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Steve Pearce on Budget & Economy Republican Representative (NM-2)

Voted YES on terminating the Home Affordable mortgage Program.

Proponent's Argument for voting Yes:
[Rep. Biggert, R-IL]: The HAMP Termination Act would put an end to the poster child for failed Federal foreclosure programs. The program has languished for 2 years, hurt hundreds of thousands of homeowners, and must come to an end. This bill would save $1.4 billion over 10 years. To date, the HAMP program has already consumed $840 million of the more than $30 billion of TARP funds that were set aside for the program. For this extraordinary investment, the administration predicted that 3 to 4 million homeowners would receive help. HAMP has hurt more homeowners than it has helped. The program has completed about 540,000 mortgage modifications. Another 740,000 unlucky homeowners had their modifications cancelled.

Opponent's Argument for voting No:
[Rep. Capuano, D-MA]: This is a program that I'm the first to admit has not lived up to what our hopes were. This program we had hoped would help several million people. Thus far we've only helped about 550,000 people. But to simply repeal all of these programs is to walk away from individual homeowners, walk away from neighborhoods. I'm not going to defend every single aspect of this program, and I am happy to work with anyone to make it better, to help more people to keep their homes, & keep their families together. To simply walk away without offering an alternative means we don't care; this Congress doesn't care if you lose your home, period. Now, I understand if that makes me a bleeding-heart liberal according to some people, so be it.

Voted NO on $15B bailout for GM and Chrysler.

• Requires each automaker to submit a restructuring plan which includes:
• the repayment of all government-provided financing
• the domestic manufacturing of advanced technology vehicles
• restructuring existing debt.

Proponent's argument to vote Yes:Rep. BARNEY FRANK (D, MA-4): This economy is in the worst shape that it has been in since the Great Depression. This Congress voted 2 months ago to advance $25 billion to the auto industry to promote innovation. This $15 billion is an additional "bridge loan."

Opponent's argument to vote No:Rep. SPENCER BACHUS (R, AL-6): We all understand that the bankruptcy of either GM or Chrysler would have a cascading effect on other manufacturers. But I cannot support this plan because it spends taxpayer money without any real promise to return the industry to profitability. I see several glaring flaws. We are creating a new car czar to manage these companies from Washington; not a CEO, but a car czar. Second, this legislation actually imposes new and expensive mandates on our automobile companies. Third, this legislation imposes Federal Government management on the Big Three, the wisdom of Washington. It is clear that the management of these companies have made mistakes, many mistakes, but to set up a command and control Federal bureaucrat is exactly the wrong solution.

Rep. RON PAUL (R, TX-14): The problems that we are facing today date back to 1971. But we don't seem to want to go back and find out how financial bubbles form and why they burst. Instead, we just carry on doing the same old thing and never look back. We spend more money, we run up more debt, we print more money, and we think that is going to solve the problem that was created by spending too much money, running up debt, printing too much money. Today, we are talking about tinkering on the edges without dealing with the big problem.

Voted NO on $60B stimulus package for jobs, infrastructure, & energy.

Supplemental appropriations for:
1. Infrastructure Investments: Transportation: DOT, FAA, AMTRAK, and FTA
2. Clean Water (EPA)
3. Flood Control and Water Resources (ACE)
4. 21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities (ED)
5. Energy Development (DOE)
6. Extension of Unemployment Compensation and Job Training
7. Temporary Increase in Medicaid Matching Rate
8. Temporary Increase in Food Assistance

Proponent's argument to vote Yes:Rep. DAVID OBEY (D, WI-7): Congress has tried to do a number of things that would alleviate the squeeze on the middle class. Meanwhile, this economy is sagging. Jobs, income, sales, and industrial production have all gone down. We have lost 600,000 jobs. We are trying to provide a major increase in investments to modernize our infrastructure and to provide well-paying construction jobs at the same time.

Opponent's argument to vote No:Rep. JERRY LEWIS (R, CA-41): Just 2 days ago we were debating an $800 billion continuing resolution. Now in addition to being asked to pay for a bailout for Wall Street, taxpayers are being asked to swallow an additional $60 billion on a laundry list of items I saw for the first time just a few hours ago. The Democratic majority is describing this legislation as a "stimulus package" to help our national economy. But let's not fool ourselves. This is a political document pure and simple. If these priorities are so important, why hasn't this bill gone through the normal legislative process? We should have debated each of the items included in this package.

