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So where do Missouri’s representatives stand on the bailout as proposed by Bush? How about candidates running to represent Missouri? I haven’t seen any statements yet from any of them on the Bush proposal.
If you see anything before I’ve posted it here, put it in comments and I’ll update.
UPDATE: Finally, someone steps up to the plate.
Judy Baker, Democratic candidate for Congress in the 9th District:
Judy would support a plan that provides for everyday people that have invested their retirement and life savings in Wall Street. She would make stronger regulatory monitoring part of the bill to prevent this from happening again. Judy would not support any bill that includes compensation for corporate executives that are responsible for this meltdown.
From comments, Republican Senator Kit Bond:
U.S. Senator Kit Bond today urged bold action through bipartisan cooperation to address our nation’s financial crisis, while emphasizing that any plan Congress adopts must ensure accountability, oversight, and transparency.
“This is an emergency crisis. We all believe the free market is the best system in the world, but there are times when we must take temporary emergency action to get us through the rare crisis,” said Bond. “In acting we must demand accountability so that we do not reward those who made bad decisions, greater oversight so that taxpayers and the overall economy are protected, and transparency so that people can have trust in our financial system and know that their money is safe.”
and told them he shouldn’t even consider passing a bill without oversight protections and they assured me he wanted oversight. They read me his statement (which is also on his website):
I then called McCaskill’s office and they were worthless. They acted like they didn’t have a clue what I was talking about (did she hire all the old Talent staffers? That’s how they always acted). So I told them that I was a bit surprised that Senator Bond of all people already had a statement out about oversight and Senator McCaskill had nothing.
I actually called Carnahan’s office first and just delivered my message politely. I didn’t think to ask if he had a position yet.
I didn’t get into the other issues – mortgage protection, executive pay etc. To me the biggest issue is the constitutional issue – oversight.
In all cases I called local offices.
I told the nice person on the other end of the phone that $700 billion with no strings attached doesn’t cut it. I also told them that they should make the bank people that created this mess go through the same thing that individuals who file for bankruptcy are required to do. Mandatory credit counseling.
I asked if they were getting a lot of calls. “Yes we are.”
They seemed a little more frazzled. Asked for my zip code. I told them that Senator McCaskill needs to insist on oversight, especially since she has a reputation for doing so. I asked if the were getting a lot of calls on this. “Yes sir.”
and the woman I talked to beat me to the punch. Before I could express any specific complaints, she said that Clay had no official position yet because he hasn’t seen the legislation yet, but that he would not support any law that allowed large bonuses or payouts to CEOs of companies getting the bailouts. She said they’d been getting lots of calls, all of them expressing disapproval of the bill the Republicans want and that she is conveying that message to Congressman Clay.
I told her that the idea of granting $700 billion without oversight or strings is insane, and she said she’d let him know that I thought so.
She sounded like she’s had a busy day.