George Bush has proposed a Wall Street subsidy that will cost the American people at least $700,000,000,000 to bail out his wealthy investor buddies. That comes out to a tax of over $2300 for every man, woman, and child in America. We need to shine a light on any legislator who supports this tax hike to bail out the same Wall Street bankers whose speculation, false accounting, and lies caused this economic catastrophe.
At 1:22 PM today the House passed the bailout by a vote of 263 to 171.The President swiftly signed the legislation into law with $700 billion for Wall Street and over $130 billion in pork spending. That amounts over $2300 in taxes on every man, woman and child. There was only one Representative who switched his vote from ‘yes’ to ‘no’. We celebrate Rep. McDermott (D-Wash.) for this decision.
The House has now joined the Senate in throwing away billions in tax dollars to Wall Street instead of dealing with the economic crisis in a meaningful way. We hope this site remains as a reminder this November and in November of 2010, as citizens research whose side their Representatives are on.
The following legislators were bought off by the additional pork barrel spending and flip flopped their position. They voted against the tax increase to support Wall Street before they voted for it.
Republicans who switched from NO to YES:
Rodney Alexander (La.) Gresham Barrett (SC) Judy Biggert (Ill.) Charles Boustany (La.) Vern Buchanan (Fla.) Howard Coble (N.C.) Mike Conaway (Texas.) Charles Dent (Pa.) Mary Fallin (Okla.) Rodney Frelinghuysen (N.J.) Jim Gerlach (Pa.) Peter Hoekstra (Mich.) Joseph Knollenberg (Mich.) Randy Kuhl (N.Y.) Sue Myrick (N.C.) Jim Ramstad (Minn.) Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Fla.) Jean Schmidt (Ohio) John Shadegg (Ariz.) Bill Shuster (Pa.) John Sullivan (Okla.) Lee Terry (Neb.) William “Mac” Thornberry (Texas) Patrick Tiberi (Ohio) Zach Wamp (Tenn.)
Democrats who switched from NO to YES:
Neil Abercrombie (Hawaii) Joe Baca (Calif.) Shelley Berkely (Nev.) Bruce Braley (Iowa) Andre Carson (Ind.) Emanuel Cleaver (Mo.) Henry Cueller (Texas) Elijah Cummings (Md.) Donna Edwards (Md.) Gabrielle Giffords (Ariz.) Al Green (Texas) Mazie Hirono (Hawaii) Jesse Jackson Jr. (Ill.) Sheila Jackson Lee (Texas) Carolyn Kilpatrick (Mich.) Barbara Lee (Calif.) John Lewis (Georgia) Harry Mitchell (Ariz.) Solomon Ortiz (Texas) Bill Pascrell (N.J.) Ed Pastor (Ariz.) Bobby Rush (Ill.) Adam Schiff (Calif.) David Scott (Georgia) Hilda Solis (Calif.) Betty Sutton (Ohio) Mike Thompson (Calif.) John Tierney (Mass.) Diane Watson (Calif.) Peter Welch (Vt.) Lynne Woolsey (Calif.)
Last night, after the TV cameras were gone and it was too late to make the nightly news, the Senate held a roll call vote on the Bush Wallstreet Bailout. Despite the fact that revenue enhancing bills must originate in the House, the Senate held this vote to send a message that they will stop at nothing to force this tax on the American people. By a vote of 74-25 the Senate passed the bailout that had swelled from 110 pages in the House to over 400. It was also loaded with over 100 billion dollars in pork and new programs designed to buy votes of reluctant Senators.
The House is now our last hope to stop this massive $2300 tax increase on the American people from taking effect. And, in a pox on both houses, Senators Biden, McCain and Obama all supported this bailout of the Wall Street fat cats who got us into this mess.
What a day! Despite support from President Bush, Senators McCain and Obama, and the leadership of both parties, the House defeated the Bush/Paulson Wall Street Bailout by a vote of 205 to 228.
We’ve now updated the whip count on the right for the House to reflect the votes on today’s legislation. Any Democrat or Republican who supported this legislation decided to vote for a tax on every man woman and child to bail out the Wall Street cronies that got us into this mess. And, they need to be held accountable.
Today’s victory is a tremendous one for all Americans as a bi partisan coalition defeated this tax. Thanks to the 95 Democrats and 133 Republicans who stood up to their leadership and said no. Most importantly, we know that legislators got our message.
From the National Review online:
The bailout failed because of pure political cowardice. I used the Rothenberg Political Report to find the House incumbents who are in tough races (i.e. ones they could lose). There were 44 House members listed - 20 Democrats and 24 Republicans. Of those 44, only eight voted for the bill.
Any congressmember in a competitive race must remain on notice. It’s on you to vote against this tax giveaway to the Wall Street bankers who got us into the current crisis in the first place.
We’ve launched this site to track legislators who support a tax on the American people to bail out Wall Street. This list is constantly in flux and we’ll be updating as news develops – as we assume the shape of the final bailout package will determine support and opposition.
We know that this list is imperfect because there are many proposals out there with different degrees of complexity and bullshit. That’s why we have a link to the public statements from a legislator with their position. Check it out for yourself and judge.
We know there will be disagreement on the criteria. It is possible support economic recovery without pushing a tax on ordinary Americas. Bernie Sanders supports a bail out but it is paid for by an emergency tax on the wealthy that have profited from economic growth.
The bottom line is that any legislator who supports a plan that costs the American taxpayer $700 billion dollar without making those responsible pay is voting for a $2,000 tax on every man woman and child in America and a giveaway to wealthy Wall Street bankers.
Please help us complete this whip count. If you find a statement from a Representative or Senator one way or another, please email it to tips@theybrokeityoubuyit.com, and we’ll add it to our list. Together, we’ll hold all legislators accountable.
