Buck McKeon Votes Against Creating 8,400 New Jobs in His Own District

The White House released a report today estimating the employment impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The report estimates:

The compromise package of $789 billion will create or save 3.5 million jobs over the next two years. Jobs created will be in a range of industries from clean energy to health care, with over 90% in the private sector.

According to the report, California Congressional District 25 (nominally represented by Buck McKeon) will get an estimated 8,400 jobs.

Buck McKeon voted against the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Therefore, he voted against jobs for 8,400 citizens whom he represents.

Did Buck McKeon just vote against your next job?

Not to worry. On November 2, 2010 you can vote against his.

Buck McKeon to Blame for Economic Disaster

This week Time published its 25 People to Blame for the Financial Crisis.

Included on the list are such familiar faces as Phil Gramm (#1), George W. Bush (#16), Alan Greenspan (#17), Hank Paulson (#18), and Bill Clinton (#23).

Congressman Buck McKeon did not make the top 25, but he surely shares some of the blame.

The two pieces of legislation that led directly to the current financial crisis were the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and the Commodity Futures Modernization Act.

Phil Gramm is #1 on the list for crafting and pushing these disastrous bills.

Bill Clinton is #23 because he signed them into law after they were passed by the Republican Congress.

The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act repealed the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act, which regulated the banking industry for the express purpose of preventing another Great Depression.

The Commodity Futures Modernization Act deregulated credit default swaps, which were a primary cause of our economic collapse.

Former banker Buck McKeon voted for both of these Republican bills.

Former Republican Senator Phil Gramm may be the person most responsible for the current economic disaster, but he couldn't have succeeded in destroying our economy without the rubber-stamp votes of fellow Republicans like Buck McKeon.

Buck McKeon Votes Against the Biggest Tax Cut in History

Congress today passed the biggest tax cut in history.

Buck McKeon voted against it.

President Obama is expected to sign the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 within days. The "stimulus bill" contains $282 billion in tax cuts over two years. Most Americans — an estimated 95% — will receive some tax relief. The middle class will benefit most. The rich? Not so much.

Under former President Bush, rubber-stamp Republican Buck McKeon repeatedly voted to give tax cuts to multinational corporations and high-flying billionaires. He voted to spend $700 billion to make sure investment bankers didn't lose their year-end bonuses.

Now he votes against tax cuts for the middle class.

Of course, Buck McKeon doesn't represent the middle class. Never has. He's counting on his big-money donors to save him from the wrath of middle-class voters in 2010.

Good luck, Buck.

Buck McKeon: Usurer

Before he became a congressman, Buck McKeon was a banker. As a banker, he lent money at interest. Lending money at interest is usury. Usury is a sin.

In the Inferno, Dante consigned usurers to the seventh circle of Hell, along with blasphemers and sodomites. Early and medieval Christians believed that loaning money at interest was evil, because the Bible told them so:

If thou lend money to any of My people, even to the poor with thee, thou shalt not be to him as a creditor; neither shall ye lay upon him interest.
— Exodus 22:24

And if thy brother be waxen poor, and his means fail with thee; then thou shalt uphold him: as a stranger and a settler shall he live with thee. Take thou no interest of him or increase; but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee. Thou shalt not give him thy money upon interest, nor give him thy victuals for increase.
— Leviticus 25:35-37

Thou shalt not lend upon interest to thy brother: interest of money, interest of victuals, interest of any thing that is lent upon interest. Unto a foreigner thou mayest lend upon interest; but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon interest; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all that thou puttest thy hand unto, in the land whither thou goest in to possess it.
— Deuteronomy 23:20-21

But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great.
— Luke 6:35

Even pagans thought banking was evil:

"And what do you think of usury?"
"What do you think of murder?"
— Cato, De Re Rustica

Today, we no longer think of usury as evil. Few would equate banking with murder. Even good Christians, who once considered banking to be as sinful as homosexuality or taking the Lord's name in vain, now embrace usury as a central and necessary part of modern life. Most Christians want to be like Christ — except, of course, for the whole poverty thing.

Buck McKeon was once a usurer. Now he's a congressman who voted to give $700 billion to usurers (rather than, say, to help the poor).

Maybe that's not un-Christian. Maybe that's not a sin.

I suppose he'll find out when he's dead.

Buck McKeon Votes Against Funding "No Child Left Behind"

Congressman Buck McKeon was for the No Child Left Behind Act before he was against it.

He voted for Bush's initiative in 2001, but this week he voted against fully funding it. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 includes $26 billion for the No Child Left Behind Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Perhaps it's not surprising, given Buck McKeon's anti-education voting record. After all, the National Education Associates gave Buck McKeon a truly dismal %25 rating on education issues.

Buck McKeon wants to eat his cake and have it too. He wants to pretend he supports education, while he tries to obstruct every attempt by Democrats to educate kids, repair schools, and help students earn a college degree.

Buck McKeon Stimulates Bankers, Sticks It to Workers

Former banker Buck McKeon voted for the $700 billion banker bailout, but against the creating jobs for low-income and middle-class workers.

In today's address, President Obama takes note of this outrage:

Last year Congress passed a plan to rescue the financial system. While the package helped avoid a financial collapse, many are frustrated by the results -- and rightfully so. Too often taxpayer dollars have been spent without transparency or accountability. Banks have been extended a hand, but homeowners, students, and small businesses that need loans have been left to fend on their own.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is supported by many Republican governors, but not by obstructionist Buck McKeon, who wants socialism for Wall Street and Darwinism for Main Street.

Here is President Obama's address in full:

Buck McKeon "Frightened" by His Own Policies

In explaining his vote against the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the stimulus bill), obstructionist Buck McKeon issued a shockingly hypocritical statement, saying:

With California’s unemployment rate up over 9%, it is clear that Congress has to act, but adding an astounding $1.1 trillion to the nation’s deficit for spending and growing the government is a frightening proposition.

If $1.1 trillion in proposed deficit spending is frightening now, just think how much more frightened Buck McKeon must have been at the $11.5 trillion spent during the Bush administration, which Buck McKeon supported.

The Bush-era spending that Buck McKeon supported:

Wall Street Bailouts - $6 trillion
Iraq and Afghanistan - $3 trillion
Tax Cuts and Deficit Spending - $2 trillion
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita - $270 billion
9/11 - $260 billion

Oh, and that 9% California unemployment rate? That's a direct result of eight years of Republican policies, which Buck McKeon voted for every step of the way.