SC Senator: Obama will “create crisis and widespread panic"
DriftingByTheStorm
Posts: 8,684
... to sell this "stimulus" bill.
Senator Warns White House Will ‘Create Crisis’ and ‘Panic’ to Push Stimulus
Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., criticizes mainstream media for not reporting loads of pork in proposed legislation.
By Jeff Poor
Business & Media Institute
1/27/2009 5:04:03 PM
Is the new Obama administration taking cues from the Bush administration to get Congress to act? It certainly seemed that way to, South Carolina’s junior Republican senator, Jim DeMint.
DeMint, speaking Jan. 27 at The Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., explained the Obama administration will “create crisis and widespread panic” just like its predecessor in order to get Congress to act expeditiously.
“I’ve been around long enough to know whenever someone tells me I have to make a decision right now, my response is no,” DeMint said. “That clears it up right away and I think more and more the Bush administration and now this administration knows that they’re not going to get a quick reaction out of Congress unless they create crisis and widespread panic. And that’s going to be their M.O. to get Congress to act.”
Another senator, James Inhofe, R-Okla., explained the Bush administration used a similar tactic, under the direction of former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, to get the $700-billion TARP bailout bill passed by Congress back on Oct. 4, 2008.
DeMint said some Republicans now regret they voted for the TARP package, even though there is no way to gauge what might have happened had it not been passed.
“I think there’s a lot of buyer’s remorse among Republicans who voted for the bailouts of all kinds last year,” DeMint said. “And, it’s hard to prove that, some of them are saying, ‘It didn’t work out so well, but it’d been a lot worse if we hadn’t.’ It’s hard, it’s hard to argue that unless you know anything about how business works.”
“And then it’s obvious that what we did was inject a whole lot of uncertainty into the marketplace,” DeMint said. “So no, I don’t think there’s discord because of that, uh, and I really don’t blame my colleagues. If you got the President and the Secretary of the Treasury coming in saying, ‘The world economy is going to collapse next week if we don’t do something.’”
DeMint criticized the mainstream media for not conveying the message that some congressional Republicans are trying to spread about this package –that it’s filled with big-government wasteful spending projects that will do little to “stimulate” the economy.
“Well, it’s a good question and a lot of us are saying that,” DeMint said. “It’s not being picked up at all by the mainstream media and that’s why again, we’re going to have to take our message through you to the people, Rush Limbaugh, anyone who will talk about what’s really in the bill. We don’t need to make it up. It’s like they’re in a different reality. They’re talking about a bill, that when you look at it, there’s no resemblance to what they’re talking about.”
DeMint said it will take grassroots efforts to put the brakes on this stimulus package and he admitted he has seen it from constituents that are concerned about the bailout culture in Washington, D.C.
“So if we can just get the truth to the American people, or just a segment of the American people, I think you’ll, you’ll see a groundswell of anger, again because there’s, there’s a real fatigue out there on these bailouts,” DeMint continued. “I think even people who are normally not that political are coming up to me and they just sense that we’re running this country into a ditch. I’ve never seen people so anxious and so – well, I mean they grab my arm. They’re no longer single issue people. They just say, ‘Thanks for fighting. What can I do?’ I’ve heard that at least a hundred times. That’s – we just need to let people know the truth and think that they’ll get engaged.”
What do you folks think about this man's opinions?
I think he is more than just a grumpy Republican.
He is making sense.
Do you think an administration can "CREATE" a panic?
???
Senator Warns White House Will ‘Create Crisis’ and ‘Panic’ to Push Stimulus
Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., criticizes mainstream media for not reporting loads of pork in proposed legislation.
By Jeff Poor
Business & Media Institute
1/27/2009 5:04:03 PM
Is the new Obama administration taking cues from the Bush administration to get Congress to act? It certainly seemed that way to, South Carolina’s junior Republican senator, Jim DeMint.
DeMint, speaking Jan. 27 at The Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., explained the Obama administration will “create crisis and widespread panic” just like its predecessor in order to get Congress to act expeditiously.
“I’ve been around long enough to know whenever someone tells me I have to make a decision right now, my response is no,” DeMint said. “That clears it up right away and I think more and more the Bush administration and now this administration knows that they’re not going to get a quick reaction out of Congress unless they create crisis and widespread panic. And that’s going to be their M.O. to get Congress to act.”
Another senator, James Inhofe, R-Okla., explained the Bush administration used a similar tactic, under the direction of former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, to get the $700-billion TARP bailout bill passed by Congress back on Oct. 4, 2008.
DeMint said some Republicans now regret they voted for the TARP package, even though there is no way to gauge what might have happened had it not been passed.
