According to Zubin Jelveh’s economics blog, the know-it-alls in the media (CNBC, specifically) are now saying Americans are “too stupid” to understand the ramifications of not passing the Administration’s bailout bill.

Unbelievable!

Below are the Republicans who voted for the Administration’s bailout plan. Fortunately, at least eight (Wayne Gilchrest, Ray LaHood, Heather Wilson, Vito Fossella, Deborah Pryce, Chris Cannon, Tom Davis, Barbara Cubin) of the below Representatives will NOT be returning to Congress in November.

Time to boot ALL of the below Republicans from Congress for voting against the wishes of the American people!

SOURCE: LA Times

ALABAMA
Bachus, Spencer
Bonner, Jo
Everett, Terry
Rogers, Mike

ARKANSAS
Boozman, John

CALIFORNIA
Bono, Mary
Calvert, Ken
Campbell, John (surprised!)
Dreier, David
Herger, Wally
Lewis
Lungren, Dan
McCarthy, N.
McKeon, Buck
Miller, Gary
Radanovich, George

COLORADO
Tancredo, Tom

CONNECTICUT
Shays, Chris

DELAWARE
Castle, Mike

FLORIDA
Crenshaw
Putnam, Adam
Weldon, Dave

IDAHO
Simpson, Mike

ILLINOIS
Kirk, Mark
LaHood, Ray
Weller, Jerry (Did Not Vote)

INDIANA
Souder, Mark

KENTUCKY
Lewis, John
Rogers

LOUISIANA
McCrery, Jim

MARYLAND
Gilchrest, Wayne

MICHIGAN
Camp
Ehlers, Vern
Upton, Fred

MINNESOTA
Kline

MISSISSIPPI
Pickering, Chip

MISSOURI
Blunt, Roy
Emerson, Jo Ann

NEVADA
Porter, Jon

NEW JERSEY
Ferguson
Saxton

NEW MEXICO
Wilson, Heather

NEW YORK
Fossella, Vito
King, Peter
McHugh
Reynolds, Tom
Walsh, Jim

OHIO
Boehner, John
Hobson, Dave
Pryce, Deborah
Regula, Ralph

OKLAHOMA
Cole, Tom

OREGON
Walden, Greg

PENNSYLVANIA
Peterson

SOUTH CAROLINA
Brown, Henry
Inglis, Bob
Wilson, Clyde

ILLINOIS
Kirk, Mark
LaHood, Ray

TEXAS
Brady, Kevin
Granger
Sessions
Smith

UTAH
Cannon, Chris

VIRGINIA
Cantor, Eric
Davis, Tom
Wolf, Frank

WISCONSIN
Ryan, Paul

WYOMING
Cubin, Barbara

According to Politicker Arizona, “Ahead of today’s House vote on the $700 billion bailout package, U.S. Rep. John Shadegg is calling for the resignation of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.” According to Shadegg:

“Congressional leadership received less than four hours notice before the Secretary publicly warned of an imminent collapse of the market and announced his bailout plan. Clearly, it was his duty to provide Congress and its leaders time to evaluate this situation, and he failed. The Secretary went public with dire warnings, scaring the nation minutes after apprising Congressional leaders of this problem. That is simply unacceptable.”

“The problems in the market today did not occur over night. In the last six months, Secretary Paulson has insisted that the federal government rescue Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and AIG. Each time, Secretary Paulson assured Congress that it would solve the problem. Obviously, Secretary Paulson has been wrong. The American people can no longer have confidence in him and he should submit his resignation, effective immediately,” Shadegg concluded.

[Editor's note: After this blog post was published, Shadegg switched his vote from opposition to the bailout to support of it.]

Mark Knoller of CBS News writes, “With no fanfare and little notice, the national debt has grown by more than $4 trillion during George W. Bush’s presidency.”

“On the day President Bush took office, the national debt stood at $5.727 trillion. The latest number from the Treasury Department shows the national debt now stands at more than $9.849 trillion. That’s a 71.9 percent increase on Mr. Bush’s watch.”

“The bailout plan now pending in Congress could add hundreds of billions of dollars to the national debt -– though President Bush said this morning he expects that over time, “much if not all” of the bailout money “will be paid back.””

“But the government is taking no chances. Buried deep in the hundred pages of bailout legislation is a provision that would raise the statutory ceiling on the national debt to $11.315 trillion. It’ll be the 7th time the debt limit has been raised during this administration. In fact it was just two months ago, on July 30, that President Bush signed the Housing and Economic Recovery Act, which contained a provision raising the debt ceiling to $10.615 trillion.”