It doesn't take an economist to tell you that the economy needs our help. But what does this Congress do? It proposes to spend billions more without any offsets in spending. The failure to adhere to PAYGO means that this new spending will be financed through additional borrowing, which will prove a further drag on our struggling economy.

Voted NO on defining "energy emergency" on federal gas prices.

• Makes it unlawful, during a period proclaimed by the President as an energy emergency, to sell gasoline at a price that:
  1. is unconscionably excessive; or
  2. indicates the seller is taking unfair advantage of the circumstances to increase prices unreasonably.
• Authorizes the President to issue an energy emergency proclamation of up to 30 days, with renewals allowed.Proponents argument for voting YEA: Rep. STUPAK. Vote YES to stand up for consumers who are paying outrageous gas prices at the pump, or vote NO to allow oil companies to go on setting them unchecked. The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline is $4.07. The high cost of energy produces more opportunities to have price gouging and price manipulation. Everyone is shocked to learn that there is no Federal law against gas price gouging. Unscrupulous wholesalers, retailers and refiners operate without the Federal oversight to ensure prices are fair and justified. A vote against my bill is a vote against consumers and a vote for Big Oil.

  Opponents argument for voting NAY: Rep. BARTON of Texas: [My first issue the bill is that by the bill's own definition], we don't have price gouging in the US today. We do have high prices. But the reason we have that price is not because of price gouging at retail. I am not aware of any pending State action on price gouging, and almost every State has State law to go after price gougers.

  The second issue with the bill, it requires the declaration of a Presidential energy emergency. The bill doesn't give any definition as to why the President should declare an energy emergency; it doesn't define "unconscionably excessive"; it doesn't define when a "seller is taking unfair advantage."

  I know there is a lot of pressure on the Congress doing something. I would state we would be better served to look at the underlying fundamentals that address the supply situation.

  Reference: Federal Price Gouging Prevention Act; Bill H R 6346 ; vote number 2008-448 on Jun 24, 2008

  Voted NO on revitalizing severely distressed public housing.

  CONGRESSIONAL SUMMARY: HOPE VI Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2008:
• Makes promoting housing choice among low-income families one of the purposes of the HOPE VI grant program for revitalization of severely distressed public housing.
• Prohibits the award of demolition-only grants
• Specifies requirements for revitalization plans including:
  1. involvement of public housing residents;
  2. a program for relocation;
  3. one-for-one replacement of demolished dwelling units; and
  4. green developments.

SUPPORTER'S ARGUMENT FOR VOTING YES:Rep. WATERS: This bill preserves public housing. The administration eliminated the one-for-one replacement requirement in 1996, effectively triggering a national sloughing off of our Nation's public housing inventory. Housing authorities have consistently built back fewer units than they have torn down and, as a result, over 30,000 units have been lost. I urge you to support our Nation's low-income families and to preserve our housing stock.

OPPONENT'S ARGUMENT FOR VOTING NO:Rep. HENSARLING: President Reagan once said that the nearest thing to eternal life on Earth is a Federal program, and I don't think there is any better case study than perhaps the HOPE VI program. If there was ever a program that cried out for termination, it's this one.

This program began in 1992 with a very noble purpose of taking 86,000 units of severely distressed public housing and replacing them, demolishing them. Well, it achieved its mission. But somewhere along the line we had this thing in Washington known as mission creep.

We already have 80-plus Federal housing programs, and the budget for Federal housing programs has almost doubled in the last 10 years, from $15.4 billion to more than $30 billion now. So it's very hard to argue that somehow Federal housing programs have been shortchanged.

LEGISLATIVE OUTCOME:Bill passed House, 271-130

Voted NO on regulating the subprime mortgage industry.

• recommending default on an existing loan in connection with closing of a high-cost mortgage
• steering incentives to mortgage originators
• exercising sole discretion to accelerate indebtedness
• single premium credit insurance and
• negative amortization mortgages.

