PRESS RELEASE
LaRouche's Emergency Address
To the Citizens of the U.S.A
Sept. 1, 2007 (EIRNS)—This transcript was issued today by the LaRouche Political Action Committee (LPAC). MP3 Audio of LaRouche's message
This is Lyndon LaRouche speaking. We are faced with the greatest financial crisis, globally, which has been known to humanity in centuries. This goes far beyond the experience of the immediate period following the World War, such as the Great Depression of 1930s, but we can handle it.
The problem is, right now, that the President of the United States, the office which should have taken leadership in preparing to defend our nation against the most terrible depression in memory, which is now oncoming, requires us to take special measures, through other agencies, to protect the American people, and other things, until the time that we can get the kind of reform we need to get out of this.
Our immediate concern must be to save the United States from being destroyed, and that is really a possibility, by what is now oncoming. This is the greatest financial collapse, of a form similar to what happened in Germany in 1923, that we have known in living history of our time. In my time, as well as yours. However, we can handle this problem. It requires mobilization of the Congress, to take an action which will create the equivalent of a firewall against the destruction of essential economy, and of the lives of our people. That can be done. It must be done by the Congress within the month of September.
There is a certain amount of receptiveness to the idea of doing something about this, growing and spreading within the Congress, and elsewhere. That's there.
I've produced a piece of proposed conception of legislation, which will do the job. I have proposed legislation by the Federal government, which will go into emergency implementation, which must be passed within the month of September, because the month of October is enormously dangerous: We dare not risk proposing anything beyond the early part of September. The action must occur by both Houses within September, as emergency legislation, with sufficient support from both Republicans and Democrats in those bodies, to create a bill which will resist a Presidential veto, a veto-proof bill.
If we do that, we may find a depression hitting us in October, which will be far worse than that of 1929-1933. But! If we protect our banks, even if they're bankrupt, and if we protect our homeowners, so none of them are evicted because of this crisis, then, in the month of October and later, we can clean up the mess, and start the process of a general recovery. We need to mobilize to do that.
Now, many people are coming up with so-called reforms and legislation. Most of what I've seen is absolutely worthless junk. The most stupid thing has come from the President of the United States himself, with his proposal. We're talking about millions of evictions coming down now.
Now, to understand this, you have to recognize that there has been a collapse, as most of you should have known by looking around you in your cities and towns, and so forth. Our industry and agriculture have been destroyed. Oh, we have some farming done and so forth, but we don't have many farmers left. Our people, as in the case of the collapse of the auto industry, we have lost the ability to produce not only products, but to produce a basis for a decent standard of living for the people in states such as Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and so forth. And this is characteristic of what's happened around the world as a whole. This is our problem.
We can fix this, but we must hold the line. We must have immediate emergency legislation—with no funny stuff, with no little simple reforms, with no gimmicks—of the type I've proposed. It must be enacted during the month of September. It must treated as emergency legislation, according it that kind of priority by both Houses of the Congress. It must produce veto-proof legislation from both Houses of the Congress. It must mobilize Democrats and Republicans, alike, without discrimination. No one is out to cut anyone else's throat; we're out to save the nation. And that's the way we must approach this. It must be done.
And you are essential in this. You must organize people to understand this. Forget all this nonsense. Don't try to come up with some complicated gimmick. Don't try to do a reform of housing. Don't try to adjust the mortgages. Do nothing of that sort. That is absolute foolishness under these present conditions.
The only other thing you might do, is get the ouster of the Vice President. We couldn't throw out the President and Vice President at the same time, and we don't want the Vice President to become the President. Therefore, we have to dump Cheney. That can be done, if enough Democrats and Republicans, especially their representatives in the Congress, decide to do that. It can be done. Let's do it. And let's get Cheney out, and proceed to the reform which I propose:
Which means that no householder, under Federal protection, will be evicted from their home, and that no bank, or chartered bank, whether a Federal bank or a state-chartered bank, will be closed down. That does mean also that there is no possibility of tolerating putting valuable resources to bail out any other irregular financial institution. The hedge funds must go. The sooner they're gone, the sooner they're bankrupted, they're eliminated, the better off we're all going to be.
Because we're going to have to rebuild this economy, including the physical economy. We're going to get back our industries. We're going to get back our agriculture, We're going to get back our infrastructure. We're going to get back dignity, and we're going to take our position of respected leadership among a community of nations in the world. And that's what we have to do.
No funny stuff, no tricks, no games. Back to basics. Think like FDR. Act immediately in the month of September. Get the Congress to pass this kind of legislation, which creates a firewall of protection of every essential chartered bank, chartered on the state or Federal level. No matter what their problems are financially, we're going to keep their doors open. And we're going to give them Federal protection.
We're going to give Federal protection to all householders, who are threatened with eviction. They're not going to be evicted. The states will help the Federal government do that. That is, the states will be the administrative arm, which locates the people who need the protection, and makes sure they're protected. But the states will act, through the Governor's office, on the basis of the support of Federal law. That's the way to do the job.
Don't go with the monkey-business. Forget the gimmicks. We're out to save the nation. If we have, in September, the kind of legislation I've proposed, enacted, as emergency legislation, then, we can protect the United States with a firewall against destruction. If we don't do that, we may find a situation beyond recall.
So, let's be patriots. Let's be neither Republicans nor Democrats at this moment. Let's be patriots—let's save our nation. Let's create a firewall to prevent the greatest depression that we've ever known.
This is Lyndon LaRouche: Thank you.
