Barney Frank, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said this today, after the $700 billion bailout failed on the House floor:
We also have — as the leader will tell you, who’s been working with them — don’t believe they had the votes, and I believe they’re covering up the embarrassment of not having the votes. But think about this. Somebody hurt my feelings, so I will punish the country. That’s hardly plausible. And there are 12 Republican members who were ready to stand up for the economic interest of America, but not if anybody insulted them.
I’ll make an offer. Give me those 12 people’s names and I will go talk uncharacteristically nicely to them and tell them what wonderful people they are and maybe they’ll now think about the country.
Representative Frank, who in 2004, didn’t believe there was anything wrong with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, would do well to start combing through the list of 95 Democrats who also voted against the “crap sandwich” bailout bill. Some of those Democrats are prominent in the party, like Lynne Woolsey, John Salazar and Barbara Lee. There are also at least four Democrat committee chairs and five Democrat sub-committee chairs on the list. Oh! There’s also the Obama National Campaign Co-Chair on the list in the “No” column.
John Conyers, Chairman, Judiciary voted no.
Collin Peterson, Chairman, Agriculture Committee, voted no.
Bob Filner, Chairman, Veterans’ Affairs Chair, voted no.
Bennie Thompson, Chairman, Homeland Security, voted no.
Barney Frank could look in his own committee, the House Appropriations Committee, and he’d see Jose Serrano, Chairman, Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government. He voted against the bailout. So did:
Gene Green, Chairman, Subcommittee on Environment & Hazardous Materials
Pete Stark, Chairman of the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee
Peter DeFazio, Chair of the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit
The Obama National Campaign Co-chair? Jesse Jackson Jr., of Illinois. He voted against the bill. Guess he didn’t hear Senator Obama’s position on the bill. Oh wait, who did? I didn’t see the Senator take a stance on the bill one way or the other till it failed.
I just listed 12 prominent Democrat Representatives who could have toed their party line and voted on this bill. If it was such a dire emergency that we pass this, why didn’t the Congressional leadership pull in their own party members? Why didn’t one of Barney Franks subcommittee chairmen vote the party line? I’m sorry, refuse to believe this is a real emergency when the leadership of the Congress can’t act like it’s one. I’m not buying the line of crap.
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