Los Angeles
CHANGE MY LOCATION
Brandon De Hoyos
Houston Politics ExaminerFor more than six years, Brandon De Hoyos has asked tough questions and provided fair coverage of Texas politics as a journalist, telling stories from diverse Houston to the dusty roads of San Angelo. De Hoyos can be reached at brandonexaminer@gmail.com
Houston Examiners
Alan Burge
Houston Texans Examiner
Most Recent Post
Chronicle piece on Dunta Robinson ignores key facts about Texans options
Houston Texans Examiner
Most Recent Post
Chronicle piece on Dunta Robinson ignores key facts about Texans options
Send us your topic suggestions
Majority of Houston delegates vote against bailout
1 comment
by Brandon De Hoyos, Houston Politics Examiner
While a majority of House representatives voted to pass a $700 billion economic bailout package Friday on Capitol Hill, the bulk of the Houston congressional delegation voted against the measure.
Five out of eight local representatives voted against the legislation, despite bipartisan appeals by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and President George W. Bush. The bailout passed the House by a vote of 265-171. The president signed the legislation shortly after the vote.
House Republicans from Houston said the legislation returned by the Senate was not only four-times longer than the House bill which failed Monday, but was also chock full of tax hikes and pork-barrel projects.
Earmarks for everything from NASCAR race tracks, film and TV production and even the purchase of rum from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, Rep. Ted Poe (R-2) said, amounted to “an abuse by lawmakers and a waste of American tax dollars.”
“The federal government has no business socializing the losses of Wall Street and saddling the American people with $49 billion in taxes and a barrel of pork,” Poe said.
In the absence of reforms to prevent a similar economic crisis in the future, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-10) said he couldn’t vote in good conscience for a bill that allowed taxpayers to shoulder the debt of private businesses.
“You don’t work hard to pay for the mistakes of others, but to provide for your families,” McCaul said.
Reluctantly voting as one of three Houston delegates for the bill’s passage, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-18) said her chief disappointment was the noticeable lack of provisions helping homeowners facing foreclosure. However, she voted because she believed “it is the first step to putting our country on the right track.”
“Today was a hard and difficult vote but during this time of economic crisis, I felt that it would be irresponsible not to put this plan forward,” she said.
Breaking from the Houston GOP delegation, Rep. Kevin Brady (R-8), of The Woodlands, voted for the bill, but offered the bailout was necessary to protect the financial well-being of his constituents.
“I don’t like the bill anymore than my constituents do,” Brady said, “…but…make no mistake, if these Wall Street financial companies go down our businesses and families in Texas will be pulled down with them.”
Brady was the only Houston congressman to vote in support of the bill Monday.
Despite calls from both Poe and McCaul to continue the session and address reforms to protect from another economic crisis, the Congress adjourned for election recess and will return to session in late November.
For more info: How Your Representative Voted
Topics: Houston , Congress , banks , financial , bailout , election , vote
Subscribe
Feed
Comments
More from Houston Politics Examiner
More Houstonians early voted than there are residents in three states
Topics: Houston , election , vote , The Woodlands , Tomball , Sugarland , Baytown , Harris County , voter registration , White House , Secretary of State , North Dakota , Alaska , Vermont
The 10 best presidential speeches
Topics: president , commentary , Andrew Jackson , Abraham Lincoln , Franklin Roosevelt , war , Kennedy , Richard , Nixon , Gerald , Ford , sworn in , Spiro Agnew , inauguration , inaugural , Ronald , Reagan , George W. Bush , speeches , best , presidential , White House
George W. Bush: 9/11 Address
Topics: commentary , terrorism , war , George W. Bush , 9/11 , attack , New York , Pentagon
Reagan: Tear down this wall
Topics: president , commentary , Berlin Wall , Berlin , Cold War , communism , Ronald , Reagan
Ronald Reagan: First Inaugural Speech
Topics: financial , president , commentary , reform , Cold War , sworn in , inauguration , inaugural , Ronald , Reagan
Ford: Our long national nightmare is over
Topics: news , president , commentary , reform , Cold War , resignation , Nixon , Gerald , Ford , sworn in , Michigan , Spiro Agnew
Richard Nixon: Resignation Address
Topics: president , election , commentary , resignation , Richard , Nixon
Kennedy: Ich bin ein Berliner
Topics: president , commentary , Berlin Wall , Berlin , Cold War , communism , Kennedy
Franklin Roosevelt's Pearl Harbor Address
Topics: president , commentary , terrorism , FDR , Franklin Roosevelt , war , Pearl Harbor , Hawaii
