GOP congressman: 'It is not your money'

World Net Daily ^ | By Joe Kovacs

[Desron13]

Cavuto asked Knollenberg: "When the housing industry CEOs come to you and say, 'You know, [if] we go under and all the ancillary businesses – the dishwasher manufacturers, the washer-and-dryer manufacturers, the Lowe's and the Home Depots that vastly depend on our being alive and vibrant – if we go under, there's hell to pay. And then the textile manufacturer comes to you and says, 'If we go down, there's hell to pay.' And on and on and on we go. Where do you draw the line with our money?"

"It is not your money," said Knollenberg.

Cavuto screamed back, "It is! It is taxpayers money!"

Knollenberg claimed dealers are not selling cars right now because "there's no credit to get."

He explained, "If we could just remove that problem, and this is what we're trying to do, then we'd be in the position to sell cars."

[kcvl]

He reminds me of a rich old elitist fart who has been in politics too long. There seems to be a lot of those around lately (including family members)! For some reason these so-called elected officials think their office is like a family business to be handed down to their relatives. The entire place needs to be fumigated!

[kcvl]

He reminds me of a rich old elitist fart who has been in politics too long. There seems to be a lot of those around lately (including family members)! For some reason these so-called elected officials think their office is like a family business to be handed down to their relatives. The entire place needs to be fumigated!

[maclay]

Anyone and everyone has an obligation to get some

That is if your _____ is failing. The penalty for success is higher taxes to pay for those who have failed. What happened to this country? and better yet, how long before we have to call it quits in the world of competition?

[informavoracious]

It was American Express.

We're bailing out the credit card company, not the customers. Same with the sub-prime mortgages. It's the lender, not the end customer who benefits. The borrower will still wind up bankrupt and homeless.

[CORedneck]

Reminds me when we went into the Clinton regime and Leon Pannetta made the comment of, "the money you earn belongs to the government for the good of the public and whatever is left if anything we will allow you keep for your own benefit".

This kind of arrogance p*sses me off. If I am not permitted to enjoy the fruits of my labor, why then work ?

[Outlaw Woman]

“Since 2005, I have felt more and more like I was living in the twilight zone”

Foreigners in our own Country

[CanadianMusherinMI]

what is wrong with FR? it has gone out 3 times!
OK one more try....
i have been looking for the article i read a few weeks ago, but no luck, but i will keep searching. cnbc has been covering the credit card crisis since the bailout talks, possibly before.
so far i found this, from the WSJ: “American Express Co. which is being hit by slowing consumer spending and rising defaults, is seeking roughly $3.5 billion in taxpayer-funded capital from the federal government, according to people familiar with the situation.”
not near as in depth as i was hoping and i dont have a subscription to the WSJ, but will have to do for now....
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122646207021420153.html

to your other post, i am not talking about regular peeps who have fallen on hard times. i am talking about those that abuse the system. unfortunately this happens a lot more than it should.
that is what causes me to see red!

[Myrddin]

Knollenberg claimed dealers are not selling cars right now because "there's no credit to get."

That is a total lie. My wife wanted to upgrade from her Vespa LX150 to a Piaggio BV500. I paid cash for all the other motorcycles (TW200, XT250, DR650SE and LX150). We financed the BV500. It was $6600. The stinking bank gave us a terrible 11.72% rate. It was a 2007 model with 2 miles on the odometer. The bank labeled it "used" on the loan document. They aren't going to get much off the loan. I've already paid $1900 off the balance. The LX150 will net another $3300 shortly. The rest will get paid off next payday. Wells Fargo won't be getting any more of my business for vehicle loans. We will pay cash. Period. Screw the ungrateful loan sharks.

[Myrddin]

What the Big 3 want is sales like they had before the mortgage crisis and gas crisis. Who doesn't? Not happening. Ever.

The solution is "drill here, drill now". Lower the cost of energy. Prices will drop. People will have money to spend again. Send the stinking environmentalists and global warming nuts packing. They are killing the economy. That's not how socialists think. They think government can solve everything by throwing money around...even when then don't have any.

[dalereed]

Only deadbeats that can’t pay for the car, etc. can’t get a loan.

Want a car just pay cash, that’s what i’ve done for the last 57 years, works every time.

[Mad Dawg]

My letter to this elected buffoon:

Dear Representative Knollenberg,

In your interview with Neil Cavuto today you demonstrated as clearly as could be why Republicans are losing elections. I am a Republican because I am a conservative who believes in the founding principles of the United States.

When I hear a Republican Congressman say that tax dollars are not our money, I know that Republicans have forgotten the difference between the United States and nearly every other country on the face of the earth.

To put it bluntly, in European democratic republics, the elected government replaces the sovereign. In the US, by contrast, the people are sovereign, while the government are our ministers. You all are the hired help. You are not our rulers. WE are the rulers, you are our stewards.

If you think that tax dollars are not OUR dollars, you have forgotten what the United States is about. When Republicans forget what this country is about the party loses elections.

It is the Democrats who are ashamed of American exceptionalism and who want to be more like the Europeans. It is liberals who think that private property and limited government are archaic notions.

These are simple ideas. Men of good will may disagree about them. But whether my sovereign is my lord by birth or by election, if he is my sovereign, I am not a free man. If the government and the representatives of the people think that I have some money only because the government permits me to keep a little of what by rights belongs to the government, I can no longer lift up my head.

Sir, you have forgotten what the United States is about. You have forgotten your place as our servant. You have forgotten what freedom is. The United States cannot continue to be the land of the free and the home of the brave when our elected representatives think that our tax dollars are theirs.

