Saturday, January 23, 2010
Persons of Interest: Congresspeople Who Switched TARP Vote Then Left Office
[UPDATE below.]
For a while I have wanted to produce a stunning expose on how the financial sector took care of the Congressmen and women who lost their seats because they switched from "no" to "yes" on TARP back in October 2008. I have made some initial inquiries and paid someone to do the cross-referencing, but I don't have the time to dig into the people who fit the profile. Rather than sit on this for another few months, I decided to release my findings to the millions of internet journalists who may smell a rat.
Just to refresh everyone's memory, the House actually voted against the $700 billion TARP package the first time, on Monday, September 29, 2008. Then the Senate passed it, and the House voted again on Friday, October 3, 2008. This time it passed.
So what happened during that significant week? Obviously a bunch of representatives changed their votes. The following changed their initial "no" vote to "yes":
Abercrombie, Neil D-HI
Alexander, Rodney R-LA
Baca, Joe D-CA
Barrett, J. Gresham R-SC
Berkley, Shelley D-NV
Biggert, Judy R-IL
Boustany, Charles W. Jr. R-LA
Braley, Bruce L. D-IA
Buchanan, Vern R-FL
Carson, Andre D-IN
Cleaver, Emanuel D-MO
Coble, Howard R-NC
Conaway, K. Michael R-TX
Cuellar, Henry D-TX
Cummings, Elijah E. D-MD
Dent, Charles W. R-PA
Edwards, Donna F. D-MD
Fallin, Mary R-OK
Frelinghuysen, Rodney P. R-NJ
Gerlach, Jim R-PA
Giffords, Gabrielle D-AZ
Green, Al D-TX
Hirono, Mazie K. D-HI
Hoekstra, Peter R-MI
Jackson, Jesse Jr. D-IL
Jackson-Lee, Sheila D-TX
Kilpatrick, Carolyn C. D-MI
Knollenberg, Joe R-MI
Kuhl, John R. "Randy" R-NY
Lee, Barbara D-CA
Lewis, John D-GA
Mitchell, Harry E. D-AZ
Myrick, Sue Wilkins R-NC
Ortiz, Solomon P. D-TX
Pascrell, Bill Jr. D-NJ
Pastor, Ed D-AZ
Ramstad, Jim R-MN
Ros-Lehtinen, Ileana R-FL
Rush, Bobby L. D-IL
Schiff, Adam B. D-CA
Schmidt, Jean R-OH
Scott, David D-GA
Shadegg, John B. R-AZ
Shuster, Bill R-PA
Solis, Hilda D-CA
Sullivan, John R-OK
Sutton, Betty D-OH
Terry, Lee R-NE
Thompson, Mike D-CA
Thornberry, Mac R-TX
Tiberi, Patrick J. R-OH
Tierney, John F. D-MA
Wamp, Zach R-TN
Watson, Diane E. D-CA
Welch, Peter D-VT
Woolsey, Lynn C. D-CA
Wu, David D-OR
Yarmuth, John A. D-KY
In addition, McDermott, Jim (D-WA) switched from "yes" to "no," while Weller, Jerry (R-IL) initially didn't vote but then voted "yes."
Now of the above who switched from either an initial "no" or an initial "abstain" to a "yes" by the end of the week, which did not survive the 2008 election?
Only two: Knollenberg, Joe (R-MI) and Kuhl, John R. "Randy" (R-NY). (News accounts of their defeats here.) Clearly, if one suspects that the banking interests promised to take care of any representatives who were hurt by their TARP vote, Knollenberg and Kuhl would be the guys to investigate.
(Also of possible interest are Jim Ramstad [R-MN] who switched from "no" to "yes" but had already announced his retirement, Jerry Weller [R-IL] who initially didn't vote then said "yes" but had already announced his retirement, and Hilda Solis [D-CA] who switched from "no" to "yes" but was named Labor Secretary in the new Obama administration.)
Note that I didn't completely double-check the work of my assistant on this. I have made sure that Knollenberg, Kuhl, Ramstad, and Solis all switched their votes from "no" to "yes," and I have confirmed their fates as described above. However, I did not independently verify the long list above. So if you plan on doing your own work on this, before you run with a story it would be smart for you to verify everything yourself.
The way to do this is to check the Roll Call votes. Here is the list of Ayes (Yeas), Nays, Present, and Non Votes from the Monday vote (when TARP failed to pass), and here is the list from the Friday vote when it passed.
