Sherman (D-Calif.): It's a Permanent Bailout Bill

Over the weekend I wrote that Obama is lying about the permanent bailouts in the Dodd financial reform bill. He and the Democrats have been hammering the message that they oppose bailouts and would never, never put them in the financial reform package. This was a case of "Who you gonna believe, me or your lying eyes?", but Democrats kept at it all weekend and this morning.

Brad Sherman, a California Democrat whose district includes much of L.A. County, apparently didn't get the memo:

We can say, “No taxpayer money to Wall Street firms, their creditors and the counterparts.” Then we go to the voters and tell them there’s no money for Wall Street, but regulation instead. If you can’t run on that slogan, you’ve got a problem.

But there are serious problems with the Dodd bill. The Dodd bill has unlimited executive bailout authority. That’s something Wall Street desperately wants but doesn’t dare ask for. The bill contains permanent, unlimited bailout authority.

The classic Washington blunder: he messed up by telling the truth.

posted by Gabriel Malor at 06:55 PM

| Access Comments