As some of you might be aware, I was livid to learn of the plan to rape the American public and blindly, or so it certainly appears, toss a mere $700 billion to start with, into the hands of those who helped create this mess and let them try it again. Completely asinine from my perspective.
During this same time, I fired off angry emails to all my senators and congressmen, among others, vowing never to support them again, if I had in the first place. My senator, Mel Martinez voted for the bailout but Congressman Bill Young did not, either time.
I wanted to take a moment and share a bit of what Congressman Young wrote me back in response to my email I sent him.
It is unusual to say the least to see the largest federal bailout in American history being pushed through Congress with only two weeks of negotiations, without the benefit of a single Committee hearing, and without Members of either party having an opportunity to offer amendments to the bill. We should hear from experts on all sides of this issue before considering such unprecedented legislation. And to do this right we should thoroughly examine how we got to this point and work to produce a package that is not just a big business bailout for Wall Street.
In addition, it is important to note the very people that allowed this instability in the marketplace to occur will now basically be put back in charge with the passing of this bill. This fact is extremely disconcerting to me, especially after learning that Secretary Paulson and the various Committee Chairmen of jurisdiction said they saw signs of this financial credit dilemma over a year ago and did not share that information with Congress and the American public. Rather than pressuring us to accept their “take it or leave it†relief package, why did they not advise us then of the impending economic downturn? This would have surely given all of those Members like me ample time to ask questions on the issue and offer a broad range of ideas to find a solution. My goal is to stabilize and strengthen financial industries in America at the same time protecting the taxpayer. But the bill enacted just a few days ago did neither.
This government intervention into the free marketplace goes against my basic philosophy of smaller government, which I feel offers the most promising foundation for our economic future. The federal government must not become the nation’s bank because it puts private investors and managers out of business. We must be very realistic in the way we approach this matter and you can be certain that I am steadfastly committed to advancing this agenda with conviction, compassion, and common sense, in order to secure a bright future for all Americans.(emphasis I added)
At least Rep. Young is willing to admit that it was at least to some degree the act(s) of the government that abetted in put these financial institutions out of business. He also sees that this bill simply hands the money back over to those who helped get us into this mess with few if any strings attached.
I hope Congressman Young holds true to his word and sticks strongly with his ideals of smaller government.
Tom Remington
