DeMint vs. Bush and the housing bailout capitulationists; Update: Reid protects Fannie/Freddie lobbyists
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The good news: There’s at least one Republican looking out for you and standing against the next massive bailout boondoogle.
The bad news: He’s up against President Bush and the rest of the Beltway housing bailout capitulationists.
You know what we say: We’re Screwed ‘08.
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) has earned a reputation for stalling Senate business and annoying Democrats, but today he turned his fire on President Bush.
Shortly after the White House backed off of its veto threat of a massive housing bill aimed at rescuing mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, DeMint bemoaned the Bush administration’s flip flop.
“The president has decided he wants the bailout more than he wants to stand by his position to veto it,” DeMint said.
The White House had threatened to veto the bill because it contains $3.9 billion in Community Development Block Grant [CDBG] funds, but that money was a huge priority for liberal Democrats in both chambers who see the money as a key to helping prop up distressed urban neighborhoods.
DeMint called the CDBG money a “slush fund” and said the federal government was showing “gross incompetence” with the housing bill.
(T-shirts via Mommy Needs a Cocktail)
***
Update: From Sen. DeMint’s office…
Within minutes of news breaking that DeMint will fight for a vote to end Fannie/Freddie lobbying now that taxpayers are bailing them out, Reid’s office sent an S.O.S. email to K Street urging lobbyists to oppose DeMint’s amendment:
“We are informed that Sen. DeMint would like to seek an amendment to the House amendment. While we have not seen Sen. DeMint’s amendment, it’s fair to say that such an amendment could complicate debate and delay passage of the housing bill.”
The reality is that Reid’s insistence on protecting Fannie/Freddie lobbyists is what will force this debate to drag out longer than necessary. Attached is a letter from 7 Senators (DeMint, Cornyn, Bunning, Thune, Ensign, Coburn, and Sununu) asking Reid to allow a vote to ban Fannie/Freddie lobbying.
The Reid e-mail:
<<<
>>> —–Original Message—–
From: Wetjen, Mark (Reid)
Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2008 1:25 PM
To: majleaderreid-business@democratic-message-center.senate.gov
Subject: Update on housingIf the House passes the housing bill and the Senate receives it today, Sen. Reid is prepared to move to proceed to the measure today, which will be the House message to H.R. 3121 (containing one amendment). While a motion to proceed to a House message is non-debatable, technically the motion still requires a majority vote, unless consent is given to proceed without a vote.
If cloture is necessary – the Republican filibuster record suggests it will be – Sen. Reid could file cloture on a motion to concur with the House amendment today. In that event, the cloture vote would ripen on Friday. If cloture is invoked, the 30-hour clock begins to run from that point in time.
We are informed that Sen. DeMint would like to seek an amendment to the House amendment. While we have not seen Sen. DeMint’s amendment, it’s fair to say that such an amendment could complicate debate and delay passage of the housing bill.
The DeMint/GOP letter:
I’ve covered the left-wing mortgage counseling racket extensively. See, for example, here.
See what others have said
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Trackbacks
- White House Wimps Out | OpenMarket.org
- No Runny Eggs » Blog Archive » Paul Ryan on the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac bailout
- Michelle Malkin » House bailout passes 272-152
- Mortgage Bailout Bill Shreds Property Rights, Fleeces Taxpayers | OpenMarket.org
- Mortgage Bailout Law: A Recurring Blunder? | OpenMarket.org
- Michelle Malkin » Road to GOP redemption: Roll back the bailouts, draw a line in the sand
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Why would we think that this congress, which is drunk with ear marks and power (money) grabs, would be any different in this situation. One of the saddest parts of this story line is that these are the people we (Americans and a few extras) voted into office. I hope America is paying attention and taking notice.
