I've been a voter for years but I cannot remember the last time one issue really determined my vote as much as this economic bailout bill did.

As some of the readers of this blog know, I was as big of a fan of William Meyers as anybody.  Really good quality candidate who would have won had he run.  Unfortunately, he was incompetent and couldn't get his signatures turned in.  I guess he really didn't want to win.

So, that leaves me the choice between Becky Greenwald or Tom Latham.  The vote this past week really sealed the deal for me.  I decided I was not going to write in Meyers' name and now I am going to vote for Tom Latham.

I used to be a proud Democrat and was so hopeful that maybe we had a future with Bruce Braley because he voted against it too.  But now I see that the Democrats like Harkin, Braley, Boswell and Loebsack are all just corporate sweethearts who can't wait to give out more big blank checks to their CEO buddies at the cost of us out here working hard for every penny we can get.

Braley caved to the Wall Street fat cats and those guys, including Grassley too, gave Bush and Paulsen a big blank check.  800 BILLION – Yes, BILLION with a B – dollars.  Unbelievable.  This is the same gang that complains about a blank check for Iraq and they give Bush a blank check for something else.  Hypocrits.

Amazing.  I never would have thought that I'd see the day that Braley, Boswell, Loebsack and Harkin vote with Bush while King and Latham vote on the side of the American people and against Bush.  Bush is toxic and Democrats just swallowed some of the pill.

I was talking to some others in church today about the vote and they all said that they couldn't believe what happened this week.  A guy I know who is a die-hard Democrat said he didn't know if he could vote for Harkin this fall and said he might even vote for Latham just because he respected Latham's willingness to listen to constituents and not just be a party line voter in lockstep with Bush and his evil gang.

I just really think Becky Greenwald blew it this week.  William Meyers would not have screwed up this bad.  Greenwald came out in favor of the bailout which is extremely unpopular.

I was on Becky's website today doing some research and found this:

Greenwald Encourages Latham to Support Action on Financial Crisis
For Immediate Release- October 1, 2008

Waukee, IA – Today, Becky Greenwald, candidate for Congress in Iowa's 4th District, released the following statement on the Senate version of the financial rescue bill:

“I strongly encourage Tom Latham to support this new version of the financial rescue bill. The Senate version of the bill integrated constructive changes including temporarily raising the FDIC insurance caps, renewable energy tax credits and fixing the Alternative Minimum Tax to exempt middle-income taxpayers. These provisions go a long way to support working families in the 4th District, who were forgotten in the original bill.

“I still think more needs to be done to address the underlying problem of keeping families in their homes, but it is clear by the impending unavailability of credit, we need to take action now. I am encouraged by the modifications to this bill. I hope the House will embrace the modified bill. I encourage Tom Latham to vote in favor of this bill and take this important step in addressing our financial crisis.”

Then, I see this and my jaw dropped.  The incompetence.  The last sentence says that we should have a representative that works for Main Street instead of Wall Street.  Yet, Becky would have voted for the Wall Street Corporate Greed CEO golden parachute bill.  The hypocrisy is stunning and I know that William Meyers, if he were our candidate, would not have screwed up this badly. 

Greenwald Campaign: Condemns Latham for voting against cleaning up the financial mess he helped create
10/3/2008

Contact: Erin Seidler
515-537-4465

Waukee, IA – Today, Becky Greenwald condemned Tom Latham for voting against the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 as the economy faces its most serious crisis since the Great Depression.

“I am disappointed that Tom Latham voted against fixing the financial mess he helped create. Latham’s years of support for George Bush’s failed economic policies and deregulation of the financial markets while taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from Wall Street put America in the economic crisis it faces today. I'm just glad he didn't get his way when he supported George Bush's plan to privatize Social Security and risk America's retirement safety net on Wall Street. And to add insult to injury, this vote was also a vote against providing tax relief to middle income families and disaster victims in Iowa.

“I am pleased the House passed the Economic Rescue Bill. Today’s bill will help to unfreeze credit, protect taxpayers, provide tax relief for Iowans affected by natural disasters, and fix the Alternative Minimum Tax to exempt middle-income taxpayers. It was clear action needed to be taken to protect Iowans, and these provisions go a long way to support working families in the 4th District, who were forgotten in the original bill.

“Through no fault of their own, Iowans who have planned and saved for retirement and families trying to send their children to college would have been forced to delay their plans. Something needed to be done, and Tom Latham voted to do nothing.

“It’s time we have a representative that values working families and Main Street over Wall Street.”

I'll be voting for Latham.  I was legitimately undecided after William Meyers punted on his campaign chance.  I was going to give Greenwald a good look but now I see that she would rather side with George Bush and Corporate elites instead of those of us who are just trying to get by.

Greenwald has a lot of explaining to do.  I think Latham will beat her easily anyway since she is running such an incompetent campaign but I know that the Latham-Meyers '10 race will be exciting.  Who is with me on that?

I urge all the rest of you, if you are true progressives, to vote for those candidates who stand up to corporate corruption and fight for those of us who need all that we can get.  What a shame.