Alan Grayson addresses the 2009 FDP Convention, October 10, 2009. He reminds us that the Democratic Party is one with a conscience. Republicans are the selfish party.
Below is a history of Alan Grayson working for the people.
My first diary on Daily Kos was one in support of Alan Grayson. It flew off the home page in a matter of minutes with little notice. Undaunted, I continued to post diaries about the man I wanted to be my Congressman from Florida's 8th (Orlando area), here, here, and here.
In January, 2009 -- Alan begins his career in Congress by asking us to focus on the big picture, something we would do well to remember today. This is Congressman Alan Grayson talking about his questioning of Federal Reserve Vice Chair Donald Kohn (below), with a shout-out to the Big Picture community.
Fed Vice Chair Donald Kohn testified before the Financial Services Committee. The Fed's balance sheet has expanded by $1.2 trillion since September 1, 2008. That's over a trillion dollars right before the Bushies left office. Curious. Here Congressman Alan Grayson grills Fed Vice Chair Donald Kohn:
In February, 2009 -- Group of CEO's from the major financial institutions such as Citi, Chase, Goldman Sachs are questioned before the congress on February 11, 2009. In this particular clip, Rep. Alan Grayson from Florida questions Citi Group's CEO, Vikram Pandit, about government's assumed liability of Citi group's 250 billion dollars worth of "toxic assets.
You've heard the phrase, "Heads I win, tales you lose?"
In March, 2009 -- Alan Grayson questions CEO Edward Liddy on the AIG cover-up.
In April, 2009 -- Rep. Alan Grayson gives a floor statement supporting his first bill, the Pay for Performance Act, which caps executive pay for companies partially owned by the taxpayer (through the TARP program). Under this bill, taxpayer owned companies must pay their employees a salary that is not unreasonable or excessive, and bonuses must be performance-based. It is remarkable to me that the Congress of the United States of America should have to pass such a bill. What does that say about our society?
In May, 2009 -- Alan asks the hard question: Is Anyone Minding the Store at the Federal Reserve? If you haven't seen it already, watch. You won't be disappointed.
In July, 2009 -- This is Congressman Alan Grayson questioning Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on $550B of loans to foreigners (or 'central liquidity swaps' in Federal Reserve-ese'). Alan asks the question: "Which foreigners got the Fed's $500,000,000,000?" Bernanke: "I don't know."
On September 15, 2009 Alan Grayson announces there will be a hearing in late September on the bill to audit the Federal Reserve. If this bill passes, the audit will be the first time the central bank has been independently audited.Alan Grayson announces there will be a hearing in late September on the bill to audit the Federal Reserve. If this bill passes, the audit will be the first time the central bank has been independently audited.
Only last week, September 25, 2009 -- Alan asked this question: Has the Federal Reserve Ever Tried to Manipulate the Stock Market? This is Rep. Alan Grayson asking Federal Reserve General Counsel Scott Alvarez about the Fed's independence. Priceless.
Also last week, in a stroke of genius, Rep. Alan Grayson makes a connection: 'Defund-ACORN' Law Should Apply To Corrupt Defense Contractors, Too!
Today (Wed. 23 Sept. 2009), Glenn Greenwald of Salon Radio interviewed U.S. Congressman Alan Grayson (D-FL) concerning the bill passed recently by both the House and the Senate to de-fund ACORN for alleged corruption and misconduct, and why the law should be applied to the major defense contractors.
According to Rep. Grayson, the Defund ACORN bill is written so broadly that it literally compels the de-funding not only of that group, but also the de-funding of, and denial of all government contracts to, any corporation that "has filed a fraudulent form with any Federal or State regulatory agency." By definition, that includes virtually every large defense contractor, which -- unlike ACORN -- has actually been found guilty of fraud. As The Huffington Post's Ryan Grim put it: "the bill could plausibly defunds the entire military-industrial complex. Whoops.
October 8, 2009 This is Alan Grayson discussing health care on the floor of the House on 10/8/09. He sends a message to Democrats: No one elected Olympia Snowe President of the United States. And he sends a message to Republicans: No one cares about your feelings.
Alan Grayson has drawn a lot of attention by having the guts to call out Republicans for their negativism. He, like so many of us, has been frustrated for months over the asinine behavior that has become acceptable in Congress. Knowing him as a man of exceptional character and civility, I applaud his actions today. This is an action he did not take lightly. Finally, today I felt like I had a representative in Congress! Funny how it seems a Congressman must create a distraction to remind us to focus on the big picture.
Alan began his career in Congress by imploring us all to focus on the big picture. Good advice.
Let's focus on keeping Alan in office. To show Alan your appreciation, visit Act Blue here, here, here or here.