DeMint is correct …
Put that right along side the fact that they want to have ACORN handling many of the funds at the local level in Chicago and some other big cities …
Just more liberal Dems trying to buy votes in November …
It is amazing to me that every election cycle we have some major problem that the Dems in DC suddenly get behind to spend Billions of our tax dollars to “fix” …
I just wished to goodness we had line item veto in effect so all this pork would not get through attacked to bills. The dc bunch act like a ‘billion’ is what I think of as ‘100′ in my budget.
L
Glad to know somebody in Washington favors fiscal restraint. Anybody want to draft DeMint to run for President in 2012?
It’s seems like each day is a new opportunity for Bush to disappoint the few remaining conservatives…
Has anyone ever looked into Harry’s dealings to see if he or his sons will be making money or getting relief from all this real estate BS … they have a long history of making money in shady real estate deals …
… Inquiring minds want to know …
Is it just me or do these “we need to fix” bills always contain tons of pork?
Whatever happened to “Not ours to spend”?
I’m not a big believer in therapy/counseling but I may change my mind and Congress should foot the bill for causing my distress.
and I what them all DRUG TESTED weekly.
Thomas Sowell is right, why would you call an arsonist to put out a fire? Most of these rubes in congress were there when the rules were changed in the 90’s. We have record of who sponsored the legislation and we have record of the results. We have record of the players in the middle.
I don’t care what side of the political spectrum they are on, if their name shows up in the timeline as an advocate of this situation it should be announced publicly. Didn’t the WSJ have something like a 6 or 7 year list of editorials that showed how we got here?
And we know ACORN is very deep in this and it needs to be publicized every day. Yes, The Wizard of Uhhs’ ACORN at the time he touts his community organizatin’.
A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon you’re talking real money.
Something the Democrats have been doing since FDR.
What does Bush care….the country melts down as planned.
DeMint in 2012, sounds good too me.
Fixed it for ya
maisy said:
Exactly!
Lover has bashed the damn nail on the head…
How do you get crooks out of office when they are buying protection from their crook “constituents”?
SCREWED ‘08 & BEYOND.
Speak kindly to the libs who visit here. I really believe some of them can be turned towards the light given the aggregious(sp?) nature of the current Democrat leadership and their shenannigans. Egads. They are the real Teapot Domers. This is incredible.
More socialist legislation passed by the president? Got to love Bush, he sure loves spreading that tax money around…..
Amazing,
I got sideways with my mortgage and had them start forclosure. I took responsibility and fixed the problem. Why can’t the dipsticks that the gov’t wants to bail out do the same? Can I ask for a retroactive assist? This is such BS. Go Demint and co. Stop this travesty now and beat the dhimms over the head with it.
Wasn’t the Democrats claiming in the 06 elections that they will fight the greed and special interests of the R’s and instead look out for the little guy?
Where in the hell is the press to call Pelosi, et al, on this hypocrisy?
Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn:
“You can have power over people as long as you don’t take everything away from them. But when you’ve robbed a man of everything, he’s no longer in your power.”
Note to the cleptocrats in Washington:
There’s little left out here in the heartland.
Complaining about this does nothing to help John McCain’s “God’s children”.
It’s truly amazing how much of a democrat he sounds like. I agree.
If you want to see a senatorial badass in action, check out Jim Bunning ripping apart Hanky Panky Paulson in the bail out hearings from a few days ago. That man is my new hero.
In the house we can always count on Ron Paul to give these finance bureaucrats a good tongue-lashing. I didn’t know there was anyone to count on in the senate however.
I wish it was actual tax money, then we wouldn’t be an extra 5 trillion in the hole during Bush’s presidency. That money is coming from China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, or most likely – out of thin air.
It’s so depressing to watch these guys rip us off this way.
I think I need to go on disability and food stamps. Can I use my food stamps to buy ammo?
Throw them all out of office. . . vote for the challenger regardless of party.
So, are they going to give some sort of special compensation for all of us who pay other people’s mortgages (rent)? If not WHY NOT??? We’re suffering too – we’ve had to take the rent hikes but have NOTHING to show for it, and we don’t get a bailout either. WHY NOT?
oh, and we’ll also have to pay for this bailout via our taxes in future, just as an added kick in the face when we’re down. WHERE’S THE JUSTICE????