“I think there’s a lot of buyer’s remorse among Republicans who voted for the bailouts of all kinds last year,” DeMint said. “And, it’s hard to prove that, some of them are saying, ‘It didn’t work out so well, but it’d been a lot worse if we hadn’t.’ It’s hard, it’s hard to argue that unless you know anything about how business works.”
“And then it’s obvious that what we did was inject a whole lot of uncertainty into the marketplace,” DeMint said. “So no, I don’t think there’s discord because of that, uh, and I really don’t blame my colleagues. If you got the President and the Secretary of the Treasury coming in saying, ‘The world economy is going to collapse next week if we don’t do something.’”
DeMint criticized the mainstream media for not conveying the message that some congressional Republicans are trying to spread about this package –that it’s filled with big-government wasteful spending projects that will do little to “stimulate” the economy.
“Well, it’s a good question and a lot of us are saying that,” DeMint said. “It’s not being picked up at all by the mainstream media and that’s why again, we’re going to have to take our message through you to the people, Rush Limbaugh, anyone who will talk about what’s really in the bill. We don’t need to make it up. It’s like they’re in a different reality. They’re talking about a bill, that when you look at it, there’s no resemblance to what they’re talking about.”
DeMint said it will take grassroots efforts to put the brakes on this stimulus package and he admitted he has seen it from constituents that are concerned about the bailout culture in Washington, D.C.
“So if we can just get the truth to the American people, or just a segment of the American people, I think you’ll, you’ll see a groundswell of anger, again because there’s, there’s a real fatigue out there on these bailouts,” DeMint continued. “I think even people who are normally not that political are coming up to me and they just sense that we’re running this country into a ditch. I’ve never seen people so anxious and so – well, I mean they grab my arm. They’re no longer single issue people. They just say, ‘Thanks for fighting. What can I do?’ I’ve heard that at least a hundred times. That’s – we just need to let people know the truth and think that they’ll get engaged.”
What do you folks think about this man's opinions?
I think he is more than just a grumpy Republican.
He is making sense.
Do you think an administration can "CREATE" a panic?
???
If I was to smile and I held out my hand
If I opened it now would you not understand?
If I opened it now would you not understand?
Post edited by Unknown User on
0
Comments
I'd think mostly sour grapes, and a smidgeon of truth. Bailout were rushed, but that was the nature of the situation. Some probably managed to sneak some pork in there as well.
Peace
Dan
"Every judgment teeters on the brink of error. To claim absolute knowledge is to become monstrous. Knowledge is an unending adventure at the edge of uncertainty." - Frank Herbert, Dune, 1965
Admin
Social awareness does not equal political activism!
5/23/2011- An utter embarrassment... ticketing failures too many to list.
I think he's right, but I also think he needs to share his portion of the blame... Congress doesn't do SHIT, ever. The only time I can recall them acting quickly until this bank bailout was the Patriot Act and Terry Schaivo. The problem is that nothing ever gets done in Congress except in crisis. Legislators have learned too well how to filibuster and block any legislation that doesn't toe their party's line. It's obstructionism and a way of being able to go back to voters and say they blocked the [insert opposing party] evil plan to [insert hot button emotional issue]. Congress is a joke. Until they can learn to behave like adults, I don't have much sympathy for them whining about the President not playing fair... they don't either.
I also think that generally, Americans don't care about anything short of crisis. We're a lazy and apathetic people. It takes a crisis to get the people moving and putting pressure on Congress for the same. It can be manufactured by the executive branch, by the media, or anyone with a bit of influence really.
That said, I'm with the senator on this. We've blundered into some terrible decisions based on pressure to avert an inevitable economic nightmare. It's time we stopped short-sighted legislation (patriot act, bailouts), took a deep breath, and figured out how to get back on track. But this poses 2 problems: 1) congress will never be objective, it will all be finger-pointing and partisanship because the solution doesn't matter as much as making sure the other side doesn't "win" anything and 2) the congressmen know that if they don't go back to their voters saying they tried to do something to improve the dire economic straits of their voters, they'll get voted out and lose their jobs... as they should. But, you know, personal ambition is way more important than the country's well-being.
Do you have any sources for this???? Also like to see examples of the pork.
This financial crises sucks.....but can definitively say this....what an abortion this would be under McCain and Palin.....sends shivers down my spine just thinking about it.
Pork: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lloyd-cha ... 31422.html
There are several examples throughout the bill (IMO), though 'pork' is a subjective term: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c ... 1106VIRGZ::
Ohh and its not a complete and utter clusterfuck right now....
Admin
Social awareness does not equal political activism!
5/23/2011- An utter embarrassment... ticketing failures too many to list.
how dare we......
a lot of people as we have seen in the last few elections have lost their jobs by the decisions they made, especially in the House of Reps where folks have a much smaller constituencies