House Clones S.1926

The United States House of Representatives has a bill in process which is a clone of President Obama's pet project in the Senate.

The House bill is H.R. 3401. The bill was introduced into the House by Congressman Keith Ellison (D - MN 5th District) on August 2007. The bill is now co-sponsored by Rep Neil Abercrombie (D - HI 1st District], Rep Emanuel Cleaver, [D - MO 5th District] Rep Barney Frank, (D - MA 4th District).

The text of the bill is identical to the Senate version.

STOP THE BANK urges you to contact your congressional representative and urge defeat of this undemocratic and unconstitutional bill.

President Obama Adopts the "Bank"

On Valentine's Day 2008, at the request of Mr. DODD, the name of the Senator from Illinois (Mr. OBAMA) was added as a cosponsor of S . 1926.

Then Senator Obama joined an auspicious group of Senators co-sponsoring the bill. According to information this blogger uncovered in the Congressional Record:

At the request of Mr. DODD, the names of the Senator from New York (Mrs. CLINTON), the Senator from Maryland (Ms. MIKULSKI), the Senator from North Dakota (Mr. DORGAN), the Senator from Illinois (Mr. DURBIN), the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. CASEY), the Senator from Maine (Ms. SNOWE), and the Senator from Ohio (Mr. BROWN) were added as cosponsors of S . 1926.

At the request of Mr. MENENDEZ, his name was added as a cosponsor of S . 1926.

At the request of Mr. LIEBERMAN, his name was added as a cosponsor of S . 1926

This bloggger notes that all of the co-sponsors are Democrats except for two Republicans: Senator Snowe of Maine and {former} Senator Hagel of Nebraska. These two have been called RINOs (Republicans in name only) in other places.

I urge everyone to contact President Obama and each of these Senators to voice your opposition to this undemocratic and unconstitutional "Bank".

Senator Dodd Pushes SB 1926 on the Senate Floor

Senator Chris Dodd (D - Connecticut) used the bridge collapse in Minnesota as cover to introduce his proposed legislation regarding the National Infrastructure Reinvestment BanK (SB 1926). A year later the Senator, on July 31, 2008, gave a speech on the floor of the United States Senate urging the enactment of this so-called "bank". Here is an excerpt from his speech:

Mr. President, tomorrow is also the one-year anniversary of the introduction of the National Infrastructure Bank Act, by Senator Hagel and myself. The legislation has gained twelve co-sponsors over the year. The Infrastructure Bank would establish a unique and powerful public-private partnership to restore our nation’s infrastructure. Using limited Federal resources, it would leverage the significant resources and innovation of the private sector. It would tap the private sector’s financial and intellectual power to meet our nation’s largest and most critical structural needs.
The Banking Committee has held two hearings on the subject of infrastructure and we have heard strong support in favor of the Infrastructure Bank bill. We heard from a number of mayors, representing cities of various sizes from different regions of our country, as well as from individuals with expertise in public and private financing, civil engineering, labor, and business. They were unanimous in voicing compelling support for increased investment in our nation’s infrastructure and for the need to develop and implement alternative ways to finance this critically important investment in our nation’s future.
Some might say that our legislation is “too expensive”, or that “we can’t afford to implement such a policy”. I say we can’t afford not to implement it.

You can read the entire speech on Senator Dodd's website.

Please contact your elected Representatives and Senators to urge the defeat of this undemocratic and unconstitutional bill.

Dodd Trying to Push SB1926 through Committee

The following was from Senator Dodd's introductory comments at the infrastructure hearing of the Senate Banking Comittee on June 12th, 2008:

We also cannot afford to delay. I believe the cost of meeting our infrastructure needs is great. But the cost of failing to meet them will be even greater. That is why I, along with my colleague Senator Hagel, have proposed creating a National Infrastructure Bank to help us meet these challenges. The Bank would mark the first federal effort to prioritize infrastructure projects across different modes of transportation and of water treatment. It would be the first federal program to rate these different infrastructure projects on the basis of merit and to invest in projects based on their merit. And by focusing on projects of regional and national significance, the Bank would help us meet some of the biggest challenges that we are confronted with. This proposal will not solve all of our problems, but we believe that it will go a long way in addressing many of the concerns that we will hear from our witnesses today and have heard at prior hearings.
I will continue to work with Senator Shelby and other members on the Committee to find common ground and I hope that we can and will be able to move this legislation forward. I do not know an exact timetable – you know we are very busy working on our legislation to address the housing crisis – but I do hope to move the bill through the Committee process in a timely fashion.

Read the entire text of Senator Dodd's comments here.

As Chairman of the Banking Committee, Senator Dodd is in a position to move this bill through to passage. Unless we the people stop him.

Contact Senator Dodd and tell him we do not want or need this unconstitutional and undemocratic legislation. You may contact him here.

Read the Original Text of Obama's Bank

Obama's bank was originally introduced into the U.S. Senate by the President's pal Senator Chris Dodd (D - Connecticut). The original text is in Senate Bill 1926. President Obama adopted this bill during his primary campaign when, for example, he gave a speech in Ohio on February 24th, 2008, which contained the following text:

We can also invest in American jobs by investing in America, and rebuilding our roads and bridges. I've proposed a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank that will invest $60 billion over ten years. This will multiply into almost half a trillion dollars of additional infrastructure spending and generate nearly two million new jobs - many of them in the construction industry that's been hard hit by the housing crisis we're facing.

The abstracted version is:

An independent agency of the Federal government administratively similar to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The "Bank" would have some strange banking powers: the ability to conduct hearings, issue subpoenas, obtain information from any other federal agency simply by asking (other agencies are required to comply), accept for funding any infrastructure project with a Federal price tag of $75 million or more (the list of possibilities goes on for two pages), unilateral authority to determine the appropriate Federal share of spending for every project accepted, to act as a centralized entity to provide financing for qualified infrastructure projects; to issue general purpose infrastructure bonds, and to provide direct subsidies to qualified infrastructure projects from amounts made available from the issuance of such bonds; to issue project-based infrastructure bonds for the financing of specific qualified infrastructure projects; to provide loan guarantees to State or local governments issuing debt to finance qualified infrastructure projects, under rules prescribed by the Board, in a manner similar to that described in chapter 6 of title 23, United States Code; to issue loans, at varying interest rates, including very low interest rates, to qualified project sponsors for qualified projects; to leverage resources and stimulate public and private investment in infrastructure; and to encourage States to create additional opportunities for the financing of infrastructure projects.

What you didn't read here is important: No votes by your elected U.S. Representatives, no votes by your elected U.S. Senators, No reconciliation of House and Senate draft legislation, no opportunity for the President of the United States to sign or veto the legislation. In short this Bank violates the U.S. Consitution by drawing money from the U.S. Treasury without an appropriation made by law.

Join me in doing every thing possible to STOP President Obama's Bank.

Blog Mission Statement

This blog is dedicated to defeating President Obama's National Infrastructure Reconstruction Bank. This proposal is anti-thetical to American democracy and the Constitution of the United States.