Gohmert says there will be accountability

Congressman Gohmert talks to civic groups on why he voted "no" on the recent economic bailout. Gohmert said creating fear was not the answer. Louie Gohmert, who represents the 1st Congressional District of Texas in the U.S. House of Representatives, said he was glad to be in East Texas among friends, away from the "mess" going on in Washington.

Gohmert, who last week voted "no" on the $700 billion economic bailout bill which ultimately passed both houses of Congress, likened the way the matter has been handled by President George Bush and Secretary of the Treasury Henry M. Paulson to "fear mongering."

"This country was founded on the principal of keeping kings from controlling all the assets of the country as in the case of King George, which started a revolution," said Gohmert. "The (current economic) fear was presented by Paulson in reference to the stock market crash of 1929 and how Congress needed to act now to prevent this."

The truth is, community and commercial banks are in good shape, said Gohmert.

"Paulson wanted to guarantee money market accounts, not the money in bank accounts," said Gohmert. "This statement caused a run on banks with people taking out any cash over the FDIC insured amount of $100,000 per account."

His presentation Thursday at Meadowbrook Country Club was for members of the Kilgore Lions, Rotary and Kiwanis clubs, as well as interested citizens.

The bailout was for Paulson's buddies on Wall Street, said Gohmert.

"It wasn't until weeks later, when Paulson was pressured, he admitted he saw this coming over a year ago," Gohmert added.

"This bill violates every principle our country was founded on. That is why I had to vote no," he said.

"The principle is simple: this bill promotes socialism, not capitalism which is what has made this country the greatest country in the world. Socialism is what caused the demise of the Soviet Union, even though they managed to hang on for 70 years," said Gohmert. "And now Paulson is calling for the government to buy interest in major banks across the country, and this is wrong."

He said the government was never intended to take over the finance system.

"What we had was greed, an evil thing, and that is why rules need to be put in place," said Gohmert. "Wall Street CEOs were saying this was a moral issue, when in reality it was a vested interest."

The congressman said he "made the mistake of reading the guts of the bill."

"Any decision to be made on what companies to bail out is at the discretion of Paulson," said Gohmert. "House Republicans did manage to get oversights in the bill, alternatives to certain issues such as FCI insurance on securities."

He said there were a lot of great proposals on the table such as mortgage-backed securities, but the bottom line was Paulson has the discretion to use or not to use these options.

"East Texas is in pretty good shape. There is money to be borrowed, whether its for a car, house or furniture, but with the fear that has been put out by the government, people who could be boosting the economy are afraid to take the chance. This freezes the economy," said Gohmert. "I understand the law and Paulson wants an unfettered ability to do what he wants said Gohmert.

He said on top of all of this, now the government not only is buying up all of the assets and controlling the finance, but to oversee the assets Paulson wants to outsource the job to the very people that cause the problem in the first place.

"Now it's not just Jesus saves, socialism will also save us, according to Paulson. This country was founded on a free market and with the private sector reinvesting in this country it will take us out of this crisis and this country will be great for another 200 years," said Gohmert.

That is why when the vote was taken and the bill was passed, Gohmert said he was "devastated, just crushed."

"What the country needed was the bad people to get punished, the stock market will rebound. Even now there are a lot of great stock buys out there for investors," said Gohmert.

"The feeling in Congress before this bill was passed, the gut instinct was it was a terrible deal, and when that many people have that instinct it just can't be wrong," he said.

Gohmert added it will probably take two years or longer for people to see the wrongs Paulson is doing and with what companies, but in the end there will be accountability.

"But in spite of everything that has happened, this country will get stronger," he said.