FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 9, 2007
Contact: Dan Weber
Office #:
Donna Edwards Wins Again
Despite Best Effort, Congressman Can Not Hide From His Republican Record
Silver Spring, MD - Different debate, same result - Donna Edwards proves yet again that she is the leader that Maryland's 4th Congressional District deserves. The audience learned of just some of Ms. Edwards' extended leadership roles fighting against domestic violence and passing the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, fighting against pharmaceutical companies to get affordable, generic, anti-arthritic medication, fighting to protect the environment as part of the National Harbor project, and fighting for real campaign finance reform.
"I didn't accept "no" when it came to the education of my son, and I will never accept "no" as your member of Congress," said Ms. Edwards. "Each and every day, you can count on me to fight for your children, for our communities and for our future the same way I fought for my son."
Donna made it clear that she would not take "no" for an answer when it comes to quality, affordable universal healthcare. "Healthcare is not an entitlement, it is a right. And in this country, the richest country in the world, we can have full, single-payer, universal health-care if we set our priorities straight." She also won't take "no" when it comes to bringing our troops home, protecting our environment, or revising the Bankruptcy Bill.
Despite his best effort, Congressman Wynn cannot hide from his record as his rhetoric does not match his actions. In his statement, Congressman Wynn said that he is committed to fighting poverty yet voted for the Republican-sponsored Bankruptcy bill in 2005 that is playing a significant role in the financial and mortgage crisis that is affecting millions. He said that he is committed to preserving the middle-class, yet was "horrified" by a living wage bill in Montgomery County while consistently voting himself a pay raise in Congress to $165,200. He said that he is committed to improving the quality of life for those in our district yet consistently voted for the Bush-Cheney Energy Bill from 2003 until its final passage in 2005 giving billions in tax breaks to the oil and gas companies instead of investing in renewable energy and increasing automobile efficiency standards?
Later in the evening a question from an audience member asked the Congressman to defend his vote on the Republican Bankruptcy Bill. In an attempt to defend his vote, he went on to say, "There is a suggestion that somehow the Bankruptcy Bill is somehow tied to the mortgage foreclosures. That's not true." However, according to Jay Westbrook, "the new bankruptcy laws are helping drive foreclosures to a record as homeowners default on mortgages and struggle to pay credit card debts that might have been wiped out under the old code" (see below). A 2005 article mentions Democrats complained that the bill was the result of a well- financed lobbying campaign. Credit-card issuers had given $25 million to federal candidates and political parties since 1999, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Commercial banks gave $76.2 million during the same period, 40 percent of the financial industry's donations went to Democrats and of that $192,142 went directly to Congressman Albert Wynn.
As the evening continued and the Congressman's record was continuously challenged, he became increasingly defensive of his Republican voting record. In the end the Congressman was asked, based on his voting history, why was he even running as a Democrat.
Bankruptcy Law Backfires as Foreclosures Offset Gains (Update1)
By Kathleen M. Howley
Nov. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Washington Mutual Inc. got what it wanted in 2005: A revised bankruptcy code that no longer lets people walk away from credit card bills.
The largest U.S. savings and loan didn't count on a housing recession. The new bankruptcy laws are helping drive foreclosures to a record as homeowners default on mortgages and struggle to pay credit card debts that might have been wiped out under the old code, said Jay Westbrook, a professor of business law at the University of Texas Law School in Austin and a former adviser to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
``Be careful what you wish for,'' Westbrook said. ``They wanted to make sure that people kept paying their credit cards, and what they're getting is more foreclosures.''
Washington Mutual, Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. spent $25 million in 2004 and 2005 lobbying for a legislative agenda that included changes in bankruptcy laws to protect credit card profits, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan Washington group that tracks political donations.
The banks are still paying for that decision. The surge in foreclosures has cut the value of securities backed by mortgages and led to more than $40 billion of writedowns for U.S. financial institutions. It also reached to the top echelons of the financial services industry. (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=ar909uO1CqHw)
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