Congressman Ander Crenshaw Votes for the Bailout

Rep. Ander Crenshaw

Sitting at work this afternoon I was listening to Rush Limbaugh as the House of Representatives took up the issue of the bailout.  The $700 billion dollar crap sandwich was being pushed by Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank (gag.), Hank Paulson and the President.  They had framed it as an issue of vital importance and telling all who would listen that failure to pass the bill would result in cataclysmic damage to the markets.  Despite their chicken little calls of doom and gloom I held out hope that the bill would go down in flames. 

As the vote proceeded it looked more and more likely that it would be defeated.  The final tally was 228 against and 205 for the horrendous bailout measure.  Of course, following its defeat Speaker Pelosi tried to pin its failure on the evil GOP.  Too bad Madam Speaker’s party holds the majority in the House and if they had really wanted to the Democrats could have passed the measure without one single Republican vote.  However, in an election year where the Democrats are intent of framing the economic problems as 1929 part deux passing the largest bailout in history when the public is against it without Republican dupes would not be prudent.

Eventually a roll call vote was posted and I noticed that my Representative, Ander Crenshaw, had voted for this miserable bill.  Earlier in the day I had called his Washington, D.C. office and left a message with his staff that I hoped he would not vote for the bailout.  I am sure I was not alone in my opposition to the bill and from what I have read, overall public opinion was against the measure by a 4-1 margin. 

I am very disappointed with how Congressman Crenshaw voted and assume he did it in the spirit of some false sense of bipartisanship.  Wake up Congressman!Speaker Pelosi and her fellow Democrats are only using you to get what they want and shield themselves from public criticism.  (Look! The Republicans voted for it too!).  I also assume Congressman Crenshaw  voted for the bailout because his seat is relatively safe and he knows that he can poke the public in the eye and still comfortably win reelection in November.  However, his vote illustrates to me that he is not a true fiscal conservative and does not trust the free market.  

As a result of Congressman Crenshaw’s cowardly vote,  I will not be able to cast a vote for him this fall.  I know I am just one Republican voter in the Florida 3rd Congressional District, but I cannot in good conscious vote for a man who believed that the $700 billion bailout was in the best interest of America.