Barton against bailout

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October 19, 2008

Anonymous The Corsicana Daily Sun Sun Oct 19, 2008, 08:08 PM CDT

By Janet Jacobs

Daily Sun

U.S. Congressman Joe Barton (R), Ennis, of the Sixth District, which includes Navarro County, voted against the $700 billion bailout, and he came to Corsicana last week, partly to explain to residents why.

“It didn’t solve the problem, it was too expensive, and there were no limits on the secretary of the treasury,” Barton said. “And our debt ceiling is increasing with no fundamental change in fiscal policy.”

Barton is conservative about a lot of things, money in particular, and he’s not hopeful that throwing big money at Wall Street and banks is going to help, and it may make matters worse by increasing the federal government’s debt.

“I’ve been around too long to vote for something that’s going to make the voters sign a blank check,” Barton said. “We do need to do something for the economy, not just such a hands-off approach. But we need a comprehensive plan that’s not going to increase debt and taxes.”

Barton feels confident in winning reelection to the U.S. House of Representatives. His challengers are Democrat Ludwig Otto and Libertarian Max Koch III, neither of whom are well-funded or well-publicized.

However, he’s less confident about the chances of the Republicans regaining control of the House of Representatives, or the Senate.

“Because President Bush is a Republican, most people blame the Republicans for the (economic) crisis,” he said. “I was optimistic about the Republicans because of our insistence on a rational energy plan, but because of the financial meltdown, it’s going to hurt Republicans.”

His solution is more conservative than the treasury secretary’s.

“We’ve got to fundamentally restore faith in the dollar, and to do that, we’ve got to try to bring spending in line with tax revenue,” he said. “We haven’t tried to do that in four or five years.”

Budget reconciliation, which requires spending and income to be in line, was last used in 2006, Barton said, adding: “The last time the GOP was in charge.”

Barton, along with the rest of Congress, is on hiatus until January, when the next session begins, or unless there’s a special called session to vote on an economic stimulus plan. If so, it will be a “lame duck” session, after the Nov. 4 election, which means those members of Congress who weren’t reelected will have their wings effectively clipped. He also anticipates it will be a frustrating session for him and other Republicans in the House.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, runs a partisan ship, not allowing much discussion or negotiation, and Republican-proposed alternatives don’t stand a chance, he said.

“There’s little chance for alternative policy package or amendments, but not much of this has been allowed in the last two years,” Barton said.

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Janet Jacobs may be reached via e-mail at jacobs@corsicanadailysun.com

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