I told you he would help lead us through this mess we’ve gotten ourselves into. He is going to oppose the Democrat’s “no strings bailout” of the auto industry.
WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, a member of the Senate Budget Committee, made the following statement regarding today’s announcement by Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid that he will seek Senate passage next week of a $25 billion bailout for the U.S. auto industry. Senator Reid’s support for this latest government bailout comes on the heels of yesterday’s announcement from the Treasury Department that the federal government has a record deficit of $237.2 billion for the first month of the fiscal year. This represents the highest monthly imbalance on record.
“Like the vast majority of Americans, I support a strong, productive domestic auto industry. I would like to see it remain a viable part of our economy, particularly as we work to protect our environment. But also like most Americans who are concerned about the direction of our economy and more federal spending, I must also ask – when is enough, enough?
“The federal government is facing a record budget deficit which continues to rise. The reckless, and perhaps illegal, actions of some on Wall Street have forced us to pass a $700 billion economic stabilization bill to save Main Street businesses. The Federal Reserve has made an additional $2 trillion in taxpayer-funded loans to troubled financial institutions, but has refused to submit to even the most modest level of transparency.
“And yet, with the very first vote after the election, Democratic leaders in Congress want to pass a $25 billion handout to Detroit with no promises of reform, accountability, or transparency by the automakers and their union base. This is bad public policy and an affront to taxpayers who are demanding fiscal responsibility and accountability from their government.
“It’s time for both parties to work together to control government spending and impose some fiscal discipline in Washington. Unfortunately, this ill-conceived proposal takes us in the wrong economic direction, instead of the right one.”
Now, aren’t you glad the voters of Texas returned someone that we could trust to Washington?
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61 Responses to “Sen. Cornyn Seeks Return To Fiscal Conservatism”Search
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If there’s enough pork in it he’ll come around. If not, good for him!
Yee-haw! He’ll stand on principal when it comes to $25B but not on a $700B blank check. So, in relative terms nickels are are worth more than dollars. Is it any wonder we are in this mess?
Shamaal, it may well be that Sen. Cornyn ends up voting for some type of “bailout” for the auto industry. But I guarantee you it will have nothing to do with pork. It will have everything to do with being convinced that it is in the best interest of our country AND that protections are in place to prevent what has happened with the $700 billion bailout with respect to transparency.
txn4ever,
It must be really special to have some sort of crystal ball that allows you to be perfect. Wish I had one.
Good Job Senator Cornyn……… stand firm. You are going to feel the heat.
Come on BigJ. That’s not fair. I voted for Cornyn and I like him and will continue to support him but don’t you get tired of listening to politicians rationalize their bad decisions?
Instead of admitting his mistake (that he should have voted no unless the transparency requirements were well defined as well as the PURPOSE of the bail out) he complains that a promise was broke.
His job on the $700B was to protect the tax payer not sign a blank check on a promise. He, and others, failed miserably and I hold him/them accountable for that. The guy was a Judge. How many criminals do you think he let go on a promise? All, none, some?
My comment was meant to point how ridiculous it is to be so concerned about the nickels your sqaundering while not worrrying about the dollars your bleeding.
I voted against Cornyn (not for Noriega either) because of his vote on the bailout. I hope he keeps his word; however, as with all congressional issues, this one is sure to be chock full of pork. He may vote against it but I bet he is negotiating with others so it will pass without his vote. He like all the rest are owned by Washington and will do what is right for washington not Texas.
Wow, what a HERO!!!
Just curious, will the $25,000,000,000 he opposes come out of the $700,000,000,000 he approved? Or, is this an extra $25,000,000,000 billion on top of the $700,000,000,000 for which he voted “yes”? Did John Cornyn go to the same school of thought as John Kerry?
Good thing there’s lots of Johns in the Senate. They’ll need them to flush all that money down.
I’m willing to give Cornyn a chance, minus Bush. So far so good.
Interesting that the switch of destinations for the bailout money gives Cornyn cover here. I’m not saying that everything he says now isn’t good. I’m wondering why we all saw this coming and he didn’t. Is that leadership?
I’m no fan of the bailout and consistantly hold that the best solution for our economy is to simply let people be free to make money. Fundamental regulations? Sure. But governmental money manegement? No. Furthermore, get government out of “saving” economic downturns. It’ll only prolongue the inevitable and exacerbate its devastation. Cornyn’s position falls short of these ends and thus I don’t entirely support what he’s saying.
