As we all know, both Texas Senators voted in favor of the $700 billion dollar Wall Street bailout against the will of many, if not the majority, of Texas voters. Let’s face it, it was a tough vote and they did what they thought was best for the country given the facts presented them. What is done is done.
It now appears that the plan is not working, certainly not as advertised. Just yesterday, Sec. Paulson announced a change in direction for the program titled the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Said change being that he will no longer focus on troubled assets, instead buying stocks in banks. Fine. Things happen, plans have to be adjusted.
Problem is, the public doesn’t have a clue what is going on behind the wall of the Federal Reserve. Who are they giving money to? Which banks are they buying? Why are Wall Street brokerage firms promising billions of dollars in bonuses to employees that didn’t perfom? No one knows because they have broken their promise to be transparent.
Sen. John Cornyn has been a leader on transparency in government in the Senate. In fact, during the negotiations for the bailout bill, one of the factors that led to his vote in support of it was a promise from the Fed that all of the transactions would be publicly available. He has been disappointed. From his office:
“Over the past year, the Federal Reserve has taken unprecedented action in the marketplace by providing almost $2 trillion in taxpayer-funded loans to troubled financial institutions. This is in addition to the $700 billion approved by Congress to fund the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Unfortunately, the Federal Reserve has refused to submit to even the most modest level of transparency regarding its actions. This should trouble taxpayers and policymakers alike. It certainly troubles me.
“There cannot be accountability in government and in our financial institutions without transparency. Many of the financial problems we are facing today are the direct result of too much secrecy and too little accountability.
“During consideration of the economic rescue bill, I made clear that my support for this critical effort hinged on stronger management, oversight and transparency. At a time when American taxpayers are being asked to provide unprecedented loans to get our economy back on track, they deserve to know how and where their money is being used.
“The Federal Reserve needs to step back from its irresponsible position and comply with this Freedom of Information Act request. Transparency and accountability are needed now more than ever.”
Keep pushing Sen. Cornyn. And let me offer you a little advice. Communicate more with us about this bill. Most of us are confused and not sure what is going on in Washington or whom to listen to. You have been a steady voice of conservative reason and we need your guidance. You need to have daily communication with your constituents until this storm is past.
Meanwhile, we have nothing but silence from Sen. Hutchison. Sen. Hutchison, we need you. Hello?
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43 Responses to “Sen. Cornyn Leads - Where is Sen. Hutchison?”Search
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You had better get ready ’cause it’s coming at you:
The G-20’s Secret Debt Solution
http://www.moneyandmarkets.com/the-g-20s-secret-debt-solution-27996
I’m not so sure about this:
What about the fact that it was government excessively meddling with the market that got us in to this in the first place? The notion that a problem that was created by bad government decisions will be remedied by even more meddling and bad decisions is fallacious.
Congress passed a bill that essentially gives a handful of people control over a ton of money — money that actually does not exist. They were right to demand transparency and accountability, but foolish to expect it to actually happen.
My question to our representatives is: “Since the administration has proven to be untrustworthy, when will you introduce legislation to stop them from spending our money on this bad idea?”
I have to side with the bobster on this one. All that they promised in transparency has not happened therefore this represents default by borrower and the needs to be killed immediately. Drudge reported a couple of days ago that the FED had loaned in excess of $2 trillion!?!! To whom and on what terms and who is going to pay for that. We must retake control of our financial system and government. Here is an idea . . .
1) How about not spending a dime on anything that is not specifically authorized by the constitution.
2) Eliminate all federal taxes currently in place and replace them with one national retail sales tax not to exceed 15%. Any goods currently in production or in inventory are exempt from the tax.
This will put the brakes on excessive spending and will also flood the govt with tax receipts; the consumer will have more in his pocket because:
1) He will get a full paycheck
2) Cost of doing business will go down and all the hidden taxes buried in the cost of goods we buy will disappear, this will make the price we pay including the sales tax likely go down or stay the same.
3) It will no longer be any of the govt business how much money we make.
4) NO more hassel of tax time in April
5) No more penalty for being successful.
It is way too easy so the libroids will probably fight against it.
#2 bob42
Any legislation filed for that purpose is going to fail and is only for show. Sen. Cornyn doesn’t do that. He’ll work behind the scenes to try and fix it as best he can.
Sen. Hutchison will do the same.
The solution IS too easy, too obvious, and pure common sense, as Bob and Bonecrusher point out. It’s also basicially what RON PAUL has always said and fought for and collectively been labeled an idiot/kook/or worse for by both the Conservatives and Libs. It’s a major financial mess and it’s only going to get worse before it gets (if it even gets!) any better. They actually were considering a request by banks and consumer advocates for a program to let lenders forgive huge portions of credit card debt, which they (amazingly!) decided against. Next in line for our tax money is the automakers. Then - who knows? I hope Cornym and others stick to their guns on the transparency issue. As for Hutchinson - I’m convinced, having seen and heard her speak, that she’s never had an original thought in her life and relies totally on her handlers for every word she utters. They’re probably all scrambling around, trying to figure how best their puppet politician can best parse a platitude to cover her tush without actually committing to anything.
