Greater Boston Tea Party Not Happy with Scott Brown

The Greater Boston Tea Party has put out this press release regarding the vote to approve the flawed financial reform bill by three Republicans, including their Senator Scott Brown.

Previous versions of the bill did nothing to correct Fannie and Freddie, prevent future bailouts, or allow for a thorough audit of the private bank known as the Federal Reserve, which most tea partiers are coming to understand are the cause of most of our financial woes.

Congressman Ron Paul’s HR 1207 had 320 co-sponsors mostly GOP but by the time it go to the vote, it was watered down considerably. A similar bill, S 604, is pending in the Senate.

Note that the NHTPC does NOT support or endorse candidates but apparently the group in Mass did support Brown but to what extent we are not sure.

July 12, 2010
Greater Boston Tea Party releases statement on Senator Scott Brown’s decision to vote YES on Financial Reform Bill.

Boston, Mass. – The leadership and members of the Greater Boston Tea Party, along with tea party and conservative activists across the Commonwealth are greatly disappointed in Senator Brown’s announcement that he will vote yes on the Financial Reform Bill. After weeks of debate and a thorough investigation of the bill and its possible effects on the economy, small businesses, community banks and consumers, we are at a loss as to what redeeming qualities Senator Brown found in the bill worthy of support.

Scott Brown promised in the fall of 2009 to stand up for free markets and constitutional principles. A yes vote on this bill – a bill that disregards Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, greatly expands executive authority and reach, creates a perpetual and permanent bail-out system and fosters the creation of even more bureaucracy – defies the commitment he made to thousands of activists and donors across the nation who swept him in to office in January in one of the biggest political upsets of all time.

Tea party activists will continue to independently support candidates and current representatives that adhere to our constitutional principles of limited government, free markets and individual Liberty. If Senator Brown wants our continued support, he must consider how legislation he supports upholds these principles.
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Senator Brown’s Statement
My Vote On Financial Reform
by: Senator Scott Brown
Mon Jul 12, 2010 at 17:35:10 PM EDT

I want to take this opportunity to clearly lay out some of the reasons that informed my decision to support the Wall Street reform bill.

Over the July recess, I once again reviewed the legislation in its entirety to ensure that nothing else had been slipped into the bill that would prevent me from supporting it. After finishing reading it, I decided that while the bill was far from perfect, it was vastly improved from the version we started with at the beginning of this process. In my opinion, it includes important measures that will help prevent another meltdown like the one in 2008 that left millions of Americans out of work and saw our economy take its worst dip since the Great Depression.

While reasonable people can disagree about the details, the vast majority of Americans believe we need to take steps to prevent future taxpayer-funded bailouts of the banks. We had a choice: do nothing, or try to address a real problem that shook the financial foundation of our country.

This bill is not funded through higher taxes, which, as you know, is a non-starter with me anytime, particularly now when nearly one in ten Americans is unemployed and our economy is still struggling. During the conference committee negotiations, a $19 billion tax increase was slipped into the 2,300 page legislation in the dead of night. This was simply unacceptable to me, and I could not support the bill until this tax was removed.

Other helpful provisions in the legislation include:

• An audit of the Federal Reserve to examine the emergency lending that took place during the heart of the financial crisis;

• New requirements that take steps toward ending the “too big to fail” mentality among banks;

• Helps end bailouts so American taxpayers never again have to be on the hook;

• Measures that prevent banks from acting like casinos by eliminating loopholes that allowed risky and abusive practices to go on unnoticed and unregulated;

• Strengthens enforcement of existing laws to stop Bernie Madoff type fraud by Wall Street executives so that American families and businesses are protected;

• Lowers interchange fees for Main Street businesses so they can continue being economic engines in their communities and protect consumers who feel the impact of these increased fees, as much of the cost is often passed onto them.

I agree that we still need to significantly change the way Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac do business, as both played a large part in the financial meltdown and must be addressed in the future. I will continue to push to determine what role these entities had on the financial meltdown and ensure they are held accountable.

As I said when I first came to Washington, I remain committed to reviewing each and every piece of legislation that comes before me and make sure it’s good for my state, doesn’t raise taxes and helps our economy. As I have done during my short time in office, I will continue to approach each bill in an open-minded manner and review it on its merits rather than its political supporters. At times, you may disagree with my final decisions, but know that each vote I cast is taken after very serious consideration and review of the issue and is with the very best interests of the citizens of Massachusetts and the country first and foremost.