[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 17]
[House]
[Page 24011]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    THE POLITICS OF FEAR WON THE DAY

  (Mr. POE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, the politics of fear has won the day. The 
Secretary of Treasury has in essence told the country, ``Give me money 
and give it to me by the close of the business day or the country is 
going into the financial abyss.''
  His fear tactics have caused the stock markets to tumble, and by 
putting a financial shotgun to the head of America, he has collected a 
$700 billion ransom to pay for the financial mistakes of Wall Street. 
There are two problems: we still don't know what he's going to do with 
America's money; and second, those who caused this mess are the ones 
who will profit from their bad gambling debts.
  These Wall Street elites are free market capitalists until they start 
making mistakes, and rather than pay, they arrogantly expect Americans 
who did nothing wrong to pay the cost.
  Well, I didn't come to Congress to sell out to Wall Street and let 
Americans be ripped off by intimidation tactics. Americans should not 
be expected to pay for the sins of the Wall Street money barons.
  But the bill that passed today benefits a few in New York City; it 
raises taxes; there is no assurance it will even solve the problem; and 
the good old American patriot is left holding the bag because of the 
politics of fear.
  And that's just the way it is.

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