I hope you will refresh your memory regarding the founding principles of this country. I hope you will consider rereading the writings of the great men of this Republic. I hope you will realize that if you are my master and if my tax dollars are not mine, then none of us is truly free, and the United States is over.

Sincerely yours in freedom,

[Myrddin]

Only to people with good credit so I guess in his world that means 'there's no credit to get' because banks don't want to lend money to deadbeats.

I got pretty crappy treatment with a FICO score of 787. I can only imagine how others are getting treated.

[CanadianMusherinMI]

“I mainly worry about my every purchase being tracked and how that information could be used by the Marxist cretins in government”
i order a fair amount of books and cds from BandN and amazon.com, but i use a prepaid visa gift card, s’pose they could track me just as easily that way. at best they would find my reading material and music to be confusing;)
i was considering a debit card because some stores take your check (no need to fill it out)run it through a computer and give it back to you. this makes me very uncomfortable and i have been told it will become more common place. :-/

[CORedneck]

When I buy vehicles especially if they are new, I prefer to keep them until they can be hauled away to the junk yard. In the almost 30 years I have driven, I have had 5 new cars and a couple of used ones. Newest car I have is an '06 Subaru WRX Turbo - paid for. The previous new vehicle I got was a '99 Jeep Cherokee which I still have and is in very good condition. It has 75k miles and if you look inside, looks like it is off the showroom floor. My Subaru on the other hand, I have 35k miles, has some wear and tear. A child less than 10 years old can wear things out quickly. Last Sunday, he threw up in the car. However, I dropped him off at home and then went to the car wash to vacuum the "results". I then had to get baking powder where it contacted the seat and carpet and let is sit for a day and then vacuumed it. Finally I got some stuff from the pet store that deals with animal pee, poo and barf. I don't smell it now including especially the last few days when it has been warm.

I also have an old '91 Toyota P/U truck (redneck truck) that I used as a daily driver to work. I got some nasty comments from a couple of people in management that I should have a newer type of vehicle such a 4 door type commensurate with my position. Something like a year old at the most. I had some money and wanted to go back to s sports car, got the Subaru, again, more nasty comments from management, this time such as questions on why I bought a "kids car". I didn't buy the car for a few eyars after the comments started on my truck. My responses back was, I not heavily in debt like some people and prefer to remain debt free.

He is talking about our neighbor who has had SIX NEW CARS in less than 18 months! He hit a deer with his truck so instead of fixing it he bought a new one. He traded his wife's car (less than a year old) for a sport's car. He bought his (never employed 26 year old daughter a new car (old one less than a year old). He just traded his 'old' truck (the one he bought after he hit the deer) for a new car just last week. He is NUTS (literally)!

[dalereed]

“If you cant do with a debit card (and I’m starting to worry about those), you need to reduce your expenses. PERIOD!”

I have a $30k limit CC and pay my bill every month as soon as my statement is availble on line.

I won’t use a debit card because I don’t carry a checkbook with me to enter the transaction in.

Using a CC has never cost me a cent plus I have an itemized statement every month and an itimized year end statement breaking down all the purchases by catagory.

I also get a 1% refund on all purchases with no limit.

[informavoracious]

My point was, we're not bailing out the consumers with these massive bailouts.

Yes, some consumers are deadbeats and charge stuff they have no intention or ability to pay for. But that is nothing new. Your taxpayer bailout $ is not going to them.

The credit card companies took a chance on the losers and got burned. But they are passing on the pain to us.

[informavoracious]

I have had the same thought about the potential traceability of what I purchase over the net. This no longer feels like my country. Frredom is a thing of the past.

[Impy]

I feel a lot worse about the Senate losses. 6 years is much longer than 2, and house members much easier to defeat.

Knollenberg? Overall good voting record but he sounds like a jerk. Bon voyage. Tough district, trending the wrong way hope we get it back. The real shame in Michigan is the loss of RINO-Buster Tim Walberg.

And someone worse like Chris Shays? Boo-fricking hoo, don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

If Don Young had lost instead of Uncle Ted, that would have been super.

[CanadianMusherinMI]

yes, i realize we are not issuing checks to consumers, or wiping away their debt (at least not yet).
i am aware it is nothing new, peeps have been defaulting on debt for as long as there have been lenders.
but when it is to the point we need to bailout the credit card company, then i say we have excess.
we can blame the credit card companies, but peeps make a choice to charge or not,to live beyond their means. some people fall on hard times and the honest make a effort to pay what they can, and work with the lender.
what we are seeing now is peeps who are not paying, period. they are making no effort. and now obamas people are talking stupid “obamas going to pay my mortgage, obamas going to make my car payment” ... do you think that mentality of peeps will do the right thing and pay, or opt to buy the newest gadget? how many more credit card companies will come forward needing a bail out?
my perception may be inaccurate, but at this time i see it as making it easier for people to default, people who abuse the system.
all this talk about no loans is the dems making a case to again loosen the small shift in credit approval, since companies have tightened up.
they are creating the same mess we are trying to get out of.
s’pose it is personal to me because one of these deadbeat, abusers of the system lives on the other side of the fence line. he thinks the whole system, which allowed him to rack up thousands in new credit prior to bankruptcy is sweeeet. guess who pays for him to keep his stuff, free of charge? we do. we pay higher interest rates, higher retail costs and now we may be paying billions in bail outs to the companies they defaulted on.

[Munz]

sadly most of the elected officials think that taxpayers money doesn’t belong to them. that when they are elected it somehow becomes their play money that they don’t have to be held accountable for.

what ever happened to accountability in government?