Betts on offense

My guess is that members of congress on both sides of the aisle will have money from banking industry they'll have to account for. Betts obviously is hoping to get some traction against Tiahrt on this financial mess. Tiahrt, a deregulator at his core, is vunerable on this issue.


NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Lisa Reiss, Press Secretary
September 25, 2008 (316) 312-7777
“People Over Politics”

TIAHRT RECEIVED OVER $500,000 IN BANKING
INDUSTRY CONTRIBUTIONS
WICHITA, Kan. – Two days ago, The Center for Responsive Politics in Washington, D.C., noted that Congressman Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) received $542,631 in banking industry campaign contributions while in Congress and voted for the 1999 legislation which dramatically altered the U.S. banking industry. The Centers’ website, www.opensecrets.org, listed Members of Congress who voted for the passage of the 1999 Financial Services Modernization Act (also known as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley bill) which essentially allowed for the mega-growth of the largest banks in the U.S. and their subsequent risky lending practices. The website also listed other members of Congress which voted for the legislation and the subsequent financial contributions they received from the industry.
Following the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Glass-Steagall act in 1933 to protect our banking system. This legislation addressed the concern of over-speculation by banks and set up regulations for investment and commercial banking. The 1999 Financial Services Modernization Act essentially gutted this historic legislation in 1933. With the bailout of Bear Stearns by Congress in March (legislation Tiahrt voted for), the takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in September, and the Federal Reserve’s help to AIG, the focus of the entire world is on the U.S. market which continues to teeter erratically.
In reviewing the votes from the 1999 legislation, the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, found that members of Congress that voted for the lifting of restrictions on commercial banking, investment banks and insurance companies, received over two-times more financial donations from them as the legislators that opposed it. Further information also showed that Tiahrt received the following contributions: $24,700 from commercial bank contributions; $6,500 from Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac; $4,050 from Morgan Stanley (one of the world’s top investment banks); $3,000 from Citigroup; $1,000 from Merrill Lynch; $2,000 from Bank of America. With companies such as Morgan Stanley which favors privatizing Social Security and deregulating the banking industry, you can see the effects of that in today’s Wall Street market.
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As President Bush and members of Congress work out the details for a $700 billion taxpayer bailout of financial markets, many Americans are concerned about how it will affect their savings, retirement and long-term future. Senator Betts said today, “I believe the recent developments on Wall Street prove that without proper regulation, greed runs rampant and can undermine the economic foundation of this country. “A stable economy that people can depend on is one of the most important factors in America’s security equation, said Betts. Former SEC chairman William H. Donaldson told Bill Moyers on October 31,, 2007, that without proper regulations in place, capitalism will become dysfunctional. I agree with him,” Betts continued.
“We’ve tried deregulation,” said Betts, “and that has led us to our current economic crisis. Now that we are in a crisis mode, however, we need to be very careful because each bailout invites the next round of speculative excess. And, every time we repeat this cycle, we get bigger and riskier bubbles.” “Every bailout,” explained Betts, “is a two-edged sword that we need to handle very carefully so we don’t injure the economy any more than it is already injured.”
Betts said it is unfortunate that taxpayers will have to foot the bill for the banking crisis to avoid financial disaster for this country. “However, because the taxpayer is being called on to bear the brunt of this fiasco,” said Betts, “I think it’s only fair that the taxpayer’s representatives in Washington have the right to monitor the mechanisms that will be put in place to correct this deregulation-caused fiasco and Congress has a right to legislate strict controls to protect the taxpayers’ investment.” “When you look at all the problems we are facing with our economy today with 143 Americans losing their homes in the next hour and consumers suffering from rising grocery and gasoline prices, it is disgusting that our Congress is not claiming responsibility for passing the legislation that precipitated the Wall Street bailout,” said Betts. “The members of Congress that created this monster, including Congressman Tiahrt, should be held accountable.” I want to assure you that I will always fight for the voice of the people and put people over politics,” said Betts. “People deserve to have a voice in our government and it seems that the special interests and big business have had too much control in Washington D.C. and I plan to change all that when elected,” he said.
Betts is running for the 4th Congressional seat currently held by Todd Tiahrt who has been in office since 1994. Betts has been actively working for Kansans since 2002, when he was elected to the Kansas House of Representatives. He went on to serve in the Senate, bridging party lines to focus on the important issues that affect everyone including support for education through the Workforce Kansas Quick Careers. Among his many accomplishments, Betts took a stand against the practices of genocide with Senate Substitute for HB 2457 which was signed into law divesting Kansas Public Employee Retirement Funds from Darfur. “It has been my pleasure to represent Kansans in Topeka but I believe that now is the time to make their voices heard in Washington, D.C.,” said Betts. “Our nation is in an economic crisis and people are hurting – it’s time to make some choices to make our country strong again and to be fair to everyone, not just the special interests.”
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