“A couple of weeks after he took office, President Bush addressed the Republican Congressional Retreat in Williamsburg and declared that his budget ‘pays down the national debt’. In recent years, President Bush almost never mentions the national debt.”

The Republican Liberty Caucus has issued a strong press release AGAINST the bailout.

Some photos from the Republican Liberty Caucus of the District of Columbia:

RLCDC Secretary Nancy Sellers (center) and member Tim Andrews (far left) protest the Bush Administration’s bailout proposal on September 29, 2008.

Stephen, Aaron, Tommi, and Clark at a happy hour.

Nancy and Aaron at a Ron Paul for President fundraiser in Georgetown.

RLCDC members Craig Max and Michael Zurat at the Log Cabin Republican gathering at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis, September 2008.

Republican Liberty Caucus members were at the GOP National Convention earlier in the month.

Below are some photos of RLC members at the Convention.

North Carolina Republican Liberty Caucus members at the GOP Convention. Front Row: Pat Armstrong; Back Row: RLC North Carolina Board member Dana Mazer; Jeff Austin; North Carolina RNC Delegate Thomas MacMahon; former RLC Treasurer Jeffrey Palmer; and Jessica Hult.

Dana Mazer, Jeff Palmer, and two Texas RLC activists.

Left to right: Wisconsin RLC member, Jeff Palmer, two unknowns, and Georgia RLC member Bill Greene after the Thursday evening RLC meeting.

Florida Republican Liberty Caucus members at the GOP Convention.

Front Row: RLC At-Large Board member Steven Talcott Smith; Kimberly Abelon; Sarah Lovett; Unknown; Back Row: Unknown; John Charles Stevens; Harry Collins; Nick Egoroff (peeking out); Unknown; Will Pitts; Randall Henning; several unknowns; and RLC Treasurer Mark Cross.

RLC North Carolina activist Dana Mazer with former Congressman Barry Goldwater, Jr. at Ron Paul’s Monday night delegate reception.

RLC National Committee member Steven Talcott Smith with libertarian attorney Bruce Fein.

RLC Florida members Deborah Langdon and Kimberly Abelon.

RLC Florida members Kimberly Abelon and Sarah Lovett.

While he is cagey about whether or not he will vote for John McCain himself, Reason Magazine editor Matt Welch has published The libertarian case for McCain on the Reason blog.

Welch is author of the McCain biography Myth of a Maverick and knows the Senator inside and out. In his blog, Welch picks through the McCain record and offers McCain’s top seven virtues from a libertarian point of view.

“Lord knows, there is a libertarian case to be made against John McCain,” Welch wrote. “Whether it’s his hyper-interventionist foreign policy, disregard for constitutional liberties and individualism, or his up-front opposition to the leave-us-alone libertarian philosophy that led Republican debates in the 1990s, the 2008 Republican nominee has drawn fire from many free-marketeers through (as the Club for Growth has put it), his ‘philosophical ambivalence, if not hostility, about limited government and personal freedom.’”

But then again, there’s free trade, divided government, cutting earmarks, opposing torture, entitlement reform, a reasonable stance on immigration and, well, Sarah. Check out Welch’s case and feel free to leave a comment here to let other RLCers know what you think.

If you have been paying even scant attention to the news, you know about the housing mortgage crisis, the bank failures, the investment houses, banks and mortgage companies writing off billions of dollars.

A week ago Friday, officials closed the 10th commercial bank this year. It was a small bank in Georgia with $1.1 billion in assets.

The problem? Rising loan defaults. The FDIC now has 117 banks on its danger list that could fail. The probability of a large number of these banks actually failing is quite large.

As most depositors know, the basic insurance limit on U.S. bank deposits is $100,000 in a single bank. If you know the rules well, however, it is possible for a single person to extend that coverage to more than $500,000 at one bank. This can be done by utilizing multiple account ownership categories (private, commercial, business, investment) since the $100,000 insurance limit applies by account category and per account holder.

The FDIC has a failed banks list. Obviously this list is only the banks that have already failed. Just because your bank isn’t on the list doesn’t mean that it is not in danger. Be careful out there — it’s a rough political and economic climate with Big Government politicians ‘leading’ the way!

U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), yesterday, called on voters to “reject the two-party system” and cast their ballots for one of four “non-establishment, principled candidates” who have indicated their support for Paul’s positions on four issues: war, civil liberties, deficits, and the Federal Reserve.

At a National Press Club news conference, Paul said he has refused to endorse GOP nominee John McCain and could not support Democrat Barack Obama. The presidential candidates of the Libertarian, Constitution, and Green parties — as well as independent Ralph Nader, have signed on to the four issue positions approved by Paul.

