The Okcitykid - A Peaceful Vet

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Inhofe sells out to Wall Street, Oklahoma pays the price

Now that the bailout bill will become law, it’s important to
remember how we got here. Ironically, Jim Inhofe says, ‘Follow the money trail.’

OKLAHOMA CITY — With today’s vote in the U.S. House, the Wall Street bailout bill will now be sent to President Bush for his signature.  It is important that we learn from this sad moment in our nation’s history, and remember how we ended up in this position. 

How did we get here?

In an interview on KTOK radio on Sept. 24, Jim Inhofe said the following: “[Y]ou could sort out the ones that are responsible, which is not hard to do if you follow the money trail…”

The money trail leads directly to Jim Inhofe.

During his 22 years in Washington, Jim Inhofe has taken more than $1.3 million from Wall Street, and in turn, has given Wall Street executives free reign to do whatever they like. 

“Jim Inhofe has taken $1.3 million from the financial industry that he believes doesn’t need oversight,” said Geri Prado, campaign manager to Rice for U.S. Senate. “He has taken no responsibility for this economic crisis, even though it happened on his watch and as a result of his governing philosophy.  Now, he offers no solutions.”

Legislation supported by Jim Inhofe, and championed by Inhofe’s mentor, former U.S. Senator Phil Gramm, gutted oversight of financial institutions and turned a blind eye to Wall Street abuses.

Giving the very wealthy and the big corporate interests whatever they want has real consequences for the whole country.  Whether it’s billions in tax breaks for Big Oil, looting Medicare for insurance and pharmaceutical companies, or eliminating oversight and rules in the mortgage and financial sectors, Jim Inhofe’s economic philosophies have put Oklahoma families in a real bind. 

• Inhofe Received More than $1.3 million from Wall Street.  As of July 9, 2008, the date of Inhofe’s most recent campaign finance filing, Jim Inhofe reported accepting $1,349,052 in contributions from the financial services industry.  [www.opensecrets.org]

• Financial Modernization Act Paved the Way for Wall Street Crash.  Last month, the Washington Post reported that by eroding government oversight of Wall Street, the Financial Modernization Act of 1999 “helped pave the way for companies such as AIG and Lehman Brothers to become behemoths laden with bad loans and investments.” [WaPo, 9/17/08]

• Inhofe Voted in Favor of the Financial Modernization Act.  Jim Inhofe has fought government oversight of Wall Street for 22 years in Washington, including voting in favor of the FMA. [Senate Vote #354, 11/4/99]

• Inhofe called Phil Gramm “an institution,” “the ideas man,” and said, when Gramm’s on the floor, “he takes notes.”  Inhofe also had Phil Gramm campaign for him in his 1994 race for U.S. Senate.  [Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6/15/1998; National Journal's Congress Daily, 9/7/2001; The Oklahoman, 9/8/1994]

If it smells like sh*t; If it looks like sh*t: If it feels like sh*t; If it tastes like sh*t, well then, it must be sh*t.

What I’m trying to say is, Mary Fallin, Jim Inhofe and Andrew Rice all agree, It’s sh*t. Because when Andrew Rice agrees with Inhofe, it must be a fact one cannot deny.

What I’m talking about is the bail out plan, now being called the rescue plan. Just who are we rescuing? THE RICH from taking a loss, actually giving back the money they took from us charging us interest on money they never had to begin with.

Inhofe voted no and this is what Andrew Rice has to say:

http://andrewforoklahoma.com/newsroom_details.asp?id=1233

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Rice: ‘Bill not strong enough’
Rice says “Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008″ does not go far enough in limiting executive compensation for corporations receiving a taxpayer bailout, and does nothing to fix the broken system that led to the crisis in the first place.

OKLAHOMA CITY — State Sen. Andrew Rice, Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, said today that Congress should continue working to strengthen the financial bailout plan to ensure that Wall Street faces consequences for reckless investments and taxpayers reap rewards for bailing them out.

Rice said that, as U.S. Senator, he would only support a plan that includes: Meaningful oversight; a Stake for Taxpayers; and Hard Limits on Executive Compensation. Unfortunately, the final version of the bill that was released to the public Sunday does little to limit executive compensation for firms accepting a taxpayer bailout. In fact, the primary effect may be merely to decrease the amount such companies can deduct from their taxes for executive pay from $1 million to $500,000. Furthermore, the bill does nothing to fix the broken system that allowed abusive and reckless loans, an explosion of risky investments and poorly understood financial instruments, and other excesses.

