Sen. Tom Coburn Supports the Bailout

Sen. Coburn of Oklahoma has been a strident opponent of wasteful government spending and has been a thorn in the side of Harry Reid and the Democrats. Sen. Coburn has issued a statement on the need for legislation to address the credit crisis:

Taxpayers deserve to know that there is no guarantee this plan will work, but there is a guarantee that we will face a financial catastrophe if we do nothing. If banks continue to fail and stop lending the average American could lose their job, be unable to secure a loan for a car, home or college education, and find their life savings and retirement in jeopardy. Our economy depends on having liquid assets available for credit and lending just as an automobile engine needs oil. If those liquid assets stop flowing, our economy will be seriously damaged and will require far more costly and lengthy repairs.

This bill does not represent a new and sudden departure from free market principles as much as it represents an emergency response to congressional actions that have ignored free market principles, and our Constitution, for decades. If anyone in Washington should offer their resignation it should be the members of Congress who peddled the fantasy of free home ownership without risk. No institution in our country is more responsible for the myth or borrowing without consequences than the United States Congress.

As much as members of Congress want to find scapegoats, the root of this problem is political greed in Congress. Members of Congress from both parties wanted short-term political credit for promoting home ownership even though they were putting our entire economy at risk by encouraging people to buy homes they couldn’t afford. Then, instead of conducting thorough oversight and correcting obvious problems with unstable entities like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, members of Congress chose to ignore the problem and distract themselves with unprecedented amounts of pork-barrel spending.

That makes a lot of sense, but don't look for anyone in Congress to pay the price for their stupidity. In fact, the same stupid people who got us here are in the leadership positions in the Dem party claiming they can fix it. That's what makes any legislation from them suspicious.

However, Coburn is a consistent voice on the need for spending controls, so if he's pushing for a bailout, he clearly thinks this is pretty serious.