Issue Position: Banking and Housing Reforms Increasing YOUR Debt and Decreasing Your Ability to Get Loans

Issue Position

Amidst one of the worst financial downturns in American history, the Democratic Party took control the White House and retained control of the Congress. They promised new leadership and change. Unfortunately, the leadership and change that they provided was one focused on growing government, saddling the American people with debt and encumbering business with miles and miles of unnecessary red-tape.

While I agree that some reforms were needed in the banking and housing industries, I do not believe the solution is more government. Instead of solving what, in most cases, was an issue with enforcement issue, or the lack there of, the Democrats decided to push a far-left agenda that will hurt economic growth and job creation for many years to come.

H.R. 4173 - Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010
I did not and do not support the Democrat financial reform package. While the final package is a slight improvement from Barney Frank's original bill, the regulations in H.R. 4173 will ultimately make it harder for ordinary Americans to get loans. Additionally, this bill will greatly increase the cost of getting those loans and will reduce consumer choice in the market. Overall, the Financial Reform bill will affect everything from meat and produce prices to home loans to pension plans. This was a bad bill and the Democrats should be ashamed for writing it.

S. 896 - Helping Families Save Their Homes Act/H.R. 1106 - The Democrat Housing Cramdown
S. 896 and H.R. 1106 were very similar pieces of legislation, with one key difference, a mortgage "cramdown."

Overall, S.896 helped increase the number of loans refinanced through the Hope for Homeowners program, a program which authorizes $300 billion of FHA loan guarantees and helped homeowners work out their mortgages and ultimately stay in their homes. Meanwhile, H.R. 1106, a previous version of S. 896, contained a "cramdown" provision that would have allowed judges to write down the value of mortgages, a provision that Nancy Pelosi and Barney Frank wanted and a provision which I refused to support. By allowing these judges to "cramdown" mortgages, we would have punished the vast majority of Americans who either rented or took out mortgages they could afford. These are people that did not take fancy vacations or buy new cars. They cut coupons, carpooled, made their mortgage payments and are continuing to do so. For this reason, I could not support H.R. 1106. However, once Democratic leaders got the message and did not include this "cramdown" provision in S.896, I finally supported this important legislation.

H.R. 627 - Credit Cardholders Bill of Right Act of 2009
This bill protected cardholders against arbitrary interest rate increases and due-date gimmicks, prevents cardholders who pay on time from being unfairly penalized and prohibits card companies from imposing excessive fees on cardholders. Additionally, it prohibited credit cards from being issued and offered to people under age 21, unless they meet certain criteria. The worst thing we can do is have our children fall into debt at such an early age.

H.R. 1586 - To impose an additional tax on bonuses received from certain TARP recipients
Like many Americans, I was shocked and enraged by the actions of companies that received bailout funds, especially A.I.G. I supported H.R. 1586 to send a clear message to A.I.G. and other bailout recipients that Congress and the American people would not tolerate lavish vacations and huge bonuses on the taxpayer dollars.

Bills Sponsored:

H.J. Res 27 - Safeguarding America's Future Economy (SAFE) Act
I sponsored this resolution to create the Joint Select Committee on Long-Term Financial Security. This committee will be a proactive, bipartisan and bicameral committee that would assess big-picture risks and threats to the U.S. financial system. Members would hear testimony from economists, industry experts and policy makers of how best to maintain the solvency and stability of the U.S. financial system, reports their findings to Congress and making policy recommendations when applicable. Ultimately this committee would serve as an early warning mechanism for potential financial downturns, ensures that a financial crisis, like the in which we are currently involved, does not happen again.

Bills Cosponsored:

H.R. 1317 - Providing a tax credit to individuals who pay their mortgages on time
This bill would give a $5,000 refundable tax credit to everyone who made all their mortage payments on time. This bill is a way for hard working American families to keep more of the money they earn so they can keep acting responsibly and help our economy grow. Just because responsible homeowners are paying their mortgages on time does not mean they don't need help. I was happy to cosponsor this legislation.

H.R. 1207 - Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009
Ron Paul is a good friend of mine and I was proud to cosponsor his legislation to allow the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to audit the Federal Reserve System. H.R. 1207 will provide much needed Congressional oversight over the Federal Reserve and will, in the long-run, lead to a healthier and more stable economy. This legislation was one of few bright pieces of the Democrat Wall Street Reform bill.

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