Open Letter: Congresswoman Barbara Lee Double-Cross Over $700 Billion Bailout Package

ATTN: Rep. Lee Double-Cross Over $700 Billion Bailout Package

Friday, October 3, 2008 2:57 PM

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"Lynda Carson"
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For Immediate Release

Contact: Lynda Carson 510/763-1085

October 3, 2008

ATTN: Rep. Lee Double-Cross Over $700 Billion Bailout Package

Oakland -- In a colossal political blunder, Congresswoman Barbara Lee double-crossed her constituency and voted for H.R. 3997, the $700 billion bailout scheme to enrich the billionaires on Wall Street.

On September 29, 2008 Congresswoman Barbara Lee sent out an e-mail in opposition to the $700 billion Wall Street bailout scheme, which encouraged tens of thousands more to speak out and voice their opposition to the scam of the century.

After ignoring hundreds of thousands of phone calls by constituents opposed to the $700 billion Wall Street bailout scheme, the democratic leadership including Rep. Barbara Lee decided to stick it to their constituents in a double-cross that will never be forgotten.

There were over 83,000 phone calls alone made to Senator Dianne Feinstein before sticking it to her constituents, by siding with the War Criminals of the Bush Administration in the bailout scheme known as cash for trash.

Meanwhile in Oakland, Congresswoman Barbara Lee has ignored the plight of 3,885 poor public housing tenants facing the loss of their public housing while the Oakland Housing Authority recently voted to dispose of 1,615 public housing units.

(Oakland plans to abandon the poor in public housing)
http://postnewsgroup.net/2008/09/15/oakland-plans-to-abandon-the-poor-in-public-housing/

Along with thousands of Oakland's poor public housing tenants being forced out of Oakland's public housing due to a lack of funding, over 500 low-income renters of Oakland also face eviction after being abandoned by Oakland Community Housing, Inc., Oakland city officials, and Congresswoman Barbara Lee.
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/07/17/18516962.php

Oakland residents and the democratic constituents of the Bay Area are outraged that there seems to be plenty of money ($700 billion & more) for the bailout scheme for wealthy billionaires on Wall Street who have ripped off the American public, while Congresswoman Barbara Lee and the democratic leadership ignore the plight of Oakland's poor being dumped out of their public housing.

See below for September 29, 2008 e-mail from Congresswoman Barbara Lee, to Lynda Carson.

Lynda Carson may be reached at; tenantsrule [at] yahoo.com


--- On Mon, 9/29/08, Congresswoman Barbara Lee wrote:
From: Congresswoman Barbara Lee
Subject: Congresswoman Lee Opposes Bailout Package, Leads Peacemakers Legislation to House Passage
To: "Lynda Carson"
Date: Monday, September 29, 2008, 6:06 AM

Congresswoman Lee Opposes Bailout Package, Leads Peacemakers Legislation to House Passage

In Opposition to the Massive Financial Bailout 09/29/08
Congresswoman Lee opposed the financial bailout bill that was considered by the House today. She voted against H.R. 3997, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, which failed on a vote of 205-228. 

(See September 29, 2008 full Congresswoman Barbara Lee statement below...)


Congresswoman Lee Opposes Massive Bailout
09/29/08

Legislation Would Have Rewarded Predatory and Subprime Lenders

Washington D.C.- Today Congresswoman Barbara Lee delivered the following statement on the House floor in opposition to the financial bailout bill considered today. The Congresswoman voted against the bill, which failed by a vote of 205-228.   

“Thank you Madame Speaker and thank you Mr. Frank, the Chairman of the Financial Services Committee, for his efforts to improve the administration’s $700 billion blank check proposal.   

“As a former member of the House Financial Services Committee for eight years, I can tell you that the situation we find ourselves in is the direct result of the deregulation happy, turn a blind- eye approach of this administration and its allies in Congress.
 
“Now we see the horrific price of these reckless deregulation policies.  More than 600,000 Americans have lost their jobs since January.  People need jobs to obtain credit and to pay their rent.   They need jobs to pay their mortgages or to put money in their 401k or retirement account.  Millions of people are living paycheck to paycheck, if they have a paycheck.

“Home foreclosures are skyrocketing, and home values are plunging, banks are failing and we are still spending more than $10 billion every month on a war in Iraq that should never have been waged.

“So there is no question that we are confronting an economic and financial crisis.

“But I’m convinced that this bailout plan is not the solution to this mess.  

“First, it does little to address the underlying problem – the foreclosure crisis. We need a moratorium on foreclosures and bankruptcy reform to help people stay in their homes.

“Second, this bill should be paid for by the high-flying industry that created this problem.   $700 billion should not be given to Wall Street and the Bush Administration unless those who cause this mess pay for it. We should also prohibit the tax deductibility -and my bill the Income Equity Act  (HR 3876) would do this across the board -  of executive compensation in any company where the highest paid corporate officer is paid more than 25 the times the pay of a bailed-out company’s lowest-paid worker.  

“And third, we need an economic stimulus package to deal with the crushing reality of the recession that is hitting people hard and growing every day.

“I cannot vote to reward those predatory and subprime lenders who are creating such havoc in the lives of millions of Americans. 

“There is a better way.”

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