STILL SILENT: Congressman Blunt Quiet After Report Shows His Bailout Paid Bank Execs Billions July 26th 2010
Blunt’s Bill Let Wall Street Dole Out Billions in “Unmerited”, “Ill-Advised”, and “Haphazard” Bonuses
Congressman Blunt has yet to comment on last week’s New York Times report that Wall Street “paid eye-popping amounts or used haphazard criteria for awarding bonuses” after receiving billions in government support from Congressman Blunt’s $700 billion Wall Street bailout. This report is a strong repudiation of Blunt’s assertion that the bailout contained “every known oversight mechanism.” Just last week Blunt even went so far as to say the bailout might have had TOO MUCH oversight. [New York Times, 7/23/10; HR 1424, Vote #681, 10/3/08; HR 3997, Vote #674, 9/29/08; Sedalia Democrat, 7/24/10; CQ, 10/3/08]
Congressman Blunt may be staying silent on the issue since he actually voted to allow Wall Street to continue to hand out “unreasonable or excessive” bonuses even after he shoved the bailout through Congress. [CQ Today, 4/1/09; HR 1664, Vote #182, 4/01/09]
“As if giving Wall Street $700 billion in taxpayer money wasn’t enough, Congressman Blunt then voted to let our money be doled out in excessive bonuses to the very same people who drove our economy into a ditch,” said Linden Zakula, Robin Carnahan’s spokesperson. “It shouldn’t take a special news report to get Congressman Blunt to explain why he thinks it is acceptable to put corporate special interests and Wall Street executives ahead of Missouri families.”
Over the past few months, Robin has been traveling the state in her “Stop the Bull” tour where she laid out a series of steps to fix what’s wrong in Washington - including ending corporate special interest bailouts. Robin has been clear that she would have voted against the $700 Billion Wall Street bailout, had she been in Congress at the time. Robin has been a fierce defender of consumers, getting back over $10 billion for investors and saving small businesses over $12 million.
CONGRESSMAN BLUNT STANDS UP FOR BILLIONS IN WALL STREET BONUSES
Congressman Blunt Voted To Deregulate Wall Street. “In 1999, Blunt voted legislation “that opens the door for a new era on Wall Street in which commercial banks, securities houses and insurers will find it easier and cheaper to enter one another’s businesses… The opponents of the measure gloomily predicted that by unshackling banks and enabling them to move more freely into new kinds of financial activities, the new law could lead to an economic crisis down the road when the marketplace is no longer growing briskly.” [Vote 570, 11/04/99; New York Times, 11/5/99]
Blunt Voted For and Negotiated $700 Billion Wall Street Bailout. In 2008 Blunt voted not once-but twice—in favor of the $700 billion financial rescue package championed by former President Bush and former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson. [HR 1424, Vote #681, 10/3/08; HR 3997,Vote #674, 9/29/08]
* Headline - “Blunt is Man in the Middle for Bailout Talks”: On September 26, Congressional Quarterly described Blunt as “the newly designated lead negotiator for restive House Republicans in drafting a financial rescue plan.” [CQ, 9/26/08]
*Headline -“Blunt Lines Up Support for Another House Bailout Vote”: After the bailout failed to pass the House, Congressman Blunt helped convinced skeptical Republicans to switch their votes. [Gannett, 10/2/08]
Blunt Has Accepted Over $1.6 Million from Wall Street Special Interests:According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Roy Blunt has accepted $1,659,144 from securities, banks and financial interests over his career. Blunt’s contributions include $939,809 from securities and investment interests, $581,485 from commercial banks and $137,850 from finance and credit interests. [Center for Responsive Politics, Accessed 5/26/10]
* #1 Recipient of Money from Commercial Banks in the House: Blunt has received more campaign money from the commercial banking industry than anyone else in the House of Representatives this cycle, with $108,200 in contributions from 2009-2010. [Center for Responsive Politics, Accessed 5/18/10]
* #2 Recipient of Contributions from Securities & Investment Industry in the House: This cycle, Blunt has received more campaign contribution than all but one other member of the House of Representatives. [Center for Responsive Politics, Accessed 6/14/10]
Blunt Voted Against Cracking Down on Bonuses At Bailed Out Companies: In 2009, Congressman Blunt voted against a bill to bar any recipient of federal money from the $700 billion financial industry bailout from awarding “unreasonable or excessive” compensation to executives. [CQ Today, 4/1/09; HR 1664, Vote #182, 4/01/09]
Blunt Voted To Protect Golden Parachutes and Excessive Bonuses:Congressman Blunt voted against a bill to give shareholders a greater say on CEO pay packages. The bill, which cracked down on compensation practices that encouraged banks to take excessive risks, passed the House a day after the release of a report showing that nine big banks paid out a combined $32.6 billion in bonuses despite taking $175 billion in taxpayer aid. [WSJ, 7/31/09; HR 3269, Vote #686, 7/31/09; LA Times, 8/1/09]