It doesn’t matter now, we cannot be bought. Cornyn and Hutchison could have voted against it as did Poe and Culberson. No excuses for either Cornyn or Hutchison for voting for it. IMHO we still need to watch these two - they have agendas of their own and are not totally committed to their constituents.
Kay Bailey is busy picking fabric, planning to redecorate the Governor’s mansion. Senator Cornyn is definitely on the right path. I do agree, he needs to keep us informed. Every day there is new information, misinformation, so we don’t know what in h*** is going on. Even Barney Frank is upset. Senator Cornyn, keep up the pressure.
My take is that the Dems passed whatever it took to prevent this from being a distraction during the elections with the intent to renege as necessary and fix it next year, the Repubs in the Senate went along. The administration accepted the bill with the intention of doing everything they can to bail out the capital markets before the next administration. This is a race with taxpayer money as the prize.
IMO, I don’t believe the administration ever seriously planned out bailing out mortgages, that’s just a sideshow. The center ring is the very heart of economic capitilization.
And now American Express is getting itself listed as a bank. WT . . .?
Gee, ya think it could have something to do with bellying up to that $700B trough?
The feeding frenzy begins.
The Congress has the power to force transparency. They don’t even need a new law. The U. S. Constitution requires this transparency.
Atricle I Section 9 states:
No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.
Senator, you took an oath to uphold the Consitution. So please, Senator, do your damn job! And stop whining for cryin out loud!
We now have one unelected government bureaucrat choosing winners and losers. I’m finally proud of my country for the first time in my life! /sarc
It seems the the $700B number is just the tip of the ice burg.
We’re rapidly approaching government ownership/management of 50% of the nation’s GDP, and as you might imagine, the lobbyists are loving it.
I think its long past time our congress critters started showing some responsible oversight of the Fed, stayed the heck out of the free market, and stopped trying to manhandle the economy to help them get reelected.
I do. They’re stealing people’s money.
As yes, our illustrious senators. Cornyn, up for re-election, managed to be mostly Conservative (but I’m still waiting on my Border Fence). The good Senator Hutchison…..well, we may not know where she is, but let me assure you that she’ll keep our thoughts in mind………………..
[for those who never wrote Senator Hutchison, "I'll keep your thoughts in mind" is a staple in virtually every vacuous response her office sent out]
my 2¢
– Ken
bob42
Fixed it.
EXACTLY!!!
Big Jolly’s response:
The only way to “fix it” is to cut off their money. I’ll support Cornyn trying to fix it “the best he can” but he has got to get out and repeat exactly what I just said.
Government NEVER grows to fix problems. It grows just for the sake of growing. It must be compelled to “de-grow” itself. And that’s a tough road to travel as you pointed out. But it should still be the end goal.
Cornyn’s stupid vote for the bailout, cast only to make himself look better in McCain’s eyes, was inexcusable. Now he regrets it? Sorry, Hume, you don’t get do-overs here. You guys turned the rejected house bill into a 900 page behemoth in a matter of days. You should suffer the consequences of your decision, and stop showering us with ads featuring you and your horse, and asking us to figure out which is uglier. It’s a close call, jackass.
#11 B42
Yes sir you are correct the $700B for this bailout and the $223B AIG bailout are just the tip of the iceberg. There is a lot more at risk if controls aren’t exercised. Sen Cornyn’s press release is about a FOIA act by Bloomburg to the Fed to discover who has received $2T of US onbligations. Bernanke ain’t saying to avoid scuttling their stock, but Dayum.
Regarding the oversight committee, the legislation called for the administration to nominate someone and the Senate confirms. The administration hasn’t nominated anyone yet. Once the nominee occurs the Senate will approve. The hiccough here is that the Banking and Finance committees are arguing over the confirmation. Should the administratiion cough up a name (Neil M. Barofsky, a prosecutor from New York is likely) the Finance committee has scheduled a confirmation meeting on Monday. The squabble will disappear when Reid puts his foot down, I think it will go to whomever is first to have a confirmation process ready (Finance).
No disrespect to Senator Cornyn, but I’m not sure what role he could play in this, other than issue press releases. He’s on the Budget Committee, maybe he’s working behind the scenes. A look at his website doesn’t impart any particular insigt, his last press releases were veterans and FEMA. He was a major player in the FOIA legislation, and that would be his area of expertise.
Ms. Hutchison is on appropriations and her website is equally uninformative.
#15 Don Mynack
That is about as dumb a comment as someone could make on this issue. First off, to think that John Cornyn gives a rat’s rear about John McCain’s opinion shows me right off that you don’t have a clue what you are talking about.
Second, no one, not me and certainly not Sen. Cornyn, has said he regrets his vote. He made the best decision he could given the facts and circumstances presented him. There were and are an awful lot of smart people, people far smarter than you and I, that think he made the right choice.
As for jackasses, well, there is always a mirror.
Kevin Brady, who also voted for the bailout, is also silent on the new revelations of the bailout.
Meanwhile back in reality, while congressmen who were convinced to support the bailout remain silent, those who were better informed and have long opposed such actions are not shy about explaining why they did not, and do not support it.
