independence: The Federal Reserve should make decisions for economic reasons and remain independent of the White House so as not to politicize those decisions. I would say this regardless who the President is. Bernanke is independent and will have been appointed by both Bush and Obama. Replacing him could have sent a sign that the Administration was trying to control the Fed which would have been a terrible message and precedent. 2. Past performance: With the benefit of hindsight, one can criticize some of Bernanke’s moves and statements during his first term. Certainly, he can be criticized for not identifying the depth of last year’s crisis sooner, among other things. But virtually none of us foresaw the severity of the crisis or offered a solution that would have prevented it. Bernanke’s swift and decisive action contributed to saving the economy from what would have been a complete collapse last October. He has done a good job so far and we should let him see the job through back to a normal economy. 3. Continuity: Markets hate uncertainty, this is particularly true now. Continuing Bernanke’s Chairmanship until January 2014 gives the markets some confidence that monetary policy will be consistent and measured towards the Fed’s mission of growth with low inflation. 4. No Debt Monetization: This is probably the single most positive sign from the Bernanke reappointment. The federal debt and deficits are huge, unsustainable, and a major risk to future economic growth. Not to mention, it continues to grow. One way to deal with these problems is to “monetize” the debt. That means that the Fed would print money and buy all the new debt issues from the Treasury rather than sell them in the marketplace. Whenever any government has done this on any meaningful scale, it has resulted in uncontrolled inflation and a precipitous decline in the value of the currency. Bernanke has been clear that he thinks this is disastrous economic policy, and he is entirely correct. But it can be a politically easy way out of the mess without raising taxes or cutting spending. But it can’t be accomplished without the Fed Chairman’s 'OK.' Make no mistake; the debt/deficit is still a huge problem. But by reappointing Chairman Bernanke, one of the worst ways to deal with it appears to be off the table. I would also argue that without debt monetization, future inflation prospects are muted somewhat. I remain respectfully, Congressman John Campbell, Member of Congress