[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 16]
[House]
[Page 22899]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    THE PLAN FOR FINANCIAL SALVATION

  (Mr. POE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, they say it's going to be Y2K all over again. 
Remember all the media hype about the date January 1, 2000--that the 
worldwide computer systems would fail, that financial records and 
transactions would be lost and go haywire and that the world would be 
gloom and doom and despair?
  This is the same politics of fear we are hearing from the fat cat 
financial bullies from Wall Street.
  They say Congress must save them from their financial sins before the 
stock markets open tomorrow or the country will fall into the abyss. So 
Congress is working on a plan in the back rooms of this Capitol. There 
are no public congressional hearings, no witnesses before committees. 
This Sunday, the plan for financial salvation to save us all is being 
discussed by only a few in the shadows of this great hall.
  Doesn't sound like a good way to run the business of Congress.
  Backroom deals have always troubled me because they usually turn out 
to be bad deals for Americans. The irresponsible elites in New York 
City who caused this financial mess should bear the blame and the cost 
or there should be no deal. However I suspect that Americans will be 
held financially hostage until they pay the ransom for Wall Street's 
salvation.
  By the way, the Y2K scare was just a mythical hoax. And that's just 
the way it is.

                          ____________________