‘I’d fire every one of them,’ Phil Hare says

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By Barb Ickes | Thursday, October 23, 2008 11:21 AM CDT | () comments

UPDATE: Clarification: U.S. Rep. Phil Hare, D-Ill., said AIG executives’ $400,000 staff retreat was an abuse of the $85 billion federal loan granted Sept. 16 to bail out the company. A story in Friday’s edition incorrectly implied Hare said it was an abuse of the bailout bill passed by Congress Oct. 2.

Hare said the new bailout bill contains much stricter provisions for oversight.

EARLIER STORY: If it was up to Congressman Phil Hare, the AIG workers who went on a $400,000 junket after the federal bailout bill was signed would all be fired.

The Illinois Democrat, who is unopposed in the November election, said he also would have fired a majority of the workers in the Department of Veterans Affairs, especially after the release of highly critical reports on conditions and care at Walter Reed Hospital.

“I’d have fired two-thirds of these people working there because they’re worthless,” he said.

In an editorial board meeting Thursday at the Quad-City Times, Hare said he would urge the next president to immediately name a team of economic advisers and suggest amendments to the “imperfect” $700 billion package that is intended to rescue the ailing economy. Whether U.S. Sen. John McCain or U.S. Sen. Barack Obama wins in November, he said, the new president should not wait until after the inauguration to put his own fingerprints on the bill.

“I don’t know if this is going to work,” he said of the bailout, adding that doing nothing would certainly have resulted in “a total collapse” of the American economy.

On the bailout bill

Hare said he disagreed with his own party’s leadership who were reluctant to “take ownership” of an economic rescue, fearing they would be blamed for the problems leading to it.

He also acknowledged that he does not understand some of the vernacular used in financial circles. Even so, he didn’t follow the advice of every financial expert he encountered, mostly because each had a different perspective.

“I heard, ‘Let it correct itself,’” he recalled of one adviser. “I couldn’t do that.”

The resulting bill does not contain all the provisions his group of House Democrats had hoped for, he said, but it offers some protection to the estimated 2 million Americans on the brink of foreclosure.

The bill didn’t go far enough, he said, in the way of oversight on spending. The $700 billion package should be received as a loan, he said, and not a bailout. He cited reports of AIG workers taking a nearly half-million dollar “staff retreat” as an immediate abuse of the bailout.

“If it wasn’t criminal, it ought to be,” he said. “I’d fire every one of them, and I want every dime of that coming back to the Treasury. If that isn’t stealing, I don’t know what is. It had nothing to do with making AIG solvent.”

Of the constituent calls that rang into his office as the first bill was introduced, Hare said, 90 percent of the callers opposed any kind of bailout. But attitudes changed as the level of crisis became more apparent.

The bill does not sufficiently address corporate responsibility, he said, and more needs to be done to “get away from crisis management,” given that Congress “saw this coming.” The bill fails in other areas, he said, including the fact that it offers support to struggling financial institutions, rather than Americans already in foreclosure.

“We can’t save all 2 million people,” he said, adding that he felt compelled to support a bailout, despite concerns of interfering in a free market. “I’m a card-carrying capitalist. But this is an extraordinary set of circumstances here.”

On energy

Hare said his ideas for an energy plan are not always well-received by the more “progressive” Democrats in the House, because he wants to see all alternatives considered.

“Everything has to be on the table,” he said. “We haven’t built a nuclear plant in

30 years, and I’m not saying we should. But nukes and coal have to be talked about.”

He cited successes in France and Germany in recycling nuclear waste as a promising idea for America. He also referred to so-called clean coal, which would put many unemployed coal miners back to work.

“I also support wind and solar (energies),” he said. “I’m big on bio diesel.”

A move toward energy independence will require sacrifices by Americans, he said. Among them are buying more fuel-efficient vehicles and car-pooling, along with using mass transportation as it becomes more available.

“Voters are angry, rightfully so,” he said. “Americans are willing to sacrifice. They’ve done it.”

There will be Congressional sacrifices to make, too, he said, including finding the funding for new energy research, along with cancer research and infrastructure improvements. To date, he said, those efforts have not been adequately funded.

“But we’ve got the money to throw at AIG so they can go party down for a few days?” he asked, rhetorically. “That’s inexcusable, and I think it’s just plain wrong.”

Among the infrastructure needs that should be funded, he said, is high-speed rail service between the Quad-Cities and Chicago and Des Moines and a levee that would protect Mississippi River communities from frequent flooding.

Estimates for a levee system are at $6 billion, he said, while the recent disaster assistance package that will help flood-ravaged towns is $14 billion.

Funding for the levee could come from a number of sources, he said, including a possible increase in the motor-fuel tax and savings that would be realized with the ending of the war in Iraq. As a preventive measure, a levee would save taxpayer money in the long-run, he said, while creating jobs.

“I think we need to look at some entitlements, like Social Security,” he said. “I make $169,300. It’s a lot of money. Why in heaven’s name am I only paying taxes on 90 (thousand) of it? I don’t think that’s fair. I should pay on what I make.”

Miscellaneous

On Iraq spending: “Every dollar we invest in infrastructure, we get $5 back. Every dollar we invest in this war, we get nothing back.”

On an executive-level backlash against members of Congress who disagreed with President Bush: “He’s not the emperor of the United States. He’s the president of the United States.”

On an alarming suicide rate among veterans: Hare said it is “nonsense” for Congress to fail to borrow from a highly successful program in Minnesota in which veterans are working the phones on a suicide hot line, decreasing the suicide rate in the state by 80 percent.

On some online commenters: “They’re just in a bad mood and probably spilled their coffee on the keyboard.”

On Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and recent anti-Obama sentiments on the campaign trail: “I think she’s close to inciting a riot, and it’s beneath her. You can say Obama’s going to raise taxes. You don’t have to call him a domestic terrorist. What she’s doing, I think, is dangerous.”

Hare runs unopposed

U.S. Congressman Phil Hare, D-Ill., is unopposed in his bid for a second term in office.

Mark Lioen of Rock Island is a registered write-in candidate throughout the 17th Congressional District. He is a teacher.

Hare won his first bid for office in 2006, after his longtime boss and 12-term congressman, Lane Evans, retired. Evans is battling Parkinson’s disease.

The election is Nov. 4.

Philip G. Hare

Age: 59

Party affiliation: Democrat

Family: Wife, Beckie; son, Lou, 28; daughter, Amy, 33.

Education: Graduated from Alleman High School, Rock Island, and attended Black Hawk College, Moline.

Occupation: He was a textile worker before going to work for 23-plus years as district director to retired U.S. Rep. Lane Evans.

Previous elective office: Served as a union leader and president of Unite Here Local 617 before becoming an aide to Evans. First elected to the House in 2006.

17th Congressional District: Covers much of west-central Illinois and includes areas within 23 counties. The sprawling district extends from Whiteside County in the north to Calhoun County in the south.

Salary: $169,300