HODES RESPONSIBLE FOR ECONOMIC CRISIS

09th October 2008

Sits on Financial Services Committee, Took $141,000, Looked the Other Way

Jennifer Horn, Republican candidate for Congress, held a press conference today in Concord to discuss the economic crisis.

Jennifer Horn: “In 2006, Paul Hodes criticized Charlie Bass for sitting on the Energy and Commerce Committee and not protecting New Hampshire consumers while taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from the very industries he is supposed to be regulating.  In 2008, we are in an economic crisis and Paul Hodes sits on the Financial Services Committee.  He looked the other way, while taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from the industries he is supposed to be regulating. 

People are losing their homes.  People are losing their jobs, their savings, and their retirement because Paul Hodes has chosen to fill his bank account instead of protecting his constituents.”

FACT:
Since April 2007 foreclosures have grown 106%.  The signs have been there and were ignored.  TV talking heads, Main Street business owners and families everywhere have wondered and worried about what will happen when the sub-prime mortgage mess catches up with us. 

FACT:
Paul Hodes sits on the Financial Services Committee.  He serves on two sub-committees responsible for providing oversight to the very financial institutions that we have just bailed out.  And he did nothing. 

FACT:
In less than 2 years, Paul Hodes has raked in $141,000 from Banking, Insurance, and Real Estate industries - including money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. 

CONCLUSION:
We are in this economic mess because Paul Hodes, his committees, and his party looked the other while taking campaign contributions from the very companies they were supposed to monitor.

Horn continued: “Paul Hodes is not the same person in Washington as he was when he campaigned in 2006.  In 2006, Paul Hodes said he would bring a backbone to Washington.  When he got there he voted with his party 98% of the time.  That’s not a backbone.”

Then when there was a full blown economic crisis, Congress rushed to pass a $700B taxpayer funded bailout of Wall Street.  Where was Paul Hodes?  As freshman class President and a member of the Financial Services Committee, he hid in the shadows - not telling anyone how he would vote.  He voted against the package, but has not offered any solutions.  He did not offer any alternatives to the bill or bring forth any ideas that would make the legislation better.   He just waited for his party leadership to release him to vote nay.”

“That’s not leadership and it’s certainly not a backbone,” concluded Horn.

PAUL HODES 2006:

“And we need backbone to stand up and do what we know is right.  And when I go to Washington, I am taking my backbone with me.”
– Paul Hodes, June 11, 2006

“As a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Bass is supposed to protect New Hampshire consumers from price-gouging and $3-a-gallon gasoline.  Instead he has taken nearly $300,000 from the very industries he is supposed to be regulating.”
– Paul Hodes, May 4, 2006