With that said, I’m very willing to see where Cornyn goes with his position. If it’ll help, I’m for it but reality is that we will always have more problems to deal with as long as government remains seeking to manage private money and own private business.
It is very hypocritical to vote to pass the $700 billion dollar bailout and THEN ask for fiscal responsibility as we see Senator Cornyn doing. And George W. needs a hypothetical slap to come out and defend capitalsim AFTER he pushed for the $700 bilion bailout and allowing Paulsen to spend that money at his discretion.
But let’s see where Cornyn goes with this at this point.
Hope he can help put some backbone in the linguine-spined republicans still left in the Senate. However, if they continue to ‘find’ here-to-for ‘yet to be counted votes in Minnesota the stand he is making could be completely moot. The Rs need at least 41 votes to filibuster bad legislation and cannot count on Rinos like Snowe, etc to get to 41…
Ok I’ma changin’ with the times and have seen the error of my ways expecting accountability.
I want my bread buttered too so as a fan of NASCAR I demand the Big 3 get taken care of or else they will pull out of my sport.
Unless all union contracts with the troubled auto makers cease and have to be redone, I will not budge from my demands.
BTW, good job Senator.
#3 BJolly
The $700B is not related in any way shape or form to the $2T transparency. The $700B transparency is awaiting an appointment from the administration and confirmation.
The $2T loans are made under 11 existing programs, 8 of which were created in the last 15 months. Bloomberg news filed a Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) on the 7th of November to force the Fed to disclose receivers, terms and conditions. The Fed is stonewalling. Senator Cornyn’s interest, and the topic of his press release, when I figured it out is that he was a sponsor of the FOIA Act of 2008.
As to pork Senator Cornyn is down for 75 projects totalling $121.9M in 2008. I certainly hope there was some horse trading going on, I’m not aware the Democrats are running a charity.
Whether his motives are in the best interests of the country or Texas, I have no reason to believe his motives are suspect. Having just come off an election he is a safe Senator and will be courted by those seeking passage of the bill. It’s the Senators coming up in 2012 who are under the gun.
#4 bigjolly
No offense jolly, but it didn’t take a crystal ball to see that a $700b power grab by the government was something to vote against. Not only is it just a bad idea, it goes against most conservative / free market principles.
#15 BCS Bound,
No offense taken. I too was against this and wrote a column so strong against Sen. Cornyn’s vote that he contacted LST and put forth a rebuttal. I think my fides are in place.
That said, I’m not the sharpest stick in the quiver and must accept that many, perhaps most, of the sticks sharper than me thought that it was absolutely necessary for the gov’t to step in.
Fact is, we’ll never know whether their efforts helped or not. It could be that the market would be at 3,000 and the credit markets completely gone had they not stepped in. That is the choice that Sen. Cornyn faced. And he sided with the sharper sticks.
Yes, it did. But many sharp sticks that believe in free market principles thought it was the right thing to do. And like I said, we’ll never truly know, which is one of the obstacles we always face when trying to implement policy.
#14 Sham
Hold on, I’ll be right back. Have go and read what I wrote in # 3.
#14 Sham,
I’m back. It was a quick trip because, although you quoted my entire comment, I thought that perhaps I had written something I didn’t remember. It happens.
But not this time. Nothing about $2 trillion in there.
What some call pork, others call returning Texas taxpayer money to Texas. YMMV.
You sir just earned yourself another latke vote this holiday season
The unfortunate thing is that (in my estimation) most of the sharp sticks you refer to were hoping to save their own portfolios in the short term, rather than look out for the best interests of our long term economy.
#16 BJ
Stop selling yourself short. Besides, if I’m going to defend you, you and John are going to have to be a little more confident. No more humility and modesty - that sort of thing makes me nervous and uneasy.
Yeah, I voted for Cornyn. Or maybe, I voted against Noriega. Whichever.
I’m on record (right here on LST) as giving Senator Cornyn one more chance to prove me wrong and act like the Conservative which I wish he would choose to be. (And just where is that damn Border Fence, anyway?!!!) I can assure you that one vote, one press conference, and a few glitzy ads will not be enough to persuade me.