Also, if you want to verify who is still in office, use this.
Release the hounds!
UPDATE: There was some confusion because if you click on the link above for the roll call vote on the original TARP motion, it looks like I linked to the wrong thing. But I didn't. Here is the explanation (look at the "Note" for 9/29) in case you don't want to take my word for it. As is its wont, the House tried to tack on the TARP to a different bill, H.R. 3997.
For a while I have wanted to produce a stunning expose on how the financial sector took care of the Congressmen and women who lost their seats because they switched from "no" to "yes" on TARP back in October 2008. I have made some initial inquiries and paid someone to do the cross-referencing, but I don't have the time to dig into the people who fit the profile. Rather than sit on this for another few months, I decided to release my findings to the millions of internet journalists who may smell a rat.
Just to refresh everyone's memory, the House actually voted against the $700 billion TARP package the first time, on Monday, September 29, 2008. Then the Senate passed it, and the House voted again on Friday, October 3, 2008. This time it passed.
So what happened during that significant week? Obviously a bunch of representatives changed their votes. The following changed their initial "no" vote to "yes":
Abercrombie, Neil D-HI
Alexander, Rodney R-LA
Baca, Joe D-CA
Barrett, J. Gresham R-SC
Berkley, Shelley D-NV
Biggert, Judy R-IL
Boustany, Charles W. Jr. R-LA
Braley, Bruce L. D-IA
Buchanan, Vern R-FL
Carson, Andre D-IN
Cleaver, Emanuel D-MO
Coble, Howard R-NC
Conaway, K. Michael R-TX
Cuellar, Henry D-TX
Cummings, Elijah E. D-MD
Dent, Charles W. R-PA
Edwards, Donna F. D-MD
Fallin, Mary R-OK
Frelinghuysen, Rodney P. R-NJ
Gerlach, Jim R-PA
Giffords, Gabrielle D-AZ
Green, Al D-TX
Hirono, Mazie K. D-HI
Hoekstra, Peter R-MI
Jackson, Jesse Jr. D-IL
Jackson-Lee, Sheila D-TX
Kilpatrick, Carolyn C. D-MI
Knollenberg, Joe R-MI
Kuhl, John R. "Randy" R-NY
Lee, Barbara D-CA
Lewis, John D-GA
Mitchell, Harry E. D-AZ
Myrick, Sue Wilkins R-NC
Ortiz, Solomon P. D-TX
Pascrell, Bill Jr. D-NJ
Pastor, Ed D-AZ
Ramstad, Jim R-MN
Ros-Lehtinen, Ileana R-FL
Rush, Bobby L. D-IL
Schiff, Adam B. D-CA
Schmidt, Jean R-OH
Scott, David D-GA
Shadegg, John B. R-AZ
Shuster, Bill R-PA
Solis, Hilda D-CA
Sullivan, John R-OK
Sutton, Betty D-OH
Terry, Lee R-NE
Thompson, Mike D-CA
Thornberry, Mac R-TX
Tiberi, Patrick J. R-OH
Tierney, John F. D-MA
Wamp, Zach R-TN
Watson, Diane E. D-CA
Welch, Peter D-VT
Woolsey, Lynn C. D-CA
Wu, David D-OR
Yarmuth, John A. D-KY
In addition, McDermott, Jim (D-WA) switched from "yes" to "no," while Weller, Jerry (R-IL) initially didn't vote but then voted "yes."
Now of the above who switched from either an initial "no" or an initial "abstain" to a "yes" by the end of the week, which did not survive the 2008 election?
Only two: Knollenberg, Joe (R-MI) and Kuhl, John R. "Randy" (R-NY). (News accounts of their defeats here.) Clearly, if one suspects that the banking interests promised to take care of any representatives who were hurt by their TARP vote, Knollenberg and Kuhl would be the guys to investigate.
(Also of possible interest are Jim Ramstad [R-MN] who switched from "no" to "yes" but had already announced his retirement, Jerry Weller [R-IL] who initially didn't vote then said "yes" but had already announced his retirement, and Hilda Solis [D-CA] who switched from "no" to "yes" but was named Labor Secretary in the new Obama administration.)
Note that I didn't completely double-check the work of my assistant on this. I have made sure that Knollenberg, Kuhl, Ramstad, and Solis all switched their votes from "no" to "yes," and I have confirmed their fates as described above. However, I did not independently verify the long list above. So if you plan on doing your own work on this, before you run with a story it would be smart for you to verify everything yourself.
