The following email was forwarded to me this morning. The sender commented that J. Randy Forbes deserves our thanks for this, and indeed he does. But, as Congressman Forbes points out, he is one of only seventeen Congressmen who consistently–and rightly– voted against these bailouts. Every one of them deserves our thanks.
Obviously, there is not ideological purity among this “Gang of Seventeen”. However, if limited government, lower taxation and economic Liberty means anything to republicans, they’d be wise to not only thank every one of these gentlemen, but also to use their principled votes against the bailouts as a very good start in terms of putting the broken pieces of the party back together. They’d also be wise to make it as public as possible.
Perhaps this “Gang of Seventeen” should even be encouraged to form a coalition in Congress to promote and articulate the sound principles of economic Liberty.
This “Gang of Seventeen” stood up for We the People. As the economy tanks amidst more and more fiscal irresponsibility, the thanks these Congressmen deserve will become more and more evident:
Thank you for contacting me in regards to the government bailouts and Members of Congress that have opposed these bailouts. I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts on this matter with me.
Although I am not able to stop the tide of bailouts as a single Member of Congress, I will continue to urge my colleagues to stop the practice of quickly passing bailout bills and instead embark on a serious and earnest debate on how we can best address the economic challenges facing our country. As a conservative member of Congress, my goal is always to ensure the taxpayer gets the absolute most for each tax dollar, and I will continue to do everything I can to eliminate wasteful spending. A thoughtful and thorough approach is necessary to address our nation’s biggest challenges, not only our economy, but also to address health care, energy, defense, and immigration.
I am one of only 17 of 435 Members of Congress to oppose not only that bill, but every other government bailout in 2008 and 2009 because I was not confident these so-called stimulus plans would help our economy or create the jobs that need to be restored. The following a list of Members that have continued to oppose these bailouts and a list of final votes that have been taken on bailouts:
Rep. Paul Broun
Rep. Randy Forbes
Rep. John Linder
Rep. Ed Royce
Rep. Michael Burgess
Rep. Scott Garrett
Rep. Jerry Moran
Rep. Lynn Westmoreland
Rep. Nathan Deal
Rep. Phil Gingrey
Rep. Ron Paul
Rep. John Duncan Jr.
Rep. Louie Gohmert
Rep. Ted Poe
Rep. Jeff Flake
Rep. Jack Kingston
Rep. David Price
Recovery Rebates and Economic Stimulus for the American People Act of 2008, H.R. 5140
Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008, H.R. 3221
Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, H.R. 1424
Auto Industry Financing and Restructuring Act, H.R. 7321
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, H.R. 1
As always, if I may be of assistance to you on this, or any other issue, please feel free to contact me in my Washington office at (202) 225-6365 or online at www.forbes.house.gov.
With kind personal regards, I am
Yours truly,
J. RANDY FORBES
Member of Congress