“This bill gives too much away to the people who created these problems without guaranteeing that it won’t happen again,” Rice said. “Any bill would need to require much tougher consequences for Wall Street in order to earn my support.”

Rice believes that if the Bush Administration and Congress are going to ask American taxpayers to foot a $700 billion bill to bail out financial institutions and the privileged few, the least our leaders in Washington can do is ensure executives are not rewarded for their failures.

“Taxpayer dollars should not be used to line the pockets of the corporate executives who helped create these problems,” Rice said. “A message must be sent to Wall Street that reckless speculation and greed will no longer be rewarded.”

According to Bloomberg News, the top five firms on Wall Street paid out more than $3 billion to top executives in the past five years. All of those executives worked at firms that were involved in selling the mortgage-backed securities at the heart of the current crisis.

Much of this economic crisis is the result of policies supported by Jim Inhofe during his 22 years in Washington. Inhofe repeatedly blocked legislation and measures that would have provided oversight of our financial markets and stopped predatory lenders and institutions from recklessly gambling Oklahoma’s economic future.

An example of one such policy that has been particularly devastating was a 1999 bill, which Jim Inhofe supported, called the Financial Modernization Act. The act repealed the New Deal era law that kept commercial and investment banks separate.

And Mary Fallin:

September 30, 2008

Dear Mr. Harkness:

Thank you for contacting me about ongoing efforts to confront the crisis in our financial system. I share your deep concerns over this crisis. First, rest assured that Congress and the administration are continuing to work to develop legislation that will be both effective and prudent - and I am working with my colleagues in the House to that end. Our goal is to craft a bill that addresses both the immediate crisis and assures stability and responsibility in the out years. It is also absolutely vital that this legislation protects the taxpayers.

After much deliberation, I voted against the initial bill presented to the House on Monday, September 29. I felt - as did 227 other representatives from both parties - that the bill contained serious flaws and that it failed to shield taxpayers from being placed in a position of underwriting a massive bailout of organizations that had acted unwisely and irresponsibly. Our goal should not be a bailout; it needs to focus on a productive workout, plus reforms that will prevent such a crisis from happening again. As your representative, I cannot in good conscience sign a blank check without appropriate safeguards and assurances that those funds will return to the treasury once the crisis has passed.

In the end I agreed with the overwhelming majority of Fifth District residents who contacted me to express their views. They believe that government has a duty to act, but not at the expense of basic principles like common-sense financial discipline and individual responsibility. Our work is not yet done here in Washington, but I am confident we will be able to craft a bill that protects taxpayer interests and preserves the fiscal integrity and continued freedom of our financial markets.

Sincerely,

Mary Fallin
Member of Congress

I’m very disappointed that Obama voted for this bill and I don’t know now if I can now with a good conscience vote for him for president, it is VERY DISAPPOINTING.

Oklahoma City University Distinguished Speakers Series
Wangari Maathai (of Kenya), Recipient of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize
SPEAKING:
7:30 p.m: Wednesday, October 1, 2008
NW 27th Street and Florida Avenue
(Freede Wellness and Activity Center)

“Environment, Democracy and Peace: A Critical Link”

Wangari Muta Maathai, recipient of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize, is recognized worldwide for her work for democracy, human rights, and the environment. The daughter of farmers from Mount Kenya, Maathai is the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctoral degree. She has taught at universities throughout the world and founded Kenya’s Green Belt Movement, through which women’s groups have helped to conserve the environment and improve quality of life by planting more than 30 million trees. At least half a dozen African countries have started similar programs.

Maathai has chaired the National Council of Women of Kenya, served on the U.N. Commission for Global Governance and the Commission on the Future, was elected to Kenya’s Parliament, and was appointed as Assistant Minister for the Environment. She has been named a Top 100 Eco-Hero, one of the 100 Heroines of the World, and one of the 100 people who made an environmental difference. Time magazine named her as one of the 100 most influential people in the world and Forbes named her one of the 100 most powerful women in the world. In 2006, she received the Legion d’Honneur, France’s highest honor. She has received honorary degrees from many institutions, including Yale University and Williams College.