You know, I’m beginning to wonder if a brand-new third party of true Conversatism isn’t on the verge of seeing its time of birth. We certainly are not seeing the blue-blood party establishment moving toward the Right. The infecting Moderates are certainly demonstrating how to lose elections. And oddly enough, the vaguely-moderate Democratics are not exactly flocking toward the (alleged) Republican ideals, either.
Yes, there is Hope & Change. But it’s something rather like a drowning man hoping to hit the bottom of the pond so that he can shove off that low point in order to change his direction and return to free air………..
my 2¢ (before hyper-inflation)
– Ken
Once again, BigJerky carries water for Washington.
It must be nice, to be able to follow without thought. It is said that the brain uses 15% of the body’s energy. I guess BJ is looking to go “green in the head” and conserve that obvious waste.
But to the subject: Cornyn has been wrong too many times to count. He has six more years. He can be conservative each and every time there is a clear-cut conservative position, and I’ll be on his side… but he’s got to prove it to ME. I’m not the one who was out spending like a drunken sailor on his last night of liberty for the last 3 years, AS HE HAS BEEN DOING.
It’s his fault I don’t trust him. He hasn’t been trustworthy.
I hope your arms don’t get too tired, there, BJ.
BigJ
We’re clearly talking past each other. I was referring to the mischaracterization of the Senator’s release in your statement. What the good Senator actually said was:
The Senator has not expressed a concern for a lack of transparency regarding the $700B bailout. So far the oversight as Congress required is awaiting White House action. On the judiciary committee the Senator has been opposed to requiring White House action.
#23 Sham
How quickly some forget:
#22 Drunk
Yawn.
Screw Cornyn. He’s just a decoy. They’re all in it together, spending trillions of taxpayer dollars and doing whatever the heck they want to do no matter what the people say.
Keep believing, it makes it easier to wake up each day I guess.
I am reluctant to trust most politicians for the simple reason that people who are genuinely trustworthy are rarely successful in the political industry.
As for “smart people” supporting the bailout and/or similar measures… I’m still looking for one that didn’t stand to gain from it in one way or another.
I’ll reiterate what I’ve been saying.
Cornyn had more information at his disposal than anyone here. This included analysis of that additional information made by people who are much more knowledgeable in economics than anyone here. He considered all the information and analysis, applied his principles and perspective, and made a decision that what was best for all concerned was to vote for the bailout. Other people who saw essentially the same information, applied their principles and perspectives, and made a different decision. Honorable people can disagree; we do it here all the time.
The way many of you are talking, you wish that you could vote for the Democrats that voted against the bailout because they would be more conservative.
#23 Shamaal
When I was in Houston last week, I heard a live radio interview with Senator Cornyn in which he expressed great concern for how the bailout money was being spent and his vehement disagreement as well as his intention to demand transparency for the Treasury’s actions. I believe you are misinformed.
#28 WB
Also, anyone who thinks an immediate and significant infusion of cash into the banking system did not have a dramatic effect is an idiot. The bailout bill may have been poorly conceived and currently poorly executed, but the cash had an impact, fiduciary and psychological. It was important and effective in that regard.
#24 BigJ
Read the releases. Coryn’s transparency issues are with the $2T FOIA filed by Bloomberg, the $700B is not part of that $2T.
Nothing has happened with the $700B with regard to transparency and the Senator has not claimed it’s a problem. This is not a covert slam but let’s not put words in the man’s mouth. He may be kept awake nights worrying about the $700B, it’s just not in his release.
Why is this remotely important?
The $2T lack of transparency is exposed as a private company FOIA lawsuit against the Federal government. Senator Cornyn has sponsored the most recent change in the FOIA. It is not working as he intended.
The oversight problem with the $700B is at present a White House problem. The Senator has been reluctant in the past to hold the White House accountable. Maybe the circumstances are different here, maybe he’s frantically calling the President behind the scenes demanding action. I don’t know.
What I do know is that the Senator has not raised an issue with transparency regarding the $700B and it’s a mischaracterization to say that he is.
I think it’s fair to characterize the executive branch as being generally opposed to transparency, and that goes double for the Fed.
If Cornyn actually believed they’d live up to their promises when he voted in favor of their bailout, I must question his judgment.
I truly hope he proves me wrong, and will actually be successful in his “demands” for transparency in the wake of the massive leap toward corporatist socialism that the bailout represents.
