Dear John:
Thank you for contacting me and providing me with your opinion on the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act. I appreciate having the benefits of your thoughts on this difficult issue for American taxpayers and the American economy. Over the last few days, I have received a great deal of feedback from my constituents, I would like to take this opportunity to discuss the problem underlying this emergency and what is happening in Washington to address it.

How We Got Here, and the Stakes Involved

The root cause of today's crisis is simple: the unchecked proliferation of losses from "N.I.N.J.A." (No Income, No Job or Assets) loans throughout our financial system. After infecting the financial services sector, this problem spread to the commercial credit markets that are used by businesses of all sizes and across all sectors - and now threatens to hit Main Street as hard as it has already hit Wall Street.
While the effects of this freeze in the commercial credit markets may seem like they could be contained to the financial services sector, we learned last week that a number of large corporations that have nothing to do with financial services have completely stopped extending lines of credit to franchisees - which means countless small business owners will not have access to the credit they need to pay employees and purchase inventories.
When this fact is coupled with testimony from economists that a failure to address this crisis may cause a wholesale failure of the banking system - severely affecting the lives of everyday Americans - it is clear that the ill effects of this bad decision-making by Wall Street will not be borne only by those bad actors that caused it, but by every American.

The Administration Proposal and the "Paulson/Pelosi Plan": From Bad to Worse

The Administration's response to this crisis came in the form of a three-page proposal from Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson asking Congress for unlimited authority over $700 billion to buy this bad debt at taxpayer expense. Unsurprisingly, this proposal was met by stiff resistance - especially by me and my Republican colleagues in the House of Representatives who believe in smaller government and limiting taxpayer exposure.
When it became clear that this proposal had no support in Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank then negotiated a number of changes with the Administration intended to shore up liberal support for the measure - including earmarks for trial lawyers and community organizers like ACORN - that went even further away from my goal of protecting the taxpayer.

The House Republican Revolt

In response, House Republicans offered their own counter-proposal to this constantly-evolving compromise between the Administration and Democrat Leadership. The conservative Republican proposal - which I have cosponsored - would insure mortgage-backed securities through the payment of insurance premiums instead of providing taxpayer-funded purchases of frozen mortgage assets as the current proposal would do.
This counter-proposal also includes measures to reform accounting practices such as "mark-to-market" that have unnecessarily fueled this crisis, increase transparency and prevent Wall Street Executives from benefiting from taxpayer funding, as well as measures that would increase private capital involvement in the recovery and reduce taxpayer exposure while addressing the underlying issues that created the crisis.

Republican Victories for Main Street

A number of the provisions from this counter-proposal were incorporated in the final version. These provisions enforced the Republican position of saying "no" to a blank check to the Treasury Department and special interest and demanding more accountability for Americans. In having these measures included, House Republicans achieved a number of significant victories for Main Street, including provisions to:
oEnsure that after five years, if the government has a net loss as a result of the purchase program, the President must submit a proposal to recoup those losses from the entities that benefited from this program.
oProvide for taxpayer ownership in companies receiving assistance, so that taxpayers have an opportunity to profit from any gains.
oAllow community banks to take capital losses on Government Sponsored Entity (GSE) assets against ordinary income, providing much needed relief for local banks.
oAuthorize government agencies that hold mortgages to do work-outs with troubled borrowers - provided such workouts do not harm the interests of taxpayers.

Republicans Stand Up for American Taxpayers

Some other accomplishments achieved by House Republicans through these negotiations include standing up for American taxpayers, including provisions to:
oCreate an insurance guarantee program fully paid for by participating companies at no cost to the taxpayer.
oShrinks the upfront Treasury authority to $350 billion. The remaining $350 billion is subject to future Congressional approval.
oEstablish a bipartisan Congressional Oversight Panel and a Special Inspector General to monitor the program.
Republicans Eliminate Special Interest Provisions
And some of the House Republicans' most important achievements are reflected by what is no longer included in this legislation, including terrible Democrat-proposed provisions to:
oProvide unions and other activist groups with proxy access to corporate boards.
oDivert funds from the program into a housing fund to support left-wing activist groups like ACORN.
oAllow federal judges to arbitrarily adjust mortgages, creating a bonanza for trial lawyers.
oRequire the government to sell homes it has acquired as a result of foreclosures to state and local governments at a discount.