Proponents support voting YES because:

Rep. FRANK: This legislation seeks to prevent a repetition of events that caused one of the most serious financial crises in recent times. We have a worldwide problem economically, with a terrible shortage of credit. Innovations in the mortgage industry, in themselves good and useful, but conducted in such a completely unregulated manner as to have led to this crisis. The fundamental principle of the bill is not to put remedies into place, but to stop future problems from occurring in the first place. We have had two groups of mortgage originators: banks subject to the regulation of the bank regulators; and then mortgage loans made by brokers who were subject to no regulation. The secondary market has been on the whole useful but, having been unregulated, has caused some problems.

Opponents recommend voting NO because:

Rep. HENSARLING: This is a bad bill for homeowners in America. There is no doubt that this Nation faces a great challenge in the subprime market, but this piece of legislation is going to make the situation worse. Clearly, there has to be enforcement against fraud in the subprime market. But what Congress should not do is essentially outlaw the American Dream for many struggling families who may be of low income, who may have checkered credit pasts, for whom a subprime mortgage is the only means to purchase a home.

Voted YES on restricting bankruptcy rules.

Demand a Balanced Budget amendment.

The Contract from America, clause 3. Demand a Balanced Budget:

Begin the Constitutional amendment process to require a balanced budget with a two-thirds majority needed for any tax hike.

Limit federal spending growth to per-capita inflation rate.

The Contract from America, clause 6. End Runaway Government Spending:

Impose a statutory cap limiting the annual growth in total federal spending to the sum of the inflation rate plus the percentage of population growth.

Member of House Banking Committee.

The House Committee on Financial Services (also referred to as the House Banking Committee) is the committee of the House of Representatives that oversees the entire financial services industry, including the securities, insurance, banking, and housing industries. The Committee also oversees the work of the Federal Reserve, the United States Department of the Treasury, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and other financial services regulators.

Proposing a balanced budget amendment to the US Constitution.

Proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United States:
• Prohibits outlays for a fiscal year (except those for repayment of debt principal) from exceeding total receipts for that fiscal year (except those derived from borrowing) unless Congress, by a 3/5ths rollcall vote of each chamber, authorizes a specific excess of outlays over receipts.
• Requires a 3/5ths rollcall vote of each chamber to increase the public debt limit.
• Directs the President to submit a balanced budget to Congress annually.
• Prohibits any bill to increase revenue from becoming law unless approved by a majority of each chamber by rollcall vote.
• Authorizes waivers of these provisions when a declaration of war is in effect or under other specified circumstances involving military conflict.

This article shall take effect beginning with the later of the second fiscal year beginning after its ratification or the first fiscal year beginning after December 31, 2016.

Audit the Federal Reserve & its actions on mortgage loans.

The Federal Reserve Transparency Act directs:

• the completion, within 12 months, the audit of the Federal Reserve System and of the Federal Reserve Banks; with a detailed report of audit findings and conclusions.
• Audit and report on the loan files of homeowners in foreclosure in 2009 or 2010, required as part of the enforcement actions taken by the Federal Reserve against supervised financial institutions.
• Prescribes audit contents, including:
  1. the guidance given by the Federal Reserve to independent consultants retained by the supervised financial institutions regarding procedures to be followed in conducting the file reviews,
  2. the factors considered by independent consultants when evaluating loan files and the results obtained pursuant to those reviews, and
  3. the determinations made by such consultants regarding the nature and extent of financial injury sustained by each homeowner as well as the level and type of remediation offered.
  Source: H.R.24&S.209 13-HR0024 on Jan 3, 2013

  Prioritize critical spending in case debt limit reached.

  Pearce co-sponsored Prioritize Spending Act

  The Prioritize Spending Act requires amounts necessary for incurred federal obligations, in the event that the public debt reaches the statutory limit, to be made available to certain obligations, in prioritized order, before all other obligations. Prioritizes such obligations in the following descending order:

  1. amounts necessary to carry out the authority of the Department of the Treasury to pay with legal tender the principal and interest on public debt;
  2. amounts to provide pay to members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, including their active reserve components;
  3. amounts certified as necessary to carry out vital national security priorities;
  4. amounts necessary to carry out Social Security monthly old-age, survivors', and disability insurance benefits; and
  5. amounts necessary to make payments under the Medicare program.
  Source: H.R.149 13-HR0149 on Jan 3, 2013

