As I watched the distinguished Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) give a floor speech the other night, I am continually amazed at her failed tenure as Speaker of the House. We are in a serious economic crisis, and she feels the need to spend twenty minutes out of the day to go to the floor and stumble through a prepared speech with the sole intention of spewing partisan attacks and making ill-advised attempts to place blame on one side of the aisle.
Madam Speaker, this is not the time.
This is the time for real leadership, fresh ideas, and a little bit of compromise. Despite your disdain for capitalism and the desire to see the GOP’s unapologetic advocacy of free markets crumble, most of America would like to see your party show a little backbone when the going gets tough. This is a difficult issue; no one is going to deny that. Hell, many members of Congress might even lose their jobs this November based on how they vote. But true leaders stand up in these tumultuous times, and attack the problem. Instead, you have chosen to call names and point fingers when your poor leadership failed to garner support from 40 percent of your own party.
“For too long, this government in 8 years has followed a right wing ideology of anything goes, no supervision, no discipline, no regulation,” says the Speaker. I guess she didn’t spend too much time on her beloved House floor in 2005 when many GOP members were calling for more oversight and credit limits on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, while many Democrats, including Rep. Barney Frank (who she referred to in her speech for taking charge during this crisis), were in complete opposition to increasing supervision.
The fact is, free markets did not cause this problem. Overzealous advocacy of cheap credit and easy lending standards that were both strongly encouraged by Fannie and Freddie are at the heart of this crisis. And who let Fannie and Freddie spiral out of control? Congress. Congressional refusal to increase regulatory controls and limit the credit line for both these government-regulated enterprises (GRE’s) are at the heart of this debacle.
Despite Pelosi’s disagreement to this concept—that government, not free markets are to blame—she had a responsibility to work with both sides of the aisle to get this bill passed. Making campaign stump speeches on the House floor before that vote was not a wise strategy.
It’s time for members of Congress, like Rep. Pelosi, to drop the cliché’s such as “golden parachutes,” “help Wall Street while hurting Main Street,” “the party is over,” et al and to sit down and come to agreement on this bailout package. And maybe, just maybe, Rep. Pelosi could squeeze some time in to the day to do what she was elected to do: serve this republic we call the United States of America.
Guest posted by: Brad Christie, UST School of Law ‘10