The House Proposal: The Best Available Option

While the final product does not include all of the Republican counter-proposals, nor all of the reforms that I or my free-market colleagues would like, it represents a huge improvement over both the Administration's original blueprint and the subsequent Paulson-Pelosi plan.
Because of my and other House Republicans' insistence, the Emergency Economic Rescue plan the Congress voted on Monday, September 29, went much further to protect taxpayers and no longer contains the special interest earmarks to benefit labor unions, trial lawyers or community organizers. The overall size of the plan was reduced by half and ensures that Wall Street must fund this plan - not Main Street or American taxpayers.
Like every other member of this House, I did not agree with every provision included in this legislation. However, the House was not given the opportunity to debate an alternate measure.
The choice put before this House was as stark as it was serious: vote for a bill that has been much improved by the efforts of House Republicans, or oppose it and allow Democrats to pass a subsequent bill that looks more like the Paulson/Pelosi Plan and that protects taxpayers far less, spends far more, and is far worse for taxpayers and our country. As a result, I reluctantly supported its passage.

Where America Goes From Here ...

The total effects to the entire American economy are not yet known, but in coming days it appears likely that Congress will again take up some yet-undefined measure to deal with this emergency. In doing so, the Democrat Leadership in the House has two choices - they can either include negative, special-interest provisions to the bill to appeal to their liberal base, or they can recognize the objections of Republicans and the American people by adding provisions that deal with the root of the problem, provide help to Main Street and minimize risk to the taxpayer.

Three proposals I support that could be added to substantially improve the bill are:

oIncreasing Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Insurance limits - increasing the federal insurance guarantee on accounts from $100,000 to $250,000 would protect individuals' hard-earned savings, help small businesses to make payrolls and buy inventory and provide a much-needed boost of confidence in the overall banking system.
oEnding "N.I.N.J.A." loans - half of the root problem underlying this crisis are bad loans that were made despite the fact that those taking out the loans had an inability to repay them. Lending standards need to be improved to ensure that these kinds of toxic loans are no longer made to people who simply cannot repay them.
oSuspending "mark-to-market" accounting rules - the other half of the problem has been created by forcing companies to value assets based on their immediate price, instead of their rational value in a functional marketplace. Under current rules, declining housing prices haven't just reduced the value of defaulting mortgages - they have reduced the value of all mortgages because the housing collateral protecting them is worth less. And as the companies in the worst shape sold off their assets, they established new, artificially-low valuations of these assets for everyone - setting off an unintentional and entirely avoidable chain reaction. I have urged the SEC to take immediate action to correct this problem and to prevent arbitrary values from being assigned to these assets unless there are actual losses on them.
Please be assured that I will continue my previous efforts to protect the taxpayer and prevent any legislation from passing that puts special interests ahead of the best interests of our economy. If you have any other feedback on this or other legislation that you would like to share, please contact my Chief of Staff Guy Harrison or Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Saltzman at 202.225.2231.

Sincerly,

Pete Sessions
Member of Congress

 

Dear Senators Hutchison and Cornyn,
From what I'm hearing this stupid bailout bill keeps getting worse and worse.  It's gone from 3 pages where Hank Paulson becomes the king of all the money, to now over 400 pages full of earmarks, pork and blatant vote buying.  I don't want anything from my government except to be left alone and allowed to pursue my legitimate interests without interference.  And let me keep more of my own money instead of stealing it to give to others who are irresponsible with their own.  This is the point in our history we will look back on that the USA became the USSA, the United Socialist States of America.  If I'm lucky, Texas will be the last free state standing.

