Iowa Defense Alliance

Recently an article on the Opinion page of the Des Moines Register asks a great question: Where’s the oversight of the bailout spending? Yes, Americans want to know. Thanks to  Senator Grassley we are weeks and trillions of dollars down the road in an ugly mess.

So now Grassley to the rescue?!  He’s making “inquiries”? It is despicable to think that a Senator who must have received an enormous amount of phone calls, e-mails, and letters from Iowans begging him to vote NO is now going to ride to the rescue and make inquiries!

May Iowans have long memories when it comes to re-electing any of our representatives who caved in and in a rush like shoppers on Black Friday to the nearest store, voted YES to debt, despair, and disappointment to many American taxpayers.

I would have had far greater respect and more importantly TRUST had Grassley taken the time to really understand what his vote would mean to the future of Americans. But no, he caved like so many others. Iowa values have been replaced with Washingtonitis.

The writer of the Opinion writes that Americans need government officials who will make “smart decisions”. No need to look at Grassley. He blew it.

The Bailout/Great American Sellout Bill was like Humpty Dumpty who fell off the wall and no amount of Grassley to the Rescue will ever put things right with many Iowa voters again.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/section/Opinion

Where’s the oversight of bailout spending?

A hundred billion here, a hundred billion there and pretty soon you’re talking about real money, some $7 trillion. That’s the current price tag of the federal commitments, loans and pledges for the nation’s economic bailout.

The unknown in all this: whether such massive government intervention will do any good, or whether the huge market shifts under way will push the nation into economic meltdown or toward a recovery regardless.

The known: Taxpayers will be left facing huge debt even if all the money isn’t actually spent.

The federal government may have no choice but to rescue some of the nation’s largest companies. Even conservative economists acknowledge deficit spending may be needed to head off a crisis and get the economy growing.

But the American people need something, too: reassurance the government knows what it’s doing. Beyond concrete signs of recovery, the best way to start getting that reassurance is by Congress exercising adequate oversight of the bailouts.

Because here is what the average American sees: Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is running the entire multi-trillion-dollar bailout show – and writing and rewriting the script as he goes along. It’s a script that no longer seems to make sense.

For example, on Tuesday, the Bush administration and the Federal Reserved pledged $800 billion to pump up ailing credit markets, including $600 billion to purchase mortgage-backed securities.

Just a few weeks ago, Paulson announced bailout money would NOT be used to purchase mortgage-backed securities. Which came after Congress approved the bailout plan to do that, among other purposes.

Now apparently 800 billion “other” dollars – taken from the Federal Reserve’s resources – will be used to purchase mortgaged-backed securities that the government wanted to buy, then didn’t want to buy, then did again.

It’s understood that Paulson may have to change course over and over as markets react and the economy changes. All this is complicated. But his actions must have some coherence, he must be able to explain them with clarity and the American people must be able to make some sense of it all. Why, for example, do blue-collar automakers get denied $25 billion one week, and the white-collar Citigroup gets $20 billion the next?

What rationale is used to decide who gets bailed out and who doesn’t?

Who is overseeing Paulson?

Besides pouring money in at the top of the financial markets, are there other strategies that Congress should pursue – say spending on creating jobs to rebuild infrastructure?

Americans have questions.

It’s up to Congress to get answers.

Iowa’s Sen. Charles Grassley, ranking member of the Committee on Finance, is making inquiries into how rescue dollars are being doled out and how the plan is being overseen. That is only the beginning.

Average Americans – lacking confidence in their own jobs and financial futures – need some confidence the government is making smart decisions in spending taxpayer dollars to shore up the entire economy.

In another article Grassley was highlighted for his long tenure in the Senate and for the influence that he has garnered over the years. After reading this article I again wonder, where was Grassley’s leadership and his expertise in finance during the initial discussion and voting on the Bail Out Bill?

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081124/NEWS09/811240316&template=printart

Grassley ranked 23rd in the Roll Call list. He remains one of the Senate’s most influential Republicans in part because of his stature as the GOP’s ranking member of the powerful Finance Committee. The committee has oversight over all tax issues.

“My role will be to be the negotiator for the Republicans on the Finance Committee. My role is to kind of get a consensus among Republicans,” Grassley said.

Grassley: “Influential”…”Powerful”…”Negotiator”- and a Senator who chose not to listen to his constituents. I am not reassured at all to have Grassley to the rescue. The bail out barn door has been flung wide open and the hand out stampede is upon us because our representatives lacked the courage to say whoa, hold your horses, and let’s really think before we do even more damage. It’s obvious that Grassley has more than enough confidence in his abilities so not having mine really won’t matter. It is very disappointing that  Senator Grassley, with all of his years of experience, could not demonstrate more leadership when we so desperately needed direction in a time of crisis.