Politex

Marchant talks about bailout deal breaker

“It’s been a horrible ten days,” US Rep. Kenny Marchant said earlier this week during an on-the-record interview with members of the Star-Telegram’s editorial board.

Marchant was talking about the tension and drama on Capitol Hill centered on the economic crisis. The Coppell Republican voted twice against a massive financial bailout bill.

Marchant’s biggest problem with the plan was that it lacked a provision requiring that if the government made its money back from buying bad assets from struggling financial institutions, that money would automatically go toward paring down the national debt.

Though it got lost in most media reports, Marchant said that was a major stumbling block for conservatives.

“That wasn’t the only reason I voted no but that was the killer for me,” Marchant said. “It seemed to me even if we got it back, it’s going to get spent.”

Marchant said both parties did a lot of maneuvering to get the bill passed the second time around.

"That’s the new definition of bipartisan,” he quipped. “You do the wrong thing by each side contributing the right number of votes."

-Aman Batheja

TCU offers fix to political junkies

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, a Republican, and former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley, D-N.J., will be the featured speakers at this year’s Fogelson Honors Forum at 8 p.m. Tuesday in Ed Landreth Auditorium at TCU.

They will speak on “Red State + Blue State = Purple Politics.”

The event, sponsored by the Honors Program, is free and open to the public, but reservations are required. For tickets, go to www.hon.tcu.edu. For more information, go here or call 817-257-4862.

-Patrick M. Walker

Celebrities getting out the vote on YouTube

Don't vote ... actually do.

That's what Leonardo DiCaprio to Sarah Silverman to will.i.am are saying in a public service announcement posted on the Internet on Wednesday.

"I mean, seriously, ... after this whole video — if you're not gonna vote, I don't even know what to say. ... You know you have to vote," Dicaprio says in the video.

The stars encourage viewers to find voting information online using Google Maps' voting information feature and then send the video to five friends.

The 4:45-long video posted on YouTube and other video-sharing Web sites has received just short of 1,000,000 hits if you combine the view count for the official censored and uncensored versions.

The video was produced by DiCaprio's production company and includes 27 celebrities

It's almost as star studded as will.i.am and Jesse Dylan's "Yes We Can" video posted earlier this year. The official version of that video on YouTube has received more than 10,000,000 hits since it was posted in February.

Check it out below. They've also posted an uncensored version here.



-- Andrew Chavez

Six Texans switch in favor of bailout

After coming out by a resounding margin of 23 to 9 against the $700 billion bailout on Monday, six U.S. Texas House members had second thoughts today,  bringing the Texas tally to 17 against and 15 in favor of the rescue.

The six who switched:

Two Republicans: Mike Conaway, R-Midland, a friend and former business partner of President Bush; and little-known William "Mac" Thornberry, R-Amarillo.

Four Democrats: Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo; Solomon Ortiz, Corpus Christi; Sheila Jackson Lee, Houston and Al Green, Houston.

The four Republican members who represent portions of Tarrant County did not change their vote: Kay Granger - yes; Joe Barton, Michael Burgess and Kenny Marchant - no.

In the total House vote, Democrats picked up an additional 32 net (one member went from yes to no: Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash.) and Republicans picked up 26.

Maria Recio

The Road to Socialism. . .

On Monday, Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Dallas, warned that the bailout bill was a "slippery slope to socialism." Today, bailout maestro Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., didn't let him forget it.

After Hensarling gave a stem-winding speech on the perils of the revised bailout bill -- which he voted "no" on but which passed handily 263 - 171 -- Frank got a puckish look on his face.

"I am ever mindful that George Bush is leading us down the road to socialism," said Frank. "I will be vigilant."

-- Maria Recio

That Palin Wink

I love You Tube, and among the takeaways from last night was Gov. Palin's wink. Apparently there's a country-western song about winking that fits the bill.

- Kristin Sullivan

Barton - "meet the new bill, same as the old bill"

Rep. Joe Barton, who wasn't swayed by a personal appeal from President Bush on the bill the House rejected, is no closer to agreeing with the version the Senate votes on tonight.

"The bailout legislation that the Senate is sending back to the House is a fraternal twin to the one I voted against on Monday -- meet the new bill, same as the old bill," said Barton.

"I’m kind of an old fashioned guy, and I think we ought to pay for what we do as a government, but instead we’re talking about adding $1.5 trillion to our national debt and forcing our children to pay the cost.  Really restoring confidence in the markets, I think, requires some restraint on spending. My constituents have flooded my office with calls and email saying they are against piling up debt in order to finance this bailout, and they’re exactly right.”

-- Maria Recio

Marchant Weighs In

"On September 29, 2008, I voted against the Paulson Plan to address the crisis in our nation’s economy," said Rep. Kenny Marchant, R-Coppell. "The process that led to consideration of this legislation was hurried and closed to alternative ideas from conservative members of Congress."

"I was uncomfortable voting for a bill that left the American taxpayers at considerable risk. When dealing with a crisis like this, the process needs to be open and transparent. This process was not open, punished the taxpayer, and rewarded those that were responsible for the crisis. I remain committed to working with my colleagues to pass a free-market alternative that protects the taxpayer and allows our economy to not only survive, but thrive."

Marchant said he heard from almost 2,000 constituents across the 24th district – "many for the first time." "The resounding message sent to me," he said, "was to slow down and work on a free-market solution that protects the taxpayer."

-- Maria Recio

Barton voted NO

Rep. Joe Barton, R-Arlington, a leader in the opposition to the original Treasury Department bailout bill, made no bones about why the compromise bill was still not good enough for him.

“I voted against the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 because it violated the views and the interests of the Texans who sent me here to represent their views and their interests," said Barton. 

“I’m a conservative.  I know that more freedom and more opportunity built America, not more government, more spending and more debt.   Most of the people of the 6^th Congressional District of Texas know that even better than I do because they live it every day.  Today I was asked to bend my beliefs, forget my promises and ignore my people, and I said no.  My fellow Republicans joined me voting against this massive bailout by a 2 to 1 margin."

“This was no easy vote," Barton continued. "The compromise bill wasn’t all bad, but in its final version, it failed to give taxpayers the protection they deserve.  Republicans worked very hard to improve the bailout plan by including more taxpayer protections than previous plans and eliminating the money grab by liberal social welfare programs.  There are other things we can do to fix this financial crisis – things that won’t cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars. Ideas we could pursue include forcing the people being bailed out to bear a majority of the costs, eliminating the capital gains tax for three years to encourage economic growth and suspending mandatory mark to market accounting rules.

-- Maria Recio

Hensarling says why he voted NO

Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Dallas, chairman of the Republican Study Committee, was a leader in opposition to the $700 billion bailout.

"I have made clear from the beginning that the Paulson plan had fundamental flaws that were unacceptable to the American people, and should not have been the only alternative considered by this Congress," said Hensarling in a statement.

“Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats are the governing majority, and they have a responsibility to work with us to solve this problem.  Inaction is not an option, and House conservatives stand ready to work for as long as it takes to do this right.   There are alternatives that the Republican Study Committee and others have offered that must now be discussed and considered as we work to solve this crisis in a way that the American people support.”

-- Maria Recio