If not… It’s just more lip service from another professional politician, and more blind faith from those that support them.
I did not hear the interview, but it’s good to see the Senator apparently demanding oversight action on the $700B. Did he mention what his plan is?
Look, I’m truly not attempting to cast Cornyn as a villain here; but let’s not put words in the man’s mouth. There are two separate issues, which the Senator in his releases is treating as two separate issues, but keep they keep getting jumbled up. This is how accountability for taxpayer money slips through the cracks. Not to mention when the post mortem comes and we start parsing the Senator’s comments.
#32 b42
I honestly think that’s why he’s pushing Bloomberg’s FOIA request over the White House action that Congress required. He knows how the FOIA is supposed to work
#31 Shamaal
I have no idea how you read Cornyn’s statement and come to that conclusion. Do you have a reading comprehension problem ?
On the meta-subject of the new bailout, why are the Democrats not calling this corporate welfare?
/snark
Maybe Cornyn should have conferred with the Economics Department at the University of Vienna. They would have surely set him straight.
Maybe Cornyn should have conferred with the Constitution and voted accordingly.
Fell free to read the Senator’s quotes here and here.
A reference to the FOIA request.
Straightforward. Let me know if anyone finds where the Senator addresses the oversight committee.
How, exactly is the bailout bill unconstitutional?
#40 Your question assumes that government is empowered to do anything it wishes unless such acts are specifically forbidden by the document that was created to limit its scope.
Dude, it’s not their money.
From section 9 of the Constitution
Looks like it’s covered.
This is why the Fed cannot hand out money it does not have and the bill is required. Whether the Executive branch can provide financial guarantees, effectively comitting money is a separate matter.
IMO the Congress abdicated its Constitutional responsibilities when it permitted the Reagan administration to to provide financial loan guarantees to Saddam Hussein to build
chemical weaponsinsecticide factories.I am so looking forward to these papers being declassified.
Shamaal, Section 9 was written with the now quaint assumption that the money was actually in the treasury. The trouble is, it isn’t.
As far as papers being declassified goes, I look forward to that too. But don’t expect the government to give up without a fight.
I didn’t expect a reasoned response, anyway, BigJ.
Let me put my position another way: I’d prefer to have a democrat in office who acts like a democrat than to have a republican in office who acts like a democrat.
Cornyn is “democrat lite.” I’d prefer a straight-forward opponent, compared to the snake that Cornyn is.
Those founding fathers weren’t complete blockheads, same section
Unfortunately this has been the attitude of this administration since day 1. Still on the books is a request for transcripts of what was discussed at meetings between Cheney and heads of energy companies when determining energy policy. This occurred in the second month of the administration IIRC. Last I checked Cheney was claiming he was not part of the executive branch and therefore did not have to follow executive branch laws, I’m serious.
I suspect we’re going to find a large part of the record missing. Traditionally the incoming administration gives the previous administration a bye on prosecutions, I support this; but DAYUM.
I truly do not think he is ducking the issue, the $2T FOIA request is different from the $700B bailout oversight. There is no point in antagonizing the White House over the lack of oversight unless they absolutely refuse to provide a name. Sometimes I think the White House and Iran go to the same negotiating school. I understand his committee is holding hearings on Monday, the House grilled the undersecretary of the Treasury pretty hard. The $25B automotive complaint is a slam against Democrats and is part of politics. Let’s see what he has to say before jumping on anyone.
#39 Shammal
I had already read it twice. I actually understand what it says.
Hmm… I understand the first paragraph to say that “Wall Street” forced us to pass… Come to think of it, there could be some truth to that.
The second paragraph is pure partisan crap. And I say that in full opposition to more bailouts for the automotive industry.
And the last part, that talks about both parties working together to “control government spending” is wishful thinking.
Dream on.
#48 bob42
There is nothing unusual about a Senator trying to inspire his opponents across the aisle whan they hold a virtual veto-proof majority.
True that Texpat. But the two parties working together to control government spending remains pure fantasy, and has no recent historical basis in fact.
Dream on…
#50
You are very right about that.
6 years is a long time. This dog WILL return to his vomit.
People are so desperate that they cling to words uttered in contrast to previous performance.
Somone doing the same thing over and again expecting a different result is either practicing or insane.