The way to do this is to check the Roll Call votes. Here is the list of Ayes (Yeas), Nays, Present, and Non Votes from the Monday vote (when TARP failed to pass), and here is the list from the Friday vote when it passed.
Also, if you want to verify who is still in office, use this.
Release the hounds!
UPDATE: There was some confusion because if you click on the link above for the roll call vote on the original TARP motion, it looks like I linked to the wrong thing. But I didn't. Here is the explanation (look at the "Note" for 9/29) in case you don't want to take my word for it. As is its wont, the House tried to tack on the TARP to a different bill, H.R. 3997.
Comments:
You put up a link for the wrong legislative vote for Sep. 29, 2008.
You linked to: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll674.xml
BILL TITLE: To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide earnings assistance and tax relief to members of the uniformed services, volunteer firefighters, and Peace Corps volunteers, and for other purposes
I think this is the right link for the Sep. 29 vote: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll671.xml
BILL TITLE: Rule providing for consideration of the Senate amendment to the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 3997, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.
You linked to: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll674.xml
BILL TITLE: To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide earnings assistance and tax relief to members of the uniformed services, volunteer firefighters, and Peace Corps volunteers, and for other purposes
I think this is the right link for the Sep. 29 vote: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll671.xml
BILL TITLE: Rule providing for consideration of the Senate amendment to the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 3997, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.
# posted by 
: January 24, 2010 at 12:35 AM
: January 24, 2010 at 12:35 AM
Anon, if you look again at your suggested link, you will see that the House apparently passed the Tarp on the first vote! Conspiracy!
I will confirm Lynn Woolsey voted as you said, me and my friends called, faxed and e-mailed to invite her to vote no, to thank her for voting no the first time, to invite her to vote no the second time, and getting promises from whoever answers her phones that she would vote no. She voted yes. She is in a very safe district, she ran nominally unopposed.
# posted by : January 24, 2010 at 1:29 AM
: January 24, 2010 at 1:29 AM
What is the incumbency rate for a house of Representative?
# posted by : January 24, 2010 at 1:58 AM
: January 24, 2010 at 1:58 AM
Gresham Barret did indeed vote for the bigger bailout, the second time around.
He has also recently tried to pass legislation that would deport all citizens from Iran, Nigeria, etc.
I live in SC and have contacted our state paper (ominously, its title is..."The State") but they have refused to mention Barret's deportation desires.
Can these newspapers hurry the hell up and go out of business already??!??
He has also recently tried to pass legislation that would deport all citizens from Iran, Nigeria, etc.
I live in SC and have contacted our state paper (ominously, its title is..."The State") but they have refused to mention Barret's deportation desires.
Can these newspapers hurry the hell up and go out of business already??!??
# posted by : January 24, 2010 at 6:38 PM
: January 24, 2010 at 6:38 PM
Look no further than ex-Sen. John Sununu (R-NH). He didn't switch his vote, but he has been taken care of since he went down in defeat probably due to his YES vote on TARP.
He was given a seat on the Congressional Oversight Panel (COP) for the Troubled Asset Relief Program funds.
He was then appointed to the Board of Managers of ConvergEx Holdings, a holding company for BNY ConvergEx Group, an affiliate of Bank of New York Mellon, which holds a 33.8 percent stake in BNY ConvergEx Group.
Coincidence?
He was given a seat on the Congressional Oversight Panel (COP) for the Troubled Asset Relief Program funds.
He was then appointed to the Board of Managers of ConvergEx Holdings, a holding company for BNY ConvergEx Group, an affiliate of Bank of New York Mellon, which holds a 33.8 percent stake in BNY ConvergEx Group.
Coincidence?
# posted by : January 24, 2010 at 6:58 PM
: January 24, 2010 at 6:58 PM
One of these days, I'm going to my local library to hunt for Detroit Free Press articles cheerleading the bailouts. My recollection was that there was a non-stop drum beat by the MSM attempting to shame the Republicans into switching their TARP votes.
And it worked.
And it worked.
# posted by : January 25, 2010 at 9:48 AM
: January 25, 2010 at 9:48 AM
One of these days, I'm going to my local library to hunt for Detroit Free Press articles cheerleading the bailouts. My recollection was that there was a non-stop drum beat by the MSM attempting to shame the Republicans into switching their TARP votes.
And it worked.
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And it worked.
# posted by : January 25, 2010 at 9:48 AM
: January 25, 2010 at 9:48 AM Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
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