October 24, 2008
Despite Warnings, Patrick McHenry (R-NC) backed Subprime Loans
More information about McHenry’s involvement in the whole economy crisis- you know, other than taking exorbitant amounts of money from banks and now being mysteriously missing to finance hearings:
After viewing Patrick McHenry’s political ad smearing his opponent, I was shocked. McHenry doesn’t want to tell people about his record. He wants to throw mud at a worthy opponent.
Having served two terms on the Financial Services Committee of the House of Representatives, Patrick McHenry defended subprime lending even after economists cautioned that the risk to the economy was great.
McHenry favored deregulation policies while at the same time accepting $800,000 from financial services companies AIG, Bear Stearns, Washington Mutual, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Who do you think McHenry really represents on this committee?
Of course, the irony here is that he has been speaking out against fixes:
“I didn’t go to Washington to frivolously spend your dollars,” McHenry said.
“The challenge here is figuring out what is actually happening with the financial industry.”
He then launched into a short explanation about mortage backed securities and their effect on Wall Street.
The congressman railed against the bailout and advocated a free market solution, citing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as a model.
Ironically, McHenry has not only been wasting political campaign funds (donated by supporters such as his listeners at this speech) on expenditures like $700 rock concert tickets,but he’s also talking ridiculously about what he doesn’t understand- McHenry’s “free market solution”, while generally admirable, is mainly about deregulating abusive banks (that donate to his campaign)- which even Alan Greenspan is beginning to say he was wrong about.
Of course, we here at RAPMcH have nothing against free market economies- but when fat cats up in Washington such as Patrick McHenry use the concept of a free market to protect shady bankers who use golden parachutes to escape the financial crisis before it crashes, we have an issue. That kind of economy is not a free economy, it’s an unfair economy- an economy made unfair by people like Patrick McHenry.