NEVER EVER ACT RESPONSIBLY – IT DOES NOT PAY.
The saddest part of the story is how few Senators support Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) position. I imagine they are supporting that screaming windbag Sen. Chris Dodd; I guess he can use the money
Between God’s children and mamaObama’s children we are indeed So Screwed in 08.
)o:
Yes, time for my Gadsen ‘Don’t Tread On Me’ flag.
and I know damn well my rent certainly isn’t going to drop, as an unregulated tenant in NYC. Over 6 years we’ve been trying to get repairs done on our apartment, and there is NOTHING we can do without shelling out thousands for a lawyer. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.. gotta go before I start swearing…
Those of you who haven’t defaulted on any loans get to pay twice: you get to fund the bums via your tax dollars (what, you think these bums are paying their fair share?), PLUS you get to enjoy the benefits of a weak dollar – like continuing inflation.
People forget that the price of oil isn’t only pegged to supply and demand for oil – it’s also affected by the value of a dollar.
These bailouts are essentially the same as printing money. The money supply is soaring, and that means that the dollar’s value will continue to fall.
If nobody values a dollar, then it takes a lot more of them to buy a barrel of crude oil. Result to you: inflation. Oil and imports will continue to become more and more expensive.
If we’re lucky, Bernacke will try and contract the money supply by jacking up interest rates. Then, we non-bums get TRIPLE whacked when the interest rates on our variable loans (like credit) go up.
NOW who’s drunk, George?
Your not just whistling Dixie there sausage. I hate to say it, I have hated him for the past 2 years, and to add insult to injury, I voted for him (not like Ihad a real choice back then). Bush is the reason I will not vote L.O.T.E. in this election. They will both spend us into bankruptcy. Just a matter of warp speed or “ludicrous” speed.
They are only protecting the 5th tier of government-the “this is who I go party /vacation with” bunch after they’ve done their political dog and pony show.
If there has been one observation I could make about the GOP, it would be that it has succeeded/kept from imploding only by the raw determination of its grassoots conservatives-with no thanks to the Beltway elite (which really are not the elite-its you and I)
DeMint in 2008 sounds better to me.
The melt down has increased dramatically since the Democrates took Congress. We went from $1.78 a gallon gas to $4.02 this morning.That is all after Pelosi and Dingy Harry announced No New Drilling.
President Bush certainly was not the tough guy I had hoped for. I know we were in for a rough one when he let that Kennedy slut rip into him at the RFK building and he didn’t answer.
Yes, Bush is weak; the Democrats are damn traitors, and Obama is worse yet.
Allah be Praised.
Allie oop oop too.
I wish Bush would just leave now.
Charlie Rangel is suffering too. Oh wait…
By printing massive amounts of money out of thin air to pay for all this welfare we’ve terribly endangered this country’s future. It’s not just a wealth transfer from the middle class to the poor, it’s a transfer all the way to China. The result could be ugly. This is a bi-partisan problem. It’s going to take spending restraints that no longer exist in Washington. This country needs serious answers from both parties and instead we have a Congress of clowns.
Will somebody tell them this isn’t monopoly money they are playing with?
Remember that Meridia Initiative….I am shocked ! SHOCKED!
Hey Gringos! Remember the money Bush gave Calderon to fight drug trafficking?
Publicado por PomponioHey gringos, the Mexican CIA is living it up on the money Dubya’s government allocated for the so-called “Iniciativa Merida” or “Plan Mexico”.
According to Victor Hernandez, editor of the Mexico City daily SDP Impreso, el Centro de Investigación y Seguridad Nacional (CISEN or Mexican CIA), headed by Guillermo Valdés, signed an almost million dollar contract with Mexicana Airlines so that CISEN brass and their families could travel first class to tourist traps in Mexico.
