Free Republic

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe said Friday a White House suggestion that part of the $700 billion Wall Street bailout now will go to automakers means Washington might be "completely out of control.'' "I've been a U.S. senator for some time, and I have never seen anything like this,'' the Oklahoma Republican said. Inhofe was responding to a statement by White House press secretary Dana Perino that the administration might use part of so-called TARP money to prevent a collapse of troubled automakers. "A precipitous collapse of this industry would have a severe impact on our economy, and it...

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, amid fire from lawmakers and other critics, continued Thursday to defend the Troubled Asset Relief Program and its new focus of injecting capital into banks and insurers as “necessary steps to prevent a financial collapse.” “Although we are not proceeding with direct asset purchase programs, we plan on using our resources aggressively to support the normalization of credit markets and the expansion of credit to support economic recovery,” Paulson said Thursday. Paulson’s dramatic shift from his original strategy of buying up toxic loans and other troubled assets from financial institutions with the allocated TARP funds...

- - The government must begin the process of extricating itself from the financial sector of our economy. The events which have occurred since passage of the financial “rescue program” last month should concern every American who cares about the integrity of our system of government and how it does its business. Congress entrusted one unelected official with the unprecedented power to distribute $700 billion-no strings attached. This Congress has set an extremely dangerous precedent, but it also has a chance for redemption. Treasury Secretary Paulson recently came before Congress and said that if he wasn’t immediately empowered with his...

- - Oklahoma senator reveals details of conference call and is set to push legislation to make bailout spending transparent. At the time of the votes on the $700-billion bailout bill, which finally passed Oct. 4, there were dire warnings of calamity if the bill failed. Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., said martial law would have to be enacted to keep public order if it didn’t pass. Rep. Jo Bonner, R-Ala. said the aftermath would be comparable to the scenes in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., revealed on “The Pat Campbell Show” on 1170 KFAQ, a talk...

Sen. James Inhofe Official Site:Sen. Inhofe Introduces Bill to Halt Handout of Bailout Funds (S. 3683) - - 11.17.08 ABSTRACT, Washington DC: Today, U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) introduced legislation to amend Section 115 of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (EESA) to require an affirmative vote on the part of Congress to approve Treasury's plan for the remaining $350 billion and require a freeze on any remaining funds of the first $350 billion, stating, "It is imperative that we not allow that amount of money to be added to a deficit approaching $1 trillion this year without any input from...

He criticizes Henry Paulson for changing the $700 billion bailout plan. WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe said Saturday that Congress was not told the truth about the bailout of the nation's financial system and should take back what is left of the $700 billion "blank check'' it gave the Bush administration. "It is just outrageous that the American people don't know that Congress doesn't know how much money he (Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson) has given away to anyone,'' the Oklahoma Republican told the Tulsa World. "It could be to his friends. It could be to anybody else. We don't...