North West Florida Republican

The pressure for a bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac came to a head today. Congress worked extra hard this weekend to come up with a compromise that could be voted on. Many in Congress claimed that there was enough support for it to pass.

Though it might have been somewhat of a surprise for some in Congress, it doesn’t surprise me any. There are many things wrong with having a bailout of institutions that make a living off of people. Not the least of which is the enormous price tag and stumble towards socialism with the government involvement.

Many polls conducted before the bailout showed that many absolutely opposed the bailout at all. By the end of the day today though, polls were saying that most would be fine with a bailout but not the terms of the current legislation.

In a recent USA Today/Gallup, just 22 percent of the sample said they wanted Congress to “pass a plan similar to what the Bush Administration has proposed” while 56 percent wanted Congress to pass something “different” (although what that different plan would be was not made clear) and 11 percent wanted Congress to take no action at all. – Washington Post

So the vote went to the floor today and was defeated. Even after many controversial provisions that gave money to Democrat supporters were removed.

Many in the local area voiced their opinions to Congressman Miller and probably Congressman Boyd as well. There was an overwhelming disapproval from voters in this area. Congressman Miller obviously got the idea of what his constituents in this area wanted him to do. He voted against the proposal.

We cannot sacrifice the long-term freedom of this country for short-term financial gain. For these reasons, I voted ‘No’ on this legislation.

Congressman Boyd, on the other hand, voted in favor of the Bailout. In line with his political party. Which is surprising with his stance as a “fiscal conservative”.

According to Congressman Boyd’s website,

This massive amount of borrowing is not acceptable to me. We cannot continue to mortgage our children’s economic future without undermining economic growth and driving up interest rates.

Yet that is exactly what he is advocating by voting the party line.

I would look up Congressman Boyd’s press releases on his House website but it seems to be down at the moment. I’ll see what I can find out a bit later as to why he decided to vote for the legislation.

The best thing that could happen is that this “bailout” never happens. Sure, it would be traumatic in the short term but in the long term it would work out better.

Congressman Miller understands this.

An overwhelming majority of constituents have called, emailed, and written into my office stating their outright opposition to any sort of bailout for corporations that were reckless and irresponsible with their management. Moreover, responsible people who live within their means should not be bearing the burden of bailing out corporations. The American taxpayer deserves better. We must not sacrifice long term freedom for short term financial gain.

Filed under: Florida Politics, National Politics