After a historic Republican primary campaign which injected youthful energy and limited government ideas into his GOP campaign, Paul has taken the unusual step of outright opposition to the party nominee and endorsement of candidates whose positions include massive expansion of the welfare state, tax increases, nationalization of industries, limitations on free trade, and degradation of United States sovereignty.

Dr. Paul will keep his promise not to run as a presidential candidate in any third party, but he appears to have abandoned the Republican Party as a vehicle for his efforts. His public support for opposing candidates may put his congressional seat in jeopardy under Texas law. Some provisions give the parties discretion to remove their nominated candidates from the ballot. Paul won the 14th Congressional District party endorsement and has no Democratic opposition in November, but recently transferred over $3 million dollars of his Presidential campaign donations to his own Congressional campaign account.

Some supporters consider Paul’s announcement to be a repudiation of his assurances that he would remain in the Republican Party and work toward reforming its policies and positions. The objective of Paul’s new organization “Campaign for Liberty” had been described as an effort to “take back the GOP” by working within the party, although its mission statement is non-partisan.

The Republican Liberty Caucus stands by its purpose of reclaiming the GOP as a party dedicated to protecting individual rights, limited government, and private enterprise. The RLC has endorsed Ron Paul for Congress in all of his campaigns and hope that he will be re-elected in November.

However, if his announcement signals his abandonment of the Republican Party, we are disappointed, but we will continue our efforts to elect party officials and support Republican candidates across the country who can be counted on to defend liberty.

(material contributed by Phil Blumel, Bill Westmiller and Dave Nalle)

A good number of RLC-endorsed candidates advanced through their primaries and on to the general elections in 2008, in what could be considered a breakout year for libertarian Republicans.  A listing of all of the RLC’s candidates is available here.

Each of the below candidates endorsed by the RLC ended up advancing in their respective primary race.  Congratulations!

• Alaska: Lt. Governor Sean Parnell, who was endorsed by the RLC, looks likely to lose in his race against Don Young. Both men are vying to represent Alaskans in Congress. Even if Parnell does lose, he will remain Lt. Governor. If McCain-Palin are successful in November, he will become Governor.

• Arizona: Sydney Hay, who is currently the underdog to replace Rick Renzi in Arizona’s First Congressional District. Hay received a donation from the Republican Liberty Caucus PAC.

• Colorado: George Lilly, who was inspired to run for Congress by Ron Paul.  Lilly is running in District 1 and is not favored to win the race due to district demographics.

• Florida: Ritch Workman, who is running for State Representative in District 30.

• Georgia: Dr. Paul Broun, who won his first campaign for Congress in 2007 and then faced a challenge from the establishment GOP in 2008.  Additionally, incumbent State Senator Jeff Chapman and State Representative Steve Davis, both RLC-endorsed, fended off challengers.

• Idaho: Elizabeth Allan Hodge, a former State Representative, won the GOP primary for State Representative in district 16B.

• Indiana: GOP challenger Bill Johnson narrowly lost his primary for State Representative in District 19.  However, in a victory for the RLC, the GOP challenger dropped out of the race for personal reasons and the county GOP decided that Johnson would be the ideal replacement.

• Maryland: The RLC has endorsed several victorious primary challengers in Maryland, including Richard Matthews (CD 02), Peter James (CD 04), Collins Bailey (CD 05), Roscoe Bartlett (CD 06), and Dr. Michael Hargadon (CD 07).  Unfortunately, all of the challengers are likely to lose due to district demographics.  Rep. Roscoe Bartlett is likely to retain his seat.

• Michigan: Three RLC candidates were victorious in their primaries in Michigan, including Justin Amash for State Representative (District 72), Bob Genetski for State Representative (District 88), and Tyler Whitney for Bash Township Trustee.

• Montana: RLC-endorsed candidates Greg Hinkle and Mike Miller won their races for State Senate and State Representative, respectively.

• Nevada: Kris Pickering won her primary for State Supreme Court and up-and-coming GOP rock star Lindsay Nicole Madsen won a tough primary for State Senate in District 7.

• North Carolina: Dr. B.J. Lawson won his primary and will face incumbent David Price for U.S. Congress, District 4.

• Oregon: Delia Lopez won her primary in Oregon, District 3 and will face veteran Earl Blumenauer in November.

• Texas: Dr. Ron Paul won his primary in Congressional District 14 and will return to Congress come January.

• Washington: Michael Delavar won his primary against an establishment GOP candidate in Congressional District 3. He will face incumbent Democrat Brian Baird in November.

• West Virginia: Edward R. Burgress, the RLC contact for West Virginia, won his primary in District 30 (St. Albans) for the House of Delegates. Seven individuals, all of them currently Democrats, represent this large district.