Google recently redesigned their news page. I can’t stand it and apparently I am not alone. I hope they bring back the old one soon. In the meantime I am looking for alternative website to get my news.
Browsing Posts in Uncategorized
8/7/2009
I love my Palm Pre but why won’t Sprint allow me to uninstall the worthless NFL & NASCAR apps?!?
3/25/2009
Thank you for contacting me regarding the state of our nation’s economy and the economic stimulus package recently approved by Congress. I appreciate knowing your views.
As you may know, H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, was signed into law on February 17, 2009. I voted against this legislation because I am concerned that it will do far too little to stimulate our economy, yet imposes one of the largest price tags any legislation has ever cost the American taxpayers. The stimulus plan is estimated to cost taxpayers $789 billion–or over $1.1 trillion once interest expenses are included, more than any government program in history after adjusting for inflation. Congress and the Administration had an opportunity to craft a bill that would have provided real relief to the American people in a time of great economic uncertainty. But once again, parochial, partisan, and special interests have taken precedence over the interests of the American people.
It is unfortunate that even in these difficult economic times, Members of Congress couldn’t resist the temptation to lard up this bill with billions of dollars in unnecessary spending that will do nothing to truly stimulate the economy. Some of the provisions in this stimulus include $1 billion for “wellness programs,” reported to include smoking cessation programs and STD prevention. It also provides $25 million for the Smithsonian, $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts, and $165 million for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service fish hatcheries and wildlife refuges. While these may be worthwhile projects, they will not help to grow the economy or create new jobs.
This stimulus also includes the protectionist “Buy American” and costly Davis-Bacon requirements. The “Buy America” provisions will prove harmful to both the American worker and the world economy. These anti-trade measures may sound welcome to Americans who are hurting in this economy, but short-sighted protectionist measures risk greatly exacerbating our current economic woes. Additionally, if we are trying to create new jobs, then we should repeal the Davis-Bacon provisions which will inflate the construction costs of the bill by $17 billion. Davis-Bacon imposes heavy regulatory burdens and unnecessary costs on government contractors – not to mention the taxpayers who have to foot the bill for the inflated costs.
Remarkably, this stimulus does little to actually address the core issue that brought us to the point of needing a stimulus bill in the first place, and that is the housing crisis. This final agreement gutted the only significant housing provision in the measure. Many of my colleagues and I had supported a tax credit of $15,000 or 10 percent of the purchase price of a house used as a principal residence. Such a generous tax credit would help the market recover swiftly. But, instead, the only housing provision in the bill that was roundly supported by members of both parties and millions of potential home buyers was substantially changed in the final hours of negotiations, making the provisions almost no different than current law already provides.
Many on the other side of the aisle have accused me and my party of opposing a plan for economic recovery. This could not be further from the truth. In fact, I offered a good-faith alternative to this plan, which received the support of all of my Republican colleagues. Our proposal would have cost about half as much as the enacted measure, but would have provided the American taxpayers with a stimulus bill devoid of wasteful and excessive spending on programs that fail to create jobs. This plan included targeted, fiscally responsible provisions to invest in our nation’s infrastructure, stabilize the housing market, and reduce taxes on individuals and businesses. Additionally, this alternative would have put in place long-term mechanisms to help us control future spending and balance our budget. Unfortunately, my amendment failed on a party-line vote.
America’s strength has always been our ability to come together and address the threats to our great nation. It is so often at those times that our elected officials have put aside parochial interests – regardless of what they were, or what party we were from, and put America first. The problems we face at this time are difficult and we all agree must be addressed, but we have faced greater challenges in the past and prevailed. My belief in the American people – and especially the American worker — is unwavering. Our economy will prosper again soon – of that I have no doubt. Sadly, this legislation does not move us closer to that shared goal.
Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts on this very important matter. Please feel free to contact me on this or any other issue of concern.
Sincerely,
John McCain
United States Senator
JM/dkr
10/14/2008
Dear Mr. Sherrill:
Thank you for contacting me regarding the turmoil in the financial markets and federal government’s response to it. I appreciate hearing from you, and I welcome the chance to respond.
