Steve King, thanks for your NO vote!

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I have a newfound appreciation for Iowa’s Republican Steve King! He took a stand on the bailout/rescue bill and voted NO!

In searching for information on why the bill was defeated I found this list of “reasons”:

“Among the reasons given for sending the package’s creators back to the drawing board were:

• A lurking mistrust among members about the secretive way in which the bill had been cobbled together
• A reluctance to come to the aid of wealthy bankers
• Ideological objections to government intervention
• The speed with which the house was expected to give the bill its backing

But the pivotal reason given by most of those who turned down the bill seems straightforward: they feared for their jobs.”

They ‘feared for their jobs’.

I disagree. Not all NO votes were out of fear. Some votes were out of principle and reflected the wishes of the voters. One of those NO votes came from Iowa’s Steve King. Here is King’s statement about the Bailout:

“Washington, D.C.-U.S. Congressman Steve King voted “no” on the Paulson bailout, H.R. 3997, and released the following statement:

The Paulson bailout has failed. We have an opportunity to do the right thing for our taxpayers and the economy.

We face a serious financial crisis. We must act to bring long-term stability to the financial markets. Doing “something” is not enough; we must do the right thing. And, we must do it in the right way so that Wall Street won’t count on a bailout every time that they skate too close to the edge.

The good news is that we have several options that don’t rely on taxpayers to bailout Wall Street. The FDIC can work with banks to ease capital requirements to help them weather the storm. The SEC can modify fair value accounting so that assets aren’t worthless during times like these, but can be valued on the basis of their true economic value. There is also a proposal to let private investors fund the bailout through Guaranteed Recovery Bonds, or to set up insurance programs to ensure Wall Street bankrolls its own recovery.

America is going through a tough time right now and it will get harder before it gets better. But, we know that the strength of America’s economy is in our free market system. If taxpayers are stuck with Wall Street losses, government will start demanding to socialize the profits of our free enterprise economy. This will lead to socialization of our economy and the end of our freedom. We can act to address this crisis in a way that does not sacrifice our freedom as Americans. We can weather this storm if we stay true to our principles and refuse to write a blank, taxpayer-signed check to Wall Street.”

I say make King the new minority leader! Why do I say this? Read on.

In checking for information on John Boehner, the current House Minority Leader, I found these are words written about him in his bio: “Boehner is a key leader in the fight for a more limited and accountable federal government.”

Now how is pushing for and voting for the Bail out/Rescue bill being for a limited and accountable federal government? Boehner’s words do not match his actions.

Thank you, Steve King, for sticking to your beliefs, for standing up to your party, for the risks you took, and the stress you must be enduring because of your NO vote!

Many Iowans will be paying attention to your efforts in the days and weeks to come. Keep your articulate voice for those of us who do not support the Bail-out at the expense of tax payers.

Keep doing the right thing for the taxpayers and the economy.