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Congressman Blunt Conveniently Forgets 12 Year Record of Favors for “Too Big to Fail” Companies like AIG
For Immediate Release: December 2, 2009 Contact: Ryan Hobart (573) 636-5241 Ext. 125 Congressman Blunt Conveniently Forgets 12 Year Record of Favors for “Too Big to Fail” Companies like AIG The Latest: Congressman Blunt calls for the end the ‘fiscal mismanagement, budget gimmicks, and bailout excesses’ that he voted for Hypocrisy shows why 65% of Missourians see Congressman Blunt as “Part of the Problem” Jefferson City, MO – One year after Congressman Roy Blunt played a key role in passing a $700 billion bailout for his Wall Street friends, Roy Blunt again engaged in political theatre railing against the fiscal mismanagement and bailout excesses that he has supported time-and-time-again during his 12 year career. Blunt fails to mention in his letter to Secretary Geithner that he voted to help create the “too-big-to-fail” institutions like AIG and excessive bonus packages that brought the economy to its knees. He also failed to disclose that after he let banks gamble away Missourians’ hard earned savings, Congressman Blunt voted to give Wall Street a hand out to the tune of $700 billion. “This kind of hypocrisy is exactly why 65 percent of Missourians see Congressman Blunt as part of the problem in Washington,” said Brian Zuzenak, Executive Director of the Missouri Democratic Party. “Congressman Blunt voted to let Wall Street go wild, and when the big firms hit rock bottom, he bailed them out at the expense of Missouri families. If Congressman Blunt is looking to assess blame, perhaps he should start by looking in the mirror.” In 1999, Blunt voted to pass the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which allowed traditional banks to merge with insurance companies and investment Houses. The New York Times wrote at the time that, “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] In October 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. After the bill was defeated in the face of public outrage and opposition from his fellow Republicans, then Minority Whip Roy Blunt took the lead in convincing Republicans to support the bailout. [HR 1424, Vote #681, 10/3/08; HR 3997, Vote #674, 9/29/09] Congressman Blunt has taken $686,747 from the securities & investment industry and $523,085 from commercial banks. [OpenSecrets.org]
