Political Notebook: Bailout 2.0 proved worse than the original, Graves says
by Ken Newton, Alyson E. Raletz
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
The U.S. House waited until the second time around to pass a banking bailout package. Congressman Sam Graves says the measure hardly improved with age.
“The second version was actually a lot worse than the first version,” the lawmaker said in St. Joseph Tuesday.
Mr. Graves, speaking at the Downtown Rotary Club, said he hoped the bailout package would succeed but he saw nothing in it to prompt a “yes” vote. The Republican lawmaker voted against it twice.
The representative said the legislation signed into law by President Bush carries a heavy price tag with no guarantee of it fixing the nation’s money problems.
“The bill went overnight from three pages long to 400 pages long,” he said. “They bought off a lot of votes.”
Under the plan, the Treasury Department would buy bad loans, weigh the assets and try to sell them. Taxpayers might come out to the good, Mr. Graves said, or they might suffer losses.
“Nobody knows for sure if this thing’s going to work,” the Northwest Missouri legislator said. “ I do know this. We’re going to be paying for this package for the next 25 to 30 years.”
Mr. Graves is seeking his fifth term in the House. Democrat Kay Barnes and Libertarian Dave Browning are his opponents.
Educators back
Sheehan
Three statewide education groups have endorsed Democrat Mark Sheehan in a House of Representatives race.
Mr. Sheehan, of St. Joseph, is challenging Rep. Dr. Rob Schaaf, R-St. Joseph, for the 28th House District seat.
The Missouri State Teachers Association, the Missouri National Education Association and the Missouri School Administrators political action committee all are backing Mr. Sheehan, he announced Sunday.
Business backing
National and state business groups are backing two area Republican incumbents in their bids for re-election to the statehouse.
The National Federation of Independent Business is supporting Dr. Schaaf.
The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry endorsed Rep. Jim Guest, R-King City, in the 5th House District race. He faces Democratic challenger Mike Waltemath, a King City farmer.
Friends in farming
Candidates in the Missouri 6th District congressional race can count farmers among their friends.
On Monday, the Graves and Barnes campaigns released endorsements from agriculture-related groups.
Ms. Barnes, a former Kansas City mayor who has roots in Northwest Missouri, got the endorsement of the National Farmers Union PAC. Mr. Graves, a farmer from Atchison County, got the endorsement of the Missouri Farm Bureau and the Missouri Corn Growers Association.
Russ Kremer, the Missouri Farmers Union president, praised Ms. Barnes as an “independent voice” who would advocate for family farms.
“Kay Barnes has demonstrated her ability to create regional solutions for economic development (and) to work across party lines,” he said.
Ms. Barnes, who said she would ask for a seat on the Agriculture Committee if elected, criticized Mr. Graves for his votes against production tax credits, which she said costs American jobs.
“I will support them,” she said of the tax credits. “I won’t be somebody that will be collaborating with big oil companies.”
Mr. Graves is the only Missourian serving on the Agriculture Committee.
“He supported the Farm Bill and is a strong proponent of renewable fuels, expanding agricultural markets and cutting burdensome regulations for farmers,” said Vern Hart, Farm Bureau chairman of the regional FARM-PAC.
Ken Newton can be reached at kenn@npgco.com. Alyson Raletz can be reached at alysonraletz@npgco.com.
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kay barnes on the ag committee? Now there's a laugh.
Posted by apmastrangelo on October 8, 2008 at 10:36 a.m. (Suggest removal)Rep. Graves fails to discuss what he would propose in place of the legislation he is unwilling to support.
Posted by joetowner on October 8, 2008 at 11:18 a.m. (Suggest removal)It is easy to simply not vote for this bill because of its costs and yes to a degree its risks. What every law maker not voting for it conveniently leaves out is the scenario of economic conditions had nothing been done with the result of a total shutdown of the credit market.
If Mr. Graves can provide the answers to that question along with a better solution I might be more inclined to listen.
why dont you call and ask him?
Posted by apmastrangelo on October 8, 2008 at 1:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)Not my job! As an elected official it is his responsibility to not only explain his position but also provide viable alternatives. If he or anyone holding office does not grasp this concept, best we find individuals that do.
Posted by wildwest on October 9, 2008 at 3:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)Too many politicians have had a free pass from their constituents because they insulate themselves on the issues faced by doing nothing more than offering criticism.
The people are starting to understand that while it is important to point out the problems, they are not solved until solutions are brought forward.
Several days ago I commented on this topic stating everyone in political office should be fired, this bill should have never been passed, and the markets should work it out themselves. That got some people really wound up, saying I do not know what I am talking about and that I probably voted for some of them now in office. Well to answer the first, to me it looks like the present situation is validating my opinion. To answer the second, yes I did vote for some of them, I am disappointed in all of them and I want them all fired!!!!! Those I voted for did not do what I voted them in for, and no politician works for the public interest, they are working for agendas, themselves and specific groups. The bailout accomplished nothing, it put the country $700 billion more in debt, and the markets are doing exactly what they should be doing, working themselves out. I find it interesting that the majority of the public did not want this passed from the very beginning, so they made a few changes to get passed the second time, going against the public majority. In my view, their decision validates what they believe, they are smarter than the American public and the American public does not matter to them.
Posted by 10377586 on October 9, 2008 at 7:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)The public should be fighting much harder to challenge all of these people and get them out of office.
I agree with apmast....., If he didn't like this deal then what was his proposal????? Nothing, just exactly what the state and federal legislators have done for the past four years, sit on their hands and line their pockets with campaign contributions. I'm disappointed with a Graves ad talking about TIF projects and making it sound like Ms. Barnes did them all by herself. NOT TRUE. Every single tax district has a vote in those matters and can de-rail them if they feel it's not in their best interest to continue. One person, Mayor, City Council Person, etc. can not do it alone. I feel it's quite misleading. The fed and the state have done nothing but give millions upon millions of our dollars to their buddies that give them the big campaign contributions and now,"my friends", it's time for a change. I will probably be voting for some democratic cantidates for the first time in my life. I'm not certain of that yet but I don't see the the people I've been voting for doing much to help us.
Posted by joetowner on October 9, 2008 at 7:50 a.m. (Suggest removal)wildwest, you probably only could have voted for Bond, McCaskill and Graves. While Bond and McCaskill did vote for this terrible bill, Graves did not. So you are saying you are disappointed in all of them, when in reality it should probably only be 2.
I was at this Rotary luncheon where the Congressman spoke about his bill, and he did offer some proposals of what he wanted, like oversight on the Treasury department in dealing with this mess as well as a few others. Some of the bankers in attendance asked some very good questions and the Congressman provided some very solid answers. It's too bad the news press didn't elaborate on some of this, but I believe the Congressman is talking about what he would have supported. He does have a statement on the bill on his website:
www.house.gov/graves
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