  Click here for definitions & background information on Budget & Economy. Click here for a profile of Steve Pearce. Click here for HouseMatch answers by Steve Pearce. Click here for a summary of Steve Pearce's positions on all issues. Click here for issue positions of other NM politicians.
  2012 Governor, House and Senate candidates on Budget & Economy:			Steve Pearce on other issues:
  NM Gubernatorial: Susana Martinez NM Senatorial: Heather Wilson Jeff Bingaman Lame-duck session 2012: KY-4: Thomas Massie(R) MI-11:Dave Curson(D) NJ-9: Donald Payne Jr.(D) WA-1: Suzan DelBene(D) Re-seated Former Reps: AZ-1: Ann Kirkpatrick(D) AZ-5: Matt Salmon(R) FL-8: Alan Grayson(D) IL-11:Bill Foster(D) NH-1: Carol Shea-Porter(D) NV-3: Dina Titus(D) NY-24:Dan Maffei(D) TX-36:Steve Stockman(R) 2013 Resignations and Replacements: IL-2:Jesse Louis Jackson(D,resigned) IL-2:Robin Kelly(D,running) MA-5:Ed Markey(D,running) MA-8:Stephen Lynch(D,running) MO-8:Jo Ann Emerson(R,resigned) SC-1:Tim Scott(R,resigned) SC-1:Mark Sanford(R,running)	Newly-elected Democrats: AZ-9: Kyrsten Sinema CA-2: Jared Huffman CA-7: Ami Bera CA-15:Eric Swalwell CA-24:Julia Brownley CA-29:Tony Cardenas CA-35:Gloria Negrete McLeod CA-36:Raul Ruiz CA-41:Mark Takano CA-47:Alan Lowenthal CA-51:Juan Vargas CA-52:Scott Peters CT-5: Elizabeth Esty FL-18:Patrick Murphy FL-22:Lois Frankel FL-26:Joe Garcia HI-2: Tulsi Gabbard IL-8: Tammy Duckworth IL-10:Brad Schneider IL-12:Bill Enyart IL-17:Cheri Bustos MD-6: John Delaney MA-4: Joe Kennedy III MI-5: Dan Kildee MN-8: Rick Nolan NV-4: Steven Horsford NH-2: Annie Kuster NM-1: Michelle Lujan-Grisham NY-5: Grace Meng NY-10:Hakeem Jeffries NY-18:Sean Maloney OH-10:Joyce Beatty PA-17:Matt Cartwright TX-16:Beto O`Rourke TX-20:Joaquin Castro TX-23:Pete Gallego TX-33:Marc Veasey TX-34:Filemon Vela WA-6: Derek Kilmer WA-10:Denny Heck WI-2: Mark Pocan	Newly-elected Republicans: AR-4: Tom Cotton CA-1: Doug LaMalfa CA-21:David Valadao CA-41:Paul Cook FL-3: Ted Yoho FL-6: Ron DeSantis FL-19:Trey Radel GA-9: Doug Collins IL-15:Rodney Davis IN-2: Jackie Walorski IN-5: Susan Brooks IN-6: Luke Messer KY-6: Andy Barr MI-11:Kerry Bentivolio MO-2: Ann Wagner MT-0: Steve Daines NY-26:Chris Collins NC-8: Richard Hudson NC-9: Robert Pittenger NC-11:Mark Meadows NC-13:George Holding ND-0: Kevin Cramer OH-2: Brad Wenstrup OH-14:Dave Joyce OK-1: Jim Bridenstine OK-2: Markwayne Mullin PA-4: Scott Perry PA-12:Keith Rothfus SC-7: Tom Rice TX-14:Randy Weber TX-25:Roger Williams UT-2: Chris Stewart	Abortion Budget/Economy Civil Rights Corporations Crime Drugs Education Energy/Oil Environment Families/Children Foreign Policy Free Trade Govt. Reform Gun Control Health Care Homeland Security Immigration Infrastructure/Technology Jobs Principles/Values Social Security Tax Reform War/Iraq/Mideast Welfare/Poverty Main Page Profile NM politicians Contact info: House Contact Mailing Address: Office 2432 RHOB, Wash., DC 20515 Phone number: 202-225-2365

  
  Page last updated: Apr 15, 2013