Bill Johnson Statement on Meeting with Mary Barra

Washington, D.C. - December 7, 2018 - (The Ponder News) -- Bill Johnson (R-OH, 6th) released the following statement after the Ohio Congressional delegation, including Johnson, met with General Motors CEO Mary Barra:

I asked her directly how GM got into this overcapacity issue after the American taxpayers – the same taxpayers who are now losing their jobs - bailed them out. I also specifically asked Barra why GM can’t put a new product in Lordstown. I think it’s fair to say that over the years they’ve had to make previous plant and assembly line modifications to bring in other product lines - why can’t they do that now. After all, they haven’t been producing the Cruze alone in Lordstown since 1966.

The bottom line is that this isn’t about Mary Barra or a group of politicians. This is about the workers and the families affected by General Motors’ decision, and along with my colleagues, I will keep fighting until GM brings a new product to Lordstown or a new company comes in and takes advantage of the existing facility and highly-skilled workforce.

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Congress Should Protect, Not Expose, Taxpayers to Mortgage Giants’ Bailouts

By National Taxpayers Union




Washington, D.C. - December 13, 2017 - (The Ponder News) -- The House Financial Services Committee has had a productive year delivering real results to America’s taxpayers -- be it advancing the repeal and replacement of Dodd-Frank, reforming the broken National Flood Insurance Program, or replacing the DOL Fiduciary Rule with one that actually protects consumers rather than expands the bureaucracy. That’s why we are surprised to see legislation marked up in the Committee today that could, if it passes, end the year by missing the mark for taxpayers.

H.R. 4560, the “GSE Jumpstart Reauthorization Act” of 2017, has a catchy title, but in reality it would take a step backward for taxpayers by exposing them to the near-term prospect of a bailout for the Government-Sponsored Enterprises (GSE) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. This bill essentially puts further pressure on the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to continue paying the Net Worth Sweep, the ill-advised and risky policy of sending FHFA profits to the US Treasury. Should the Agency retain this profit for building a prudent capital cushion rather than sending it to the Treasury, Fannie and Freddie will be barred from making any contributions to the Housing Trust Fund.

Taxpayers -- and lawmakers -- have every reason to ask hard questions about financial accountability for the money being funneled into the Housing Trust Fund. Congressman Ed Royce introduced a bill in the previous Congress to strengthen the law that requires Fannie and Freddie to suspend housing trust fund payments if they would “cause the GSEs to be undercapitalized.” HR 4560, however, goes well beyond this approach by effectively blocking FHFA from taking interim steps to ensure the GSEs don’t have to tap Treasury resources to stay healthy.

Either way, the FHFA is stuck in a bad situation: the Net Worth Sweep leaves the Agency with less reserve capital to begin with, while the new bill would leave FHFA with fewer options to correct that situation.

Both scenarios increase the likelihood of a taxpayer-funded bailout, given warnings from FHFA that Fannie and Freddie are becoming seriously undercapitalized.

NTU has long advised Congress on the glaring threat Fannie and Freddie could pose to taxpayers, as well as the reckless practice of using the GSEs as ATMs. Rather than complicating and possibly impeding housing reform, NTU believes it is best to tackle all elements of reform at the beginning of 2018 when a complete, comprehensive package can be debated. Until then, all tools should be available, including those residing with the Executive Branch, to shield taxpayers from any potential liabilities from Fannie and Freddie. We strongly urge the Committee to bear in mind these critical taxpayer concerns instead of plowing ahead with unnecessary -- and potentially counterproductive -- legislation.


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National Flood Insurance Bailout

Washington, D.C. - October 17, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- Congressman Steve Pearce (R-NM, 2nd) released the following statement after voting against a House Amendment to Senate Amendment to H.R. 2266, the Additional Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Requirements Act. This amendment allows the federal government to borrow money to provide additional funds for emergency relief while bailing out the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP):

“Around the nation, individuals and families are working to recover and rebuild from disastrous hurricanes, and thousands more continue to be impacted by devastating wildfires in California. Congress has the responsibility to aid in the recovery by providing emergency disaster funding – no one can disagree with this charge or with the need. If the amendment simply ensured the communities hardest hit have the money needed to recover, I would have easily supported it, as I did a couple weeks ago for the last emergency aid funding bill. However, yesterday’s action was an attempt to play politics with emergency relief funds and ignore billions of dollars in federal debt.

After each hurricane season, the NFIP continues to dive deeper into debt with no foreseeable avenue to solvency. Following both Katrina and Sandy, the federal government was forced to expand the NFIP’s borrowing authority by billions. Superstorm Sandy increased the authority by $9 billion alone. Reverting to debt forgiveness now is not the solution, fundamental changes to the program are the only option.

Instead of doing our job and reforming the program to an effective system that actually supports the American families who use it, Congress opted to forgive $16 billion of the NFIP’s debt. Bailing out NFIP without asking for vital changes only does a disservice to those families who rely on it in the worst of circumstances. To truly support our friends, families, and neighbors impacted by natural disaster we should ensure the insurance programs we have in place will actually work for them. Not just bail the program out and turn a blind eye."

This Amendment provides the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with $18.7 billion, $577 million for wildfire relief, $16 billion to bailout NFIP, and $1.3 billion for Disaster Nutrition Assistance to Puerto Rico.

On September 6, 2017, Rep. Pearce voted to pass emergency aid funding for the communities affected by Hurricane Harvey and, at the time, for the potential impacts of Hurricane Irma. On September 8, 2017, Rep. Pearce voted against the spending package that irresponsibly tacked on an extension of the debt limit and a Continuing Resolution to provide disaster relief funds for Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

Related News:

Opinion: The NFIP bailout à la Trump

Rothfus on NFIP Bailout in the House