Dear Senators Cornyn and Hutchison,
Okay, so we're going to bail out Wall Street for being stupid.  When are the politicians who are responsible for this mess going to face retribution?  The law should be frog-marching a whole bunch of Senators and Congressmen down the Capitol Mall to the hoosegow.  Your "colleague" Senator Chris Dodd who's hands are obviously filthy with Fannie and Freddie money and sweetheart mortgage money, should be the first to go.
How long are we going to kick this can down the road?  I have a suspicion that my grandchildren, who are now toddlers, will be facing this exact same situation, only worse, before they are fully grown.  This country and Wall Street should take its medicine.  The failures need to fail and the politicians that are dirty need to be exposed.  I'm sick and tired of my government holding me up at gunpoint for cash and giving it to people who I don't want to have it.  Not because I don't like people, but because it's my money, not theirs.  It's time to grease the taxpayer's skids, not the big-time lobbyists.
I am watching.  Vote NO to 700 billion dollars to fat cat, stupid Wall Street investment bankers.

Dear Congressman Sessions,
Now that the damned bailout vote is over and lost.  I hope you will reconsider your "aye" vote on any bailout of Wall Street at the expense of the American People.  My country has been going Socialist for years now, the government has incrementally been usurping the powers and rights of the people.  This is just way too much, and too soon.  I hope that we can turn back this tide in my lifetime.  But if not,  Give me Liberty, or Give me Death!

If ever there was a proper use of the metaphor, this is it.

"that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Abraham Lincoln could not have envisioned such a day as this.

Dear Congressman Sessions,
Whatever is going on behind closed doors up there in Washington, D.C., whatever deal is being cooked up by the Democrat leadership and the House Republicans, I AM AGAINST IT!!!  Our forefathers thought King George was a tyrant and a despot.  This Congress and our "democratic/republic" form of government is 1,000 times worse.  This is taxation WITH representation, but WITHOUT consent of the governed.  This country is going to HELL.  I hope you will vote against this tyranny and usurpation of power from the people.

Dear Congressman Sessions,
I hope that you will be voting against the trillion dollar bailout for Wall Street.  As a citizen and a taxpayer, I do not believe that the Constitution allows this kind of behavior in elected officials.  I am so angry!  Where are the Congressional hearings to find out who is responsible?   Oh, I know, there won't be any because there are too many Congressmen with their hands in the cookie jar.  HELL!  The American Taxpayer takes it in the shorts AGAIN!
Mr. Sessions, I am asking you to start naming names.  I want the name of every member of congress who is in on this deal from the beginning to become public record.  I want their names read aloud on the floor of the House and Senate and printed in the papers and on the internet along with their culpability.  This whole thing stinks and the smell originates in the Legislative and Executive Branches of  the Government.  It's time to re-institute firing squads.

I heard this parody song on the radio and found it on YouTube.  It is an hilarious commentary on this week's economic events.
Click the link, and enjoy.  Economic Meltdown Song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy2_pLppuCw

September 12, 2008; seven years and a day since the attacks on our soil by Islamic fascists.  People who hate us, hate our way of life, our freedom, our success, our Constitution, our history, our faith, our exceptionalism.  There has never, in the history of the world, existed a greater country, exuding more goodness and compassion on more people in more countries, than the United States of America.  And they hate us.

Wherever there is a natural or man-made disaster in the world, the USA is first to give aid and deliver comfort to our fellow man, even to those whose interests are contrary to ours.  Where does this come from?  I think Americans have a sense of our history and origins; we have a sense of the faith that is foundational to that history.  Though we are not all believers, certainly, this sense of our national identity, like a Spirit, hovers over this country, and has a profound effect on most of its citizens.  Most of its citizens, but not all.  

There are some of my fellow citizens who are, seemingly, unaffected by the Spirit of this country.  They do not believe in the exceptionalism of America.  They do not believe, as I do, that God has put his hand on this country to use it for good in this time in history.  They do believe in some twisted "moral equivalency" between us (U.S.) and those who attacked us on 9/11.  In their hearts, they somehow believe that the Islamofascists have a valid point.  They have worked tirelessly since that day to place the blame on us, saying "we did this to ourselves", and seek to give heretofore unknown and undeserved rights and privileges to those who seek to harm us.  They have discounted the threat still posed in the world by the evil ideology of the Islamofascists and wish to treat it as a law enforcement issue and a crime to be prosecuted, rather than a war that has been declared on us.  

