The vote that counts.

There was a very interesting article in the OCT 22 Issue of the Tuscaloosa News. On the impending District Four election, Robert Aderholt is set up to regain his seat for a 6th term. While Aderholt has made wrong decisions in his 10 years in office, he did make one of his few correct ones back in September being the only Alabama Congressman to Vote NO on the Financial Sector Bail.

In the Tuscaloosa News Aderholt’s opposition, Nick Sparks, is stated as saying that Aderholt’s vote on the Bailout was “irresponsible” and that he “really doesn’t think Robert Aderholt sees the financial crisis and the mess we are in”.

Now, Mr. Sparks has rightfully criticized Aderholt on his 2005 vote for the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) which did hurt the once mighty sock industry of District 4. However, Aderholt did the right thing by voting No against the bailout package. Why? Because Congress can not come up with a solution for a problem that took years to build up in just 2 weeks. The honest solution was to let the free market fix itself and have no governmental intervention.

Seems to me that Mr. Sparks has ponied up on Rep. Artur Davis’ side of the spectrum. I received an article from Rep. Davis (D7) late last week and was disgusted with the response to my simple questions. I will include the last few sentences from the reply.

“The ripple effects of a deterioration in the investment economy would also threaten the return rate and the very security of private pension and 401k plans.

I am hopeful that the vote I cast was the right one.”

Hopeful? The dow is down by over 5,000 points since the bailout package was signed by President George W. Bush. The Federal Reserve cut the interest rates, and it still did not improve the market place. To me, this is another ringing of the late 1920s when President Hoover tried to fix the market place. What happened? Well, that is a history lesson for a different day.