Steny Hoyer pen and pad session

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer repeatedly stressed a desire for bipartisan cooperation at a Capitol briefing.
The first item on his agenda is the Recovery and Reinvestment act. He confirmed that this the deepest recession in 70 years.
Mark Zandy, chief economist and cofounder of Moody’s Economy.com, was McCain’s financial adviser. This is important, Hoyer said, because Zandy recently described the proposed package as large enough to provide a real stimulus, but not so large as to drive interest rates up. “In other words, it’s just about right,” Hoyer said. The net effect may be enough to stop the downward slide, though the recovery is going to be a protracted process, Hoyer said. Only diligent, consistent government action can make a long-term improvement in the nation’s financial health, he said.
Hoyer said that the concurrence of McCain’s and Obama’s top advisers should encourage bipartisan support of the bill. He noted that the Democratic Congress had worked with Former President Bush on TARP in a way Republicans did not.

Hoyer blames Bush for economic woes

During a pen and pad session with reporters, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) brought attention to the stark differences between the economic situation at the end of the Clinton administration and that facing the Bush presidency in its final days.

The Majority Leader pointed to the drastic dip in employment, retail sales, confidence in the financial institutions and the rising deficit.

"There is not a criteria of comparison between 2000 and now...that doesn't show the failure of the Bush administration to produce what they said they were going to produce by their economic program," said Hoyer.

"In fact, just the opposite is true. We're experiencing our worst economic times since the 30's."

Hoyer charged Republicans as acting as if deficits do not matter and mentioned their reluctance to pay for the costly programs they supported.

The Democrats in Congress are apparently poised to improve the economic situation through a number of steps, including tax relief, improving health care, investing in education, and updating the national infrastructure. Hoyer also announced that the House Committees are planning hearings on the upcoming stimulus.

Hoyer went on to say that while he supports Obama, he will avoid what he describes as the 'complacent and complicit' nature that Congressional Republicans dealt with Bush, by providing additional oversight. He emphasized his point by holding up a copy of 'The Hill' newspaper with the headline 'I don't work for Obama'.

Hoyer: We are in the eye of the storm

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) likened the U.S. financial crisis to a hurricane saying that if any bailout bill passes the House it will be "the eye of the storm." He recalled the scenes of devastation left by the recent powerful storms Ike and Katrina, saying that if emergency bailout legislation does not pass there will be broad damage nationwide.

Hoyer began his regular sit down with reporters by summing up the changes made to the bailout bill since it failed to pass in the House on Monday. Hoyer said that the new bill had more transparency and oversight including a congressionally-appointed oversight board. There have also been taxpayer protections added to the legislation. One of these provisions will give equity in any potential payback to the residents of all states equally. There is also an outline for assessment of how the government-owned assets are doing in the market. After five years out, if these mortgages and mortgage-backed securities have not yielded significant returns a fee will be paid by the financial industry at large to cover the government's costs. Hoyer also reassured the press that the portions of struggling companies that the federal government plans to buy will not involve them in any voting on company boards, "We are not going to get into the business of the government running private companies," Hoyer said.

Hoyer said that while calls to his congressional office continue to have three to one of constituent callers against the bailout, the number has gone down from six to one early in the week. Hoyer said people saw the effect of the bill's failure on the state of the market. The significant loss caused people to recognize the downside of not passing some kind of financial intervention. "People saw on Monday the direct impact on them," he said. "Then the wind started to whip up on this hurricane."

The Democratic leader said he didn't expect a vote on this legislation until Friday, as he said there are still discussions of add-ons including increased unemployment insurance, which Republicans oppose. He said that the House continues to listen to constituents. "Most people say we need to act," Hoyer said. " But they are not sure what we need to do. Which would put them in the same position as the Congress."

Energy bill goes to the House floor

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other House Democrats announced an upcoming vote in the House on what they called a comprehensive energy bill. "It's time for an oil changes," said Pelosi. She said that the bill will meet the "all of the above" strategy that House Republicans have called for. Pelosi was joined by Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), and Rep. Rahm Emmanuel (D-Ill.)

Clyburn perhaps had the strongest criticism for his Republican colleagues for their previous "drill here, drill now" slogan calling it the "methadone treatment for oil addiction."

Hoyer, the House majority leader, said that with energy legislation on the floor the Democrats will find out, "if what we are most interested in are solutions or campaign slogans." He explained that Republicans have been calling to let energy legislation on the floor and now that the Democrats have moved their bill they will have the chance to vote on "comprehensive legislation."

Pelosi was also very critical of John McCain saying that given the "fragility of our institutions" it was wrong for McCain to say that the economy is fundamentally sound. "Is a 500 point drop in the stock market sound?" she said as she criticized President Bush as "a bad manager."

Hoyer: Only President Hoover was worse

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) waded into presidential politics criticizing the Bush administration's policies as Republican are casting themselves of agents of change. "It's difficult to understand how somebody who voted with the administration 90 percent of the time can project themselves as an agent of change," he said in reference to Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain. Hoyer criticized job growth saying , "It's been one of the slowest eight years in recent history. You'd have to go back to the Hoover administration to see worse..." He also compared the job growth numbers in the last eight months of the Clinton administration with those of the past year.

He said that a comprehensive energy bill in the House is a possibility in the upcoming week. The House Republicans have been clamoring for their "All of the Above" energy bill to be brought to the floor since the session adjourned in August. One of the principle complaints has been the moratorium of new oil and natural gas drilling offshore. Hoyer said that the Republicans have been passing moratorium language for the last eight years without striking it in conference.

Hoyer said he had spoken with the Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson about the government take over of the mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Hoyers said that he agreed that this action was a necessary one at this point and time.