They are known as Liberals, Progressives, Socialists, the Left and .  .  . Democrats.  Their organizations include the ACLU, the NEA, NOW, Planned Parenthood, DNC, CAIR and many more.  They hate the Spirit of America.  In seeming concert with the Islamofascists, they declare their hatred for the traditions and institutions that have defined our goodness.  Very often you cannot distinguish between the words spoken by the Left and those spoken by Osama Bin Laden.   I think you can discern which side the Left is on when you hear whose candidates are endorsed by Hamas and Hezbollah.   I think it is obvious, their positions are the same.  They want to destroy America, and turn it into something of their own design.  They want to kill the Spirit of America.

As it was in the days of the Revolution, we must fight on against all odds.  We must defend against the evil in the world.  It was Edmund Burke, the great English statesman who said, "All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing."

Reports from Texas delegates to the platform committee, Cathie Adams (Eagle Forum) and Kelly Shackelford (Free Market Foundation), are that the Republican Platform is as conservative as ever.  I haven't had time to go through it yet, but scanned it, and, by overview, it has a good vibe.  I heard Shackleford interviewed on Mark Davis' Show at the convention and he was saying that the McCain campaign was very encouraging about keeping it conservative.  Granted, it's only a platform and not the Ten Commandments.  Here's the link.

http://www.gopplatform2008.com/2008Platform.pdf

If you are are a real conservative, like I am, this has been a difficult election season.  (When I say "real conservative", I mean socially and fiscally, with libertarian views on limited government.)  We had been looking for a real conservative to represent us, but all of the candidates had some flaw, some disqualification, that would not allow the coalescing of opinion in their favor.  I was greatly disappointed last winter, to know that somehow, John McCain had been made the Republican nominee.  He was the one conservatives like me hated most.  He was the one that kept bucking the conservative agenda, and working with liberals across the aisle and idiots with an "R" by their name to thwart common sense legislation, or pass idiotic and unconstitutional laws, and that was when Republicans had the advantage of a majority. 

I have read many blog posts of people "like me" who, to this day, are refusing to even consider voting for John McCain.  I understand and sympathize with all of these people.  My anger against John McCain was at times greater than my loathing of liberal Democrats and their socialist utopian drivel.  John McCain should have been on my side, but he was often the greatest weapon in the Democrat arsenal.  I hated him because, to me, he was a traitor. 

Here is a reality check. 

Either John McCain or Barack Obama will be the President of the United States next January 20.  We now know, despite the attempts of the drive-by media, what kind of person Barack Obama is.  We know, despite his appearance as a mild mannered "community organizer", that he is a communist/socialist sympathizer, with close relationships with people like Bill Ayers, Bernadine Dhorn, (Weathermen terrorists), Jeremiah Wright, and Father Pfleger (pastors and preachers of Black Liberation Theology), Tony Rezko (Chicago slum lord, political patron and convicted slimeball).  We know he is a product of the corrupt Chicago Democrat political machine.  We know he plays hardball politics and is trying to hide (with the help of the drive-bys) his true, bad, corrupt self.  I believe that if he were to gain the presidency, with a Democrat controlled congress, our freedoms, our free speech rights, and talk radio, could be curtailed or silenced.  They could not stand the opposition bringing their agenda to light.  And can you imagine the likes of Ayers and Wright in the president's cabinet and, of course, a pardon for Rezko.  I fear a Barack Obama presidency.

John McCain, despite his record of poking conservatives in the eyes, has at least some of my ideals.  He will be a strong advocate of a strong military and will continue the war we must win.  He will stand up to the likes of Ahmadinijad who threaten us and the world. He is pro-life, and he came out strong on that point at the Saddleback Church forum.  I believe he will push to build nuclear power plants and drill for more domestic oil, an "all of the above" approach to the domestic energy problems.  I believe it is more likely that John McCain will appoint constructionist judges to the Federal Courts.  Now, I keep in mind that this is John McCain I'm talking about, and that makes me uncertain about eventualities.