The perks of the contract included:
· Ten cards to access VIP airport lounges;
· Free upgrades to first class seats;
· Discounted tickets;
· Etc.
The destinations include: Acapulco, Cancún, Cd. del Carmen, Guadalajara, Mazatlán, Mérida, Monterrey, Oaxaca, Tijuana y Villahermosa. Obviously, national security concerns require CISEN brass and their families to travel to Cancun and Mazatlán as much as possible.
Mexicana airlines committed not to reveal these details but the CISEN stupidly put the bids in a readily accessible web site, thinking that it would not matter. I mean, so much for secrecy, right? Do you gringos really want to keep giving Sargent Garcia money to live it up?
The CISEN also had a jolly old time spending money on urgent national security equipment and services such as:
· Gym equipment (got to get rid of that fat butt after drinking so much cerveza in Cancun), expresso bars, babysitting (got to have someone take care of the brats while we go to Cancun), a piano (we like to party at the office), miscellaneous games (got me the latest version of Hitman), etc. This was found in bid 04100001-026-07 issued in September 2007;and more..
· Heck, it doesn’t matter. It’s the gringos’ money, right?
Mr.I “keep a copy of the Koran in my office.” Why am I not surprised. Selling us down a river.
Bush is kind of like an uncle a kid would tell him how he loves the New York Knicks and would love to see them play.
Instead the uncle takes him to Madison Square Garden to see Robin Hood Men in Tights on Ice.
If only we could have a DeMint/Ryan ticket (though I’d prefer Paul Ryan at the top, only because he’s my Congressman),….
‘Tis sad to see it flew out of the House.
On July 23rd, 2008 at 4:51 pm, walterc said:
“I think I need to go on disability and food stamps. Can I use my food stamps to buy ammo?”
In Brooklyn yes. Sure ammo, booze, smokes, gasoline whatever, Hey it’s a free country right?
As much as I am in agreement that the spending and bailouts have to STOP, I can’t help but laugh at Sausage and others laying this solely on the President. Yes he should veto these kinds of bills but the DEMOCRATICALLY controlled congress wrote this! I guess they can’t control their BDS. Silly trolls.
More confirmation we need a conservative party. Liberal democraps, liberal republicans, both trying to “buy” the election with our hard earned money.
I think DeMint’s fight will be brief and futile. But I’m pleased at least one republican has the Malkins to stand up to these types of abominations.
Time for me and my wife to stop working hard, stop following the rules, stop being productive, buy crap I cannot afford and have no intent of paying for, and beg my socialist leaders to entitle me to those items when they come to collect.
To all of our politicians:
I QUIT!
The most appalling thing about this constant bailout palooza we are seeing this year is the very few of our elected representatives willing to stand-up and raise the BS flag on this reckless spending of our money. From what I heard when I came home tonight it almost sounds like Senator DeMint is trying to organize a filibuster. Time will tell if he succeeds or we will get to the good old BOHICA.
That would be my Senator!
What good is a member of “Skulls & Bones” for United States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skull_and_Bones ? … except to sell the borders/treasure/country out to anyone with a peso or a petro-dollar?
Americans think they elect politicians to serve the people. Little do they realize that politicians lie to get elected, after which, they get to squander tax-dollars wherever they get more votes to squander more tax-dollars for more votes. Ofcourse, politians and their families feed off of the same tax-payers, they lied to get to office in the first place, to sell them off again and again…
Stupid American voters!
Here are some lies of US president/commander-in-chief, after 3000 Americans were murdered:
http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/2002/11/13_Laden.html
#51..Bhishma.. Wow, that was really helpful. Got any other links to obscure liberal websites. I never tire of the endless, subtle variations of that old standby “Bush lied, people died”. Play it again, Sam!
myself come Nov. 4th I’ll vote for the Constitution Party candidate and or the most conservative on the ticket.
Folks, we need to actually show who congress works for, “change” won’t happen over nite, but we need to start some place. How about Nov. 4th?