The situation in the credit markets is dire, and that has left us with some tough choices. We have seen a series of financial institutions fail and that brought us to a crisis point where lending all but stopped. Problems spread beyond investment banks and Wall Street trading firms. Retirement funds and even some money market accounts, which are supposed to be safe places for savings, have been threatened. Meanwhile, interest rates for the short term financing that businesses rely on to make payroll rose to levels that they could barely afford. Many have found that they could not get financing at all, and some small businesses in Missouri have shut their doors as a result.
Missourians are right to be angry about this situation. Financial firms packaged risky subprime loans into securities which they said were as safe as government bonds, and investors made reckless bets on these new products. The new products were so complex that, when they started to go bad, no one knew which securities were affected and to what extent. What’s more, some firms had borrowed huge amounts of money to buy these products, which put their creditors on the hook as well. Confidence dropped to zero throughout the whole market. The federal government was asleep at the wheel during all of this. Regulation was inadequate and oversight was nonexistent.
I do not like how we got here, and I do not like what we have to do to get out. It stinks that the American people are now being asked to post $700 billion to clean up this mess. It all stinks to high heaven. But doing nothing would be much worse. While many Missourians have not felt it yet, the credit crisis has already caused some farmers and small businesses to lose the lines of credit they rely on to function day to day. Many city and state governments have been unable to find financing for important projects, such as sewer projects and hospital improvements. With no action, even Missourians with good credit might not be able to get a home loan, a student loan, an auto loan or a loan to expand their small business.
Still, I took no pleasure in voting for the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, but I did so because the credit crisis poses a very real threat to the economic security of all Americans. This bill will attempt to address the credit crisis in a systemic way and get credit flowing again. The bill will allow the Treasury to purchase up to $700 billion in distressed assets, such as mortgage backed securities. The Treasury hopes that this will restore confidence and free up lending by removing some of these distressed assets from the banks’ balance sheets and replacing them with capital. The Treasury also hopes to recover the $700 billion through the sale of these assets and possibly return a profit to the American people.
Like many Americans, I have my doubts about this plan. However, I was pleased that Congress inserted many provisions designed to protect the taxpayer and ensure oversight of the program. The bill places strict reporting and disclosure requirements on the Treasury. It requires the companies that participate in the program to give the government equity shares, allowing the taxpayer to benefit if the company recovers and its stock price goes up. It puts limits on compensation paid to CEO’s at participating companies and there are provisions to work with homeowners to restructure loans and keep them in their homes to the greatest extent possible. While it is far from perfect, it is much better than the blank check the Secretary of the Treasury initially proposed.
I know this plan will not be a silver bullet. We will need to do a lot more to get our economy back on track, including investing in education, job training, and renewable energy. We also need to get to work to establish strong, common sense rules and regulations to undo the damage of the last decade of deregulation that turned our financial markets into the world’s largest casino. As your Senator, I will be pushing hard to address all of these issues.
Thank you again for contacting me. I hope you will continue to reach out in the future with your thoughts and advice.
All best,
Senator Claire McCaskill
10/09/2008
Dear Mr. Sherrill:
Thank you for contacting me regarding the state of our nation’s economy and the dire situation facing some of our largest financial institutions. I appreciate knowing your views.
This unprecedented financial crisis requires strong leadership, prompt response and sensible action in order to restore a sound foundation to financial markets, get our economy on its feet, and eliminate this burden on hardworking middle-class Americans. That is why I commend lawmakers for coming together and passing the economic rescue bill. I’m glad I was able to help bring my colleagues in the House of Representatives to the table.
This package provides for oversight and transparency to ensure that we are good stewards of the taxpayer’s money and I believe that the taxpayer protections that were added have improved the bill. It will generate real relief to tight conditions in credit markets and includes measures that provide accountability on the part of those assisted in exchange for government financial assistance.
This rescue plan is not perfect, and it is an outrage that it’s even necessary. But we must stop the damage to our economy done by corrupt and incompetent practices on Wall Street and in Washington. The action Congress recently took is a tourniquet, not a permanent solution. Our economy is still hurting and further action is needed, and it should not take a crisis to get this Congress to act.
Clearly, we have much work ahead of us and the American public is counting on us to fulfill the jobs that they sent us here to do. We need to work together to institute sound policies that will stimulate and strengthen our economy and promote our nation’s long-term economic growth.
Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts on this very important matter. Please feel free to contact me on this or any other issue of concern.
Sincerely,
John McCain
United States Senator
JM/dkr
