December 11, 2009
VOTE "YES" ON MOTION TO RECOMMIT H.R. 4173
Mr. Chris Murphy
P.O. Box 127
Cheshire, CT 0641
Cheshire, CT 0641
Dear Representative Murphy:
On behalf of hundreds of thousands of FreedomWorks members nationwide, I urge you to VOTE YES on the Republican’s MOTION TO RECOMMIT H.R. 4173, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009. As you know, this motion will strike the permanent bailout bill Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) has presented
and instead start fixing how Washington deals with Wall Street by ending the unprecedented bailout that is the wildly unpopular Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP). It will also substantially reduce the national debt by putting to that end the TARP dollars that would otherwise go to Wall Street and the politically connected. This may even avert the unpopular $1.8 trillion increase to the debt ceiling Democrat leaders are about to call for.
With a federal deficit of $1.4 trillion responsible for part of its historically low approval rating, Congress should be clamoring for an opportunity to reduce the deficit by spending less. House Republicans have presented a golden opportunity to do so with this vote to end TARP. Not only is it good policy, it is also good politics.
FreedomWorks vocally opposed the Wall Street bailout last fall when President Bush worked with Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Reid to pass TARP. Before the initial vote, FreedomWorks Chairman and Ph.D. economist Dick Armey wrote, “As a free-market economist I unequivocally oppose this legislation
because it violates the basic working tenets of free-market capitalism and individual responsibility. Granting the Treasury broad authority to buy troubled assets from private entities poses a significant threat to taxpayers and fundamentally alters the relationship between the private economy and the federal government.”
The American people instinctively knew this and have been doing everything thing in their power all year to help Congress understand similarly. Your vote for this Motion to Recommit H.R. 4173 is your opportunity to let the American people know you have heard them—and at the same time correct a terrible policy mistake.
While it will not undo all the damage TARP has done to the economy and to the credibility of any Member who both voted for TARP who also wants to be considered fiscally responsible, it will prevent further damage. The motion calls for the unspent and returned funds from the ended $786 billion TARP program to go toward
paying down the national debt—a position with broad bipartisan support.
We will count your vote on the MOTION TO RECOMMIT H.R. 4173 as a KEY VOTE when calculating the FreedomWorks Economic Freedom Scorecard for 2009. The Economic Freedom Scorecard is used to determine eligibility for the Jefferson Award, which recognizes members of Congress with voting records that
support economic freedom.
Sincerely,
Roger C. Wise
3 Fox Run, New Fairfield, CT 06812
(203) 746-5492