I don’t expect my representatives to be perfect. I DO expect them not to swallow every line of socialist garbage they’re fed by their party or any administration, to question the validity of information provided to them from any source, and to faithfully exercise their Constitutionally mandated oversight in a manner consistent with the oath they took when they assumed office.
But most importantly, when they make big bad decisions, I expect them to simply admit their mistake and try their best to correct it.
It’s your move, Big Bad John…
The vote to support the bailout was a bad vote. I think Cornyn should regret his vote. Wheather he does or not is up to him. However, One bad vote does not necessarily disqualify someone I agree with most of the time from being my Senator.
I agree with Cornyn probably 85 to 90 percent of the time. I would have disagreed with his opponent 90 to 95 percent of the time. The choice is clear.
While we are at it, I want to see Gov. Perry, Lt. Gov. Dewhurst, both replaced and the time it needs to happen is in the PRIMARIES. I do not want KBH to be the replacement either.
#15:
Evidently there are “do overs”…he got reelected. As for KBH…where is she? Planning her move to the governor’s mansion, of course! She doesn’t have time to get involved in something like saving the economy. She’s got hers, yours is your problem. Don’t bother her with it. #13: I’ve gotten those responses,too. They always make me feel ’so good’ to know she’ll “keep my thoughts in mind”. Can’t tell it by the way she votes!
Hey everyone. Maybe this is the time to go in and take them over.
Everything else is being taken over because of the ‘EMERGENCY’.
We wont get a better chance.!!
If we don’t know how to run it, why not.
Take over the FED
I’d love to know why the puff pieces keep showing up for Sen. Cornyn and keep coming from B.J.
Mr. Benzion you actually still running this place?
Something is fishy.
Tin foil hat in place.
glynne
And what makes you think that
Mr. BenzionDavid wants some kind of an echo chamber? If you disagree with Jolly’s points, you have the opportunity right here to present your side of the story.Squawkbox
LST Contributor
Handyman
and all round nice guy.
Note to Big Jolly
Could ya make sure David has some water in his cage? I think I forgot to fill it before I left the grotto.
Oh btw tommorow is visitation day.
Thanks
Squawk
LST Cage Cleaner
Handyman
and all round nice guy.
This whole financial meltdown would never have happened if we did not use a fiat currency and the dollar was still backed by gold.
The water is placid, expertly the fisherman flicks his wrist and the bait lies floating on the surface of the pool.
What denizen of the deep will rise to the bait?
There was another post here somewhere with an alarmist link about the G20 that was predicting Gold to go to $10k an ounce.
#26 & #27
Hell, we were on the gold standard when we went into the Great Depression.
Maybe it’s the result of the two-party duopoly.
The vast and unconstrained stupidity of national governments can overide even the wisdom of gold standards. There is no permanent cure for it.
If only we had elected a true visionary, perhaps we could have avoided this mess.
Texpat
RE:
#23 and #25
Please let Shannon know that next week it is his turn to water and feed Benzion.
Eeeeek! Pulling my hair out over this piece of logic: Cornyn voted for the $700,000,000,000 bailout, but that was last week; this week, he’s not happy with the way it’s going, so we should give him credit for being a true conservative leader.
HOGWASH!!!
Is there no limit to what we’ll let our elected Republicans pull on us before we will stop supporting them???
And some people actually wonder how it is that the labels of “Republican” and “conservative” have come to mean so little.
It’s well said that if we don’t stand for something, we’ll fall for anything. I guess we’re seeing that in action now.
#32 squawk
Of course I will.
#23 glynne
The reason there are so many glowing posts about John Cornyn here is because Big Jolly spent years gathering devastating information which he has used to blackmail all of us on LST. Cornyn found BJ on the banks of the Comal River when he was an infant and saved his life. We live in abject fear he will reveal all the horrid and sordid details of our lives. BJ also lives in a huge mansion financed by Barney, Chris, Countrywide & John Cornyn. The man flies around in a G-5 and owns the mortgage on the RNC headquarters. Do not cross him. He is ruthless.
Wow, Mr. Texpat, thanks. I wouldn’t have noticed glynne’s comment if you hadn’t outed me.
Welcome back, glynne.
/they never truly go away, do they?
Resistance is futile.
#35 BJ
You are welcome. Just keep those photos in the safe deposit box like you promised.
#35
BJ
LOL, you can never go back to an old thread and not see a certain someone either getting banned, quitting or starting crap!
Stop trying to justify Cornyn’s bad behavior. There is no excuse for it. He did not listen well to his constituents.
Texpat, BJ, & wagonburner: Y’all are a hoot when hootness is so desperately called for. Carry on.
Results from Answers.com lookup button for “hootness”.
Still considering where texpat, BJ or Mr. Burner fit.
#41 GJT: Nope, it’s hootness. Probably not a word before I coined it. The state of being amusing/clever/ greatly funny as in it is a hoot, he/she is a hoot. Grin.
From the latin hoot - meaning to stand out in an appealing way.
Uses: hootness, hooters, Hootersville, hootenanny, hooterrific, hootological
Antonym: moot