Bob
I know it’s not their money. But that being said, we as a nation are in a pretty bad spot. Our choices range from do nothing to even more massive bailout than we already have. The events that started the meltdown have been transpiring for over 25 years. We’ve built a big messy hodgepodge of laws and regulations and practices. Unwinding all that will take time and pain.
Sometimes your choices of action are limited to bad, really bad, and horribly bad. The longer things go the more the viable options shift away from merely bad and new vistas of bad open - colossally bad and bad beyond belief. Cornyn voted for the path he thought would bring the most relief for the least pain - in other words he face an optimization problem.
Right now we have high cholesterol with fairly severe coronary artery disease. We have passed the point where diet alone can help. A stent cannot do the job either. If we wait too long with no action, it’s bypass time. If we remain in denial and don’t do anything still, we have a heart attack. If we get lucky at that point, we might be saved with a transplant.
We are where we are. It is impossible to unwind things back to some pristine point in the past. Every action taken precludes others, sometimes forever. We need to recognize that most of what is past is just that and we have to figure out where we will go from here. There are no do-overs.
Cornyn (and a lot of other squishy moderates squatting as Republicans) voted to try to pump air into a flat tire faster than it can leak out. That was a stupid plan. My six-year-old would know better. We’re in this mess because the government interferred with the free market in this sector of the economy starting in the 70’s. They distorted market forces to build up this massive mortgage bubble, and it finally started to pop. The only reasonable way to get well (besides throwing these bums in prison for the rest of their lives) is to let the free market restore the proper balance.
It’s unbelievable that anyone would give Cornyn credit for “returning to conservative values”. Try this experiment with your wife: “Hi, honey. I spent last week sleeping with your best friend, but now I’m all ready to return to the marriage. Aren’t I a great guy?” Let me know how that works for you.
I really cnnot honestly say that the bill was ever considered on its merits by people who understand it.
The chrisis and the solution were manufactured by the administration for an as of yet disclosed reason. I suspect that the ploy was to force the bad economy and expose the Democrats as the cause while they debated and politiced it to death. I think the administration actually thought they were assisting the Republican effort. I really look forward to reading how this after the books are published.
As we now know, the Democrats turned on a dime in the House and put it to a vote which failed. The Senate meantime gutted an existing bill, filled it with the administration’s request and a whole lot of pork and used the opportunity to claim the Republicans were not supporting their President. The Senate caves it the bill goes back to the house and the rest, as they say, is history. I’m not sure if anyone really understands the entire problem only pieces of it.
IMO, The administration bet that the Democrats were to disorganized to enact the legislation and the meltdown could be blamed on their inaction. The Democrats are betting that the administration cannot spend the money fast enough but the bill buys time to get them through the election. The next administration rethinks the whole thing, guts the credit swap saves and the Congress will renege.
IMHO, both appear to be wrong.
#53: I think there is a misdiagnosis here. We have cancer which has metastasized into all major organs including the liver. All this bailout stuff is merely a quality of life exercise. We are $3-$4 Trillion in deficit and have no visible way of paying the loans back.
If housing were the real issue, the Fed could have issued special credits to pay off every mortgage in the US and had change leftover. So maybe one should look elsewhere for what is going on. This is not a nationalizing of the banks, it is a privatizing of the US Treasury. Wall St. will keep the patient alive as long as possible, and then securitize the nation to the Chinese.
#56 A21
The disease has progressed further tha first predicted.
I was reading the other day that by one estimate $70T is involved in the CDS. How could that be I wondered, that is greater than the GDP of the planet. Upon pondering I figured out what can securitize the insurance policies. With no regulation, the derivatives breed like rabbits. Anyone can creat an index, anyone can play.
How much the US Government feels is necessary to underwrite I guess is the $64K question. I hope that the economic brain trust is working this in favor of the US dominating the globe from an economics standpoint. I fear we are being looted.
Wrong Headline. Should be “Sen. Cornyn DISCOVERS Fiscal Conservatism”. I’m sure he’ll forget it again soon enough.
Oh my gosh, Don Mynack, you are so funny! I can’t take it, my sides are splitting!
So after shaking us down for $700 billion, we should be grateful he’s not coming for another 25? Interesting logic.
“Should 5% appear too small, be thankful I don’t take it all.”
Okay, I’ll bite. Who would that be?
test
Did you pass?