Kanjorski Lost Credibility

When Paul Kanjorski went before the nation on CNBC to announce a deal had been reached in the finanacial crisis he added to the lack of credibility he faces in the 11th Congressional district. He was part of a group of dolts who invented and lobbied for a poor solution, poorly packaged and poorly sold accodring to Betsy Stark of ABC news.

Stan Collender of Qorvis Communications on TalkingPointsMemo.com, say this has been a bungled effort from a PR point of view: "From a communications perspective, this has been done about as wrong as is possible. There have been no credible spokespeople, the messages about the plan have been wrong or incomplete, the plan's supporters failed to understand the different audiences that had to be reached, and few people validated the claim that the plan was needed…"

It is easy to criticize this plan that was DOA before the vote. It lacked any credible oversight by an independent commission. Kanjorski's answer included government oversight. Excuse me, Paul, isn't that what your very subcommittee was entrusted to do up to this point? Paul Kanjorski is the second-ranking Democratic member of the House Financial Services Committee, the number two man to Committee Chair Barney Frank. Way back in 2001, Kanjorski was the ranking Democratic member of that committee's sub-committee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSE's).

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are two Government-Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) which distorted the housing and mortgage markets by providing quasi government guarantees of risky loans. The lack of oversight by that committee on the internal risk management practiced by these two GSEs placed this crisis on the doorstep of every American home.

Rep. Richard Baker (R-LA) was the chair of the sub-committee that Kanjorski now chairs. In 2003 he warned of the perils of such a risk scheme. Baker said "The concern is that if something doesn't work out the way they predict, the American taxpayer could be called on to pay off the debt in some sort of bailout." At the time he didn't know how prophetic his spoken words would be when written in the record of U.S. history.

It amazes me how the media is attacking the Repulicans in this financial episode. There were 12 Republicans who voted against the bailout package but there were 95 Democrats who voted against it. This election is not about the candidates; it is about the drive-by media trying to win an election.

The American public is angry over this crisis and there is hell to pay for it. The hell to pay part is figuring out who to blame. If you are looking for policital accountability Paul Kanjorski is front and center by using bad judgment and failing to uphold his repsonsiblity to oversee the financial services industry. Money can cloud one's vision. In this case Paul needs new prescription glasses.