She has written two books: her autobiography, Unbowed, 2006), and The Greenbelt Movement: Sharing the Approach and the Experience (2002).

Prepare yourself for Maathai’s lecture. Don’t miss the screening of Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai, the 2008 documentary film by Lisa Merton and Alan Dater. The film will be shown in Kerr- McGee Auditorium at the Meinders School of Business, NW 27th and McKinley, 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 30.

http://andrewforoklahoma.com/newsroom_details.asp?id=1155

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OKLAHOMA CITY — Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Andrew Rice said Congress needs to focus on Middle Class relief now more than ever after a report Tuesday showing that wholesale prices have risen 9.8 percent from just one year ago. [Source:  U.S. Department of Labor, 8/19/08.]

“This is the largest annual wholesale inflation rate since the early 1980s,” Rice said. “The Bush-Cheney-Inhofe economic plan has put another $50,000 in every millionaire’s pockets this year alone, but working Oklahomans get price spikes in energy, food, health care and tuition.  After 22 years in Washington, Jim Inhofe has lost sight of who he’s supposed to be fighting for.”

Rice said the rapid inflation taking a toll on middle class Oklahomans and small businesses in the state emphasizes a need for change in Washington.

“We need to look at the way Washington has been working and then change who it works for,” Rice said. “The tax cuts should go to the middle class.  They should not go to the millionaires and big oil companies like Jim Inhofe has supported for the last eight years.  That Bush-Inhofe approach clearly is not working for ordinary Oklahoma families.”

The report, released by the U.S. Labor Department, shows energy prices inflated by 3.1 percent in July, 6 percent in June and 4.9 percent in May.

“We know there is a supply and demand problem for energy,” Rice said. “But we have known that for 10 years.  That’s why we need to break our dependence on oil.  Unfortunately, Jim Inhofe, President Bush and Dick Cheney continue to push energy policies based on politics, not solutions.  The refusal or inability of these so-called leaders to stand up to Big Oil and work toward giving America control over its own economic future illustrates the worst of Washington.

“Oklahoma businessmen are already trying to build jobs and grow our economy with alternative energy in Oklahoma.  We have a revolutionary wind-power company in Norman, geo-thermal and solar companies in Oklahoma City and bio-diesel facilities in all corners of the state.  But Inhofe has stood in the way time and again, voting against redirecting tax breaks from big oil companies to these alternative energy entrepreneurs.  As T. Boone Pickens says, when wind, solar and other incentives come down from Washington, Oklahoma’s economy is poised to grow, but we need new leadership to make that happen.”

Rice said the issues are related.

“Since we have not invested in this new energy economy, we are seeing the worst inflation in a generation and a tremendous squeeze on the middle class,” he said.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Rice: ‘It’s time to put people before politics’
Poll shows State Sen. Andrew Rice
within single digits of Jim Inhofe

Press Release:
Monday, Aug. 18, 2008

OKLAHOMA CITY — A poll released Monday by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Rice Campaign shows strong momentum for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Andrew Rice and has him within striking distance of Sen. Jim Inhofe, who has been in Washington for 22 years.

Recent numbers show Rice at 41 to Inhofe’s 50 percent. The State Senator and Democratic Nominee for the U.S. Senate said it is time our representatives in Washington to put people before politics.

“As your U.S. Senator, I will do what is right for Oklahoma and bring people together from all sides and parties to find solutions,” Rice said. “These days, Oklahomans are struggling to pay for gas, worried about having health care and if their children are getting a quality education. It is not a time to play partisan politics. We need new leadership that will help find solutions to our problems.”

This latest poll is one more major sign that Oklahomans are looking for someone who will represent the people of Oklahoma first, not their political party. The Tulsa World’s Sooner Poll showed the race at 52-30 in June and 60-19 in December. This latest poll, conducted Aug. 12-14, shows a sure and steady climb in statewide support for Rice.

Inhofe, who has served in Washington for 22 years and has been in politics for 40, has a job approval rating of 46 percent, according to the latest poll.

“Jim Inhofe has been in Washington a long time. Having received more than $1 million in contributions from big oil, he has lost his way from when Oklahomans first elected him,” said Geri Prado, Rice’s campaign manager. “It’s time for a U.S. Senator who represents his constituents, not his contributors.”