On October 31, Rep. Steven LaTourette announced that the House Committee on Financial Services would be holding hearings on November 12th and 18th to explore the potentially improper use of bailout funds.

 

In a deal that raised red flags throughout the financial world, PNC was given $7.7 billion in bailout money to fund the purchase of National City Bank in Cleveland, OH.  This amount is nearly double the 3% payment that PNC was entitled to under the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) rules.

 

With this deal, the Treasury Department not only hand-picked a winner (PNC) and a loser (National City), but it used old fashion cronyism to get the deal done.

 

John Dugan, Comptroller of the Currency, once worked for PNC Bank and should not have been placed in charge of this buyout.

 

Whenever tax dollars are spent, there should be transparency and oversight.  I pray that the Finance Committee hearings will uncover any wrongdoing and provide a better way forward for the use of TARP funds.

 

 

As we enter into an era of new leadership in America, I will continue to work to reform our government back to the constitutional principles that made it great.  Though Mr. Obama has supported far-left positions as a Senator, I hope he will embrace his executive role by becoming a bipartisan leader and taking care to treat all sides fairly.

 

The federal government must be made to better serve the people and we can only achieve that by returning to the original intent of our founding fathers.  If the current financial crisis has taught us anything, it has shown that government involvement in the marketplace and reactionary legislation have unintended consequences that can lead to massive problems.

 

America is full of promise and can achieve untold greatness if only the government would trust its citizens.  Barack Obama has inspired many thousands during this election. I hope he will use his influence and talents to lead and not be involved in pushing a partisan agenda.  Through leadership and reform, we can earn new public trust in our nation’s government.

 

I was amazed to see so many first-time voters in this election.  I pray that these new voters will watch their government, educate themselves, and fire the elected officials who do a poor job.  The American people hold the power in this nation - not the political bosses and lobbyists.  Let us work in the 111th Congress to give the power back to the people and get the gorilla of big government off of their backs.

 

 

Voters in California on Tuesday passed Proposition 8, which is an amendment to the California state constitution that recognizes marriage as only between a man and a woman.  This vote is a huge victory for traditional family values.  In fact, not only did traditional marriage win in California, but it was also victorious in Arizona and Florida.

 

However, there are still those who refuse to accept the rule of the people, the rule of their state constitution, and the Judeo-Christian morals upon which our country was founded. 

 

The mayor of San Francisco has declared that he will continue to marry same-sex couples until someone sues him for it.  There are already at least three challenges to Proposition 8 in California’s courts.  When will liberals stop trying to impose their views on the rest of the country?  Have they no respect for the will of the people and rule of law?

 

Elected officials serve Americans by enforcing the law.  When a sitting mayor refuses to acknowledge the rule of the people, he is himself in violation of the law and should be removed.

 

It seems likely that the same California Supreme Court who overruled the earlier rule of the people will now hear the challenges to Proposition 8’s passage.  I pray that they will see the error of their ways and protect the will of the people. 

 

If a ratified constitutional amendment is not even recognized as being constitutional, do we truly have a government “of the people”?  This is a country of all the people, not of the liberal minority in California.  We must end this unconstitutional practice of legislating from the bench.  Judges are empowered to enforce the law, not create their own.

 

I have proposed an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would end these silly challenges and recognize the natural right of marriage as being between one man and one woman.  I will continue this fight!