Only since Saddleback has my opinion of John McCain become slightly favorable.  Now, with his pick of Sarah Palin as his VP, I have actually experienced some positive excitement about voting for the top of the ticket.  I believe that Governor Palin is a real conservative and a tough, smart woman.  A heartbeat away from the presidency?  I'm very OK with that.  John McCain has made a good choice.

If you look at places in this country that have entrenched Democrat elected leadership, like Detroit and the entire state of Michigan, it is evident that we cannot afford to elect the likes of Barack Obama.  His "solutions" involve taxing "the rich" more to pay for giveaways to "the poor".  I will likely be among "the poor", because my "rich" boss, taxed at a higher rate, may not be able to afford to keep me as an employee, and I will lose my job.  The whole country would likely face a depression just as Michigan has due to higher taxes.

I will vote for the McCain/Palin ticket for President.  I will talk to my friends and neighbors and coworkers and try to convince them to do the same.  I am looking to the future.  Like our friend, Gunny, posted last Friday: How about Palin/Jindal '12, Palin/Jindal '16, Jindal/? '20?
That sounds like a pretty good future to me.

TNC, this whole election season has been one gigantic bummer for true conservatives.  I started last summer wondering who might be our champion, who might be the one to carry our banner, and our issues forward.  I looked at the field at that time, and I saw only two who were true: Duncan Hunter and Tom Tancredo.  They were the only ones who were right on the issues, but they were not getting any traction among the people, they were not getting any support from the R Party. I don't know, but it looked as if the field was striped badly for us back then. 

I live in Texas, and when it came time to vote in my primary, the nomination had been sewn up by McCain, handed to us by Northeastern liberals and an open primary in New Hampshire.  I did not get a choice, although I did vote for Hunter in the primary. (Lot of good that did.) I ranted and raved for some time while the Dems fought it out, that I would NEVER vote for John McCain.

Right now, its either McCain/Palin or Obama/Biden.  Lesser of two evils?  Well, I guess so.
 
My point is, I don't know what the future holds for this country politically.  I think, right now, I'd rather get a half a loaf instead of a piece of crust and no jam.  I don't think anyone can predict with certainty how good or bad a McCain presidency will be. I DO think we know how disastrous an Obama presidency will be.

If we are throwing it all down a rathole no matter who wins, then so be it, (again, we just don't know).  Conservatism will survive in some form, whether we have to go underground, survive in the shadows, or whether we gain strength somehow, put up another Reagan in the future and win the day again. IMHO.

As far as I'm concerned, John McCain has not been conservative ENOUGH for me.  He has ruined many of the best chances to advance a conservative agenda in this country.  And I have at times expressed my extreme exasperation with him.

But, the hard, cold reality is that either Barack Obama or John McCain will be the next POTUS.  That is a fact! 

Bob Barr, God love him, does not have a chance in hell of garnering a plurality of the electorate in this election, nor would there be an electoral college that would put him in office. 

Right now, I don't give a d*** what percent conservative John McCain is and I'm not gonna go look anything up either.  When you put John McCain up side to side with Barack Obama, John McCain looks a whole lot like Ronald Reagan by comparison.  Now keep in mind, I'm comparing him to B.O., not Ronald Reagan.  When I compare John McCain to Reagan, I get a little queasy.

What I am saying is that lately, John McCain has said and done some things that have eased my mind about him a bit.  I am not looking through rose-colored specs here, I know he and I are looking through opposite ends of the telescope on a lot of issues.  But, after seeing the Obamathon last week, and what they've got in store for us, I don't want my country to got to hell just yet. And I think John McCain is the best chance we've got for it.  With Obama, we're gonna get flushed down the Socialist crapper for sure.

Saddleback and Sarah Palin.  I'm won.  I am officially in the John McCain for President camp.  I am going to knock on doors and make phone calls.  I'm gonna get a yard sign.  I might even write a check, who knows.  John, you're such a tease.  I didn't know you had it in you.