Congressman “Bailout” Blunt Tries to Mischaracterize Robin’s Position
Congressman Blunt Has Been Grasping at Straws to Run From His Role as a Key Architect of the $700 Billion Wall Street Bailout
Congressman Roy Blunt is so desperate to hide from his role as the chief architect of the $700 billion Wall Street bailout that let Wall Street maintain business as usual and left middle-class families struggling, that he has sunk to new lows. For days, Blunt has tried to claim that he didn’t really support the $700 billion and instead only supported giving Wall Street $350 billion, but then he changed his mind saying he only wanted to give them $250 billion, and finally submitted a candidate questionnaire to the Midwest Democracy Project checking a box that he simply did not support the bailout at all. [The Weekly Standard, 7/ 5/10 - 7/12/10; Missourinet, 7/11/10; Midwest Democracy Project, Accessed 7/15/10]
However, still taking heat from both sides of the aisle for his record of billions in wasteful spending, Congressman Blunt stooped to new lows Wednesday as he tried to blatantly mischaracterize Robin Carnahan’s anti-bailout position. The Blunt campaign issued a press release titled “Robin Carnahan now likes TARP.” The Blunt campaign recklessly cites an interview with the Sedalia Democrat where Robin emphatically tells a reporter that the bailout lacked adequate accountability and failed to deliver what was promised—jobs and a stable economy. [audio]
“Just because Congressman ‘Bailout’ Blunt’s record of putting corporate special interests first is coming back to haunt him, that doesn’t give him a right to distort the truth whether it is his own record or others’,” said Linden Zakula, Robin Carnahan’s campaign spokesman. “It’s a simple fact that Congressman Blunt was a key architect of the $700 billion bailout and that he was the point-man for changing votes to ensure Wall Street received billions in taxpayer money without accountability.”
On May 18, 2010 Robin launched her “Stop the Bull” tour where she laid out a series of steps to stop the wasteful spending 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.
In contrast, Congressman Blunt did not just vote for the $700 billion bailout, but has been widely recognized as a key architect and negotiator that helped push the bill through Congress.
CONGRESSMAN BLUNT: KEY NEGOTIATOR IN PASSING THE $700 BILLION BAILOUT
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]
Blunt Key Negotiator On Financial Bailout Package. Blunt was a key House negotiator on the financial bailout package, working closely with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. [CQ Today, 10/1/08]
Headline - “Blunt Lines Up Support for Another House Bailout Vote:” After the bailout failed to pass the House, Congressman Blunt helped convince some of the 133 Republicans who had opposed the bill to switch their votes. As reported by Gannett, “Rep. Roy Blunt was scrounging for votes Wednesday in anticipation of another House vote on a revised $700 billion plan to rescue the nation’s ailing financial markets.” [Gannett, 10/2/08; HR 3997, Vote #674, 9/29/08]
Blunt Helped Convince 25 Republicans to Switch Their Votes: As reported by the AP, “Blunt, the minority whip, worked with House leaders to persuade enough lawmakers to switch their votes to pass the legislation.” [Washington Times, 10/4/08; AP, 10/3/08]
Blunt Said Plummeting Stock Market “A Good Thing” For Wall Street Bailout’s Prospects. USA Today reported that “Blunt said supporters of a rescue plan have a powerful new weapon: the plummeting stock market.” Blunt added, “...That may be a good thing.” [USA Today, 9/30/08]
WH Spokesman Tony Fratto Said Blunt Was Member of Negotiating Team on Bailout. At a press briefing, White House spokesman Tony Fratto said, “I appreciate all the work of the leadership, Speaker Pelosi, the Minority Leader John Boehner, Roy Blunt and other members of the negotiating team for the extraordinary work that they did to get the bill to this point. [White House Transcript, 9/29/08]
In Memoir, George W. Bush Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson Praised Blunt’s role in passing the Bailout.
“Judd Gregg and Roy Blunt, the lead negotiators on the Republican side…” (on TARP bill). pg. 305
“Roy Blunt, who had worked hard to rally Republicans behind TARP, noted, however, that ‘this is going to be a surprise to the country and to a lot of Republicans.’” pg. 367
“I called Roy Blunt to thank him for everything he had done. He was disappointed but said he wasn’t going to give up; he was confident we could eventually get the votes.” (after failure of first vote on TARP) pg. 320. [“On The Brink,” Hank Paulson, 2010]
MSNBC “No Republican Had A More Important Role” In Passing TARP Than Blunt: As reported by Tom Curry of MSNBC, “No Republican had a more important role two years ago in negotiating with Democratic leaders over the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and shepherding it into law than Blunt, who was then the House Minority Whip. [MSNBC 5/28/10]