KBMT's Very Own Kevin and Tracy with Weekly DC Updates from Congressman Poe Congressman Poe meets bi-weekly with TV Personalities Sibila Vargas and Jose Grinan

October 3, 2008
Poe Votes Against Bail-Out Bill; Passes House 263-171
Washington - Dear Friends, Today, the House passed the Financial Stabilization Package, 263-171. I voted against the Wall Street Bail-Out because it doesn’t do anything of the sort. The Senate bill that was before the House today was four times longer than the bill the House rejected earlier this week and loaded with squeaky pork. Somehow in the “so-called” effort to improve this bill and to help stabilize our financial markets, the Senate sent us a bill far worse than the first. The bill that is supposed to save us all is packed with pork and includes a $49 billion tax increase. What does pork have to do with the financial industry? Nothing. Let me point out a few: new tax earmarks for film and TV production; litigants in the Exxon Valdez incident; and tax exemptions for wooden arrows used by school children. There are more tax earmarks: NASCAR racing tracks; Indian tribes; wool research; and get this one, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rican rum. I am not making this up. There are more: tax breaks for the railroads and the mining industry. None of these solve our banking and financial crisis. This is an abuse by lawmakers and a waste of American tax dollars. As much as I would like to support legislation to stabilize our financial sector and restore confidence in our markets, I cannot support this bill. The House needs to stay in session and design a bill to deal with the financial situation, making sure that those responsible are held accountable. The American taxpayers should not be forced to go broke paying for this “so-called” financial rescue. The federal government has no business socializing the losses of Wall Street and saddling the American people with $49 billion in taxes and a barrel of pork.
- Full Release -

October 2, 2008
DON'T BREAK THE AMERICAN TAXPAYER
Mr. Speaker, the bill to bail out the elite financial industry in New York that caused this mess failed this House, but our Senate colleagues are sending us a new bill, four times longer than the 100-page bill rejected by us. The bill to stabilize the financial industry is now packed with squeaky pork. One would ask, what does pork have to do with the financial industry? Well, nothing of course. But the Senate bill with the piglets will help these entities: new tax earmarks for film and TV production; litigants in the Exxon Valdez incident; wooden arrows used by school children. - Full Release -

September 28, 2008
The Plan For Financial Salvation
Mr. Speaker, they say it’s going to be Y2K all over again. Remember all the media hype about the date January 1, 2000 – that the worldwide computer systems would fail, that financial records and transactions would be lost and go haywire and that the world would be gloom and doom and despair? This is the same politics of fear we are hearing from the fat cat financial bullies from Wall Street. They say Congress must save them from their financial sins before the stock markets open tomorrow or the country will fail into the abyss. So Congress is working on a plan in the back rooms of this Capitol. There are no public congressional hearings, no witnesses before committees. This Sunday, the plan for financial salvation to save us all is being discussed by only a few in the shadows of this great hall. - Full Release -

September 25, 2008
FINANCIAL GUN TO THE HEAD OF AMERICA
Mr. Speaker because Wall Street has made bad judgment calls the American tax payer is being forced to bail them out at 700,000,000,000. 700 billion, what does that mean? That means every man, woman, child and illegal in the United States will have to fork over $2000 a piece to bail out the money grabber barons on Wall Street. And that’s just wrong. Why is it, Mr. Speaker the bigger the business, the more the Federal Government thinks it should swoop in to save these incompetent business people? Small businesses – mom and pop stores don’t get this break. When they make bad financial decisions, they go out of business. But the rich and famous Wall Street New York City fat cats expect “Joe Six Pack” to buck it up and pay for all this nonsense. Reward people for being irresponsible and expect responsible people to pay for the sins of the financial industry? I don’t think so. Putting a financial gun to the head of each American is not the answer. The government has no authority to force Americans to ante up a $700 billion ransom to save the hides of the rich robber barons on Wall Street. And that’s just the way it is. - Full Release -

September 25, 2008
A SHOOT FROM THE HIP DECISION?
Madam Speaker, they tell us that we are facing financial Armageddon. They tell us we must buy our way out of this. They tell us we must act now or the country will fall into the abyss. The plan? 700 billion dollars will be given to the very people who are responsible for this mess: Wall Street money grabbers. And to top it off, the idea for this bailout is from the same financial schemers who themselves are responsible for this chaos. We, in Congress, have to resolve three issues. What is the problem? What caused the problem? And what is the solution? We are still debating what the problem is and what caused it. Until we figure that out, we should not come up with a shoot-from-the-hip, quick draw decision on what to do. We have spent more time in congressional hearings on steroids in baseball than we have in discussing this $700 billion dollar rip off of the American people. Before we strong-arm the American citizens into paying for the sins of the New York City financial market, we need do more investigation. Then we can come up with the right thing to do, and make sound judgments – sound judgments that the so-called experts from Wall Street don’t make. And that’s just the way it is. - Full Release -

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