Senator Shelby Controversy Free In St. Clair Visit

Published 1:47 pm Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Last week, U.S. Senator Richard Shelby talked with St. Clair County residents in Pell City during his yearly visit to each county in the state.

The economy was the top issue on the agenda and Shelby, who was at one time the ranking senior member of the Senate Banking Committee, gave his opinions on how the banks got into trouble and what could be done to help dig the country out of its financial trouble.



The Economy

Senator Shelby started his speech by saying that the country needs to revitalize its banking system and catch up the real estate market in order to get the country on a level financial playing field again.

“I believe we’re in a world recession,” Shelby told the group of 50 St. Clair residents. He cited other countries such as Germany, France and China, which are also feeling the pinch of the global banking and market crunch.

He said that the United States is at a tipping point, financially speaking. “Our cup’s not running over… but it’s close to full.”

He said that though the unemployment news might be bad for many in the country, having 155 million employed Americans is a sign that the country is still viable in the global economy. “We’re still doing pretty well and we want to continue to do well.”

The Republican Senator, who has served in Congress for 23 years, said that the recently passed $787 billion stimulus package and recent developments with oversight in the White House, such as the census data being proposed that might re-district some Congressional districts, should be looked at critically by Americans. “There are a lot of things going on that should make you suspicious.”

He said he hopes that the Democrats in Washington will not manipulate the census data to tilt the House and Senate in favor of Democratic district lines.

Shelby also took questions from area residents. One question dealing with the economists picked by the Barack Obama administration to oversee the banks and the stimulus package evoked strait talk from the Tuscaloosa senator.

“Let’s keep the government out of business,” Shelby said. “Let’s not over regulate it and I’m in favor of that. I think that most of the mainstream economists know that stimulus packages have a checkered past. We can’t borrow our way to success.”

He said that the country needs to fix banking or the economy will continue to contract.

Shelby, who served with Barack Obama when he was a senator, said of the now president, “He’s a good speaker, he’s obviously smart.” But he said that Obama’s administration needs to pull the reigns back or else the country might be headed towards both socialized medicine and possibly nationalized banking.



Car Companies

Shelby said that over the years he has heard a lot of people who ask if Alabama has been trying to create another Detroit in the South, citing the movement of many foreign car manufacturers to the state. He said that he always tells them that the state is moving to get high-paying, high-skilled jobs brought to Alabama, but that the route of large unions and building a new car manufacturing capitol has never been the intention of bringing those companies to the area.



What if America’s creditors stop lending?

“Some day I’m afraid the U.S. might now have investment-grade, or high-grade credit [with our lenders],” Shelby told those gathered. He said of the Federal Reserve, “It’s not only the central bank, but it’s our top regulator and they’ve done a shoddy job of regulating. I think the fed is now trying to print money and that’s a debt, too.”

The former Chair of the Senate Banking Committee weighed in on former and current Federal Reserve chairmen. “Each time they came to the Senate Banking Committee hearings on state regulations, [former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan] Greenspan would tell us the health of the economy and he would say, ‘It’s good.’ They had no idea what was going on with it. Somebody has to ask the tough questions. If they’d have known what the banks were getting into [then they should have fixed it].”

Shelby did tout the smaller banks throughout the nation as an example to be followed for good regulation. “The banks that stayed in the fundamental business of banking are doing good.”

On the United Auto Worker’s Union, Shelby said that the union not giving into concessions would most likely have a negative affect on the outcome of Ford Motor Company and General Motors if problems continue to arise for the car manufacturers.



What about deregulation? How can the country bring some of this financial mess to closure?

Shelby told those gathered, “Some of the biggest deregulation of the banking system came under [President Bill] Clinton.”

“Where do we go on this uncharted course?” Shelby proposed to the group. “How do we re-regulate and make our regulatory financial system work?”

He said that more regulation for the banking industry is the answer, but cautioned that he does not believe that a Democrat Congress would vote for such changes.

He said that the government shouldn’t regulate salaries of executives unless they are part of companies that are receiving federal bailout funds.

Shelby said that for companies on strong financial footing that their stock holders and boards of directors should regulate what types of compensation they receive. “I see a lot of waste, but it’s not our business. But it is our business when we loan billions of dollars and they’re using it to pay bonuses. You cannot have a risk to federal institutions and not have regulation of our banking institutions.”

He said that the current stimulus package most likely would not bring the economy around, though infrastructure funding has been needed throughout the country for some time.

“I do worry and will continue to worry about the debts we put on our children and grandchildren,” he told those gathered.

Later in his talk, he said that trimming management and payroll of companies taking government assistance should ensure that those companies, regardless of what industry they are in, would ensure their future success.

He then gave a dire assessment of the overall state of some of those companies, “I think the banks are already failing. They’re the walking dead. If we keep them open, it will cost the taxpayers more. If we demand—as consumers—a car that has to have better mileage then the market will respond. If you have the government saying to do this or that, then it won’t work as well.”



Healthcare

“I believe myself that we have the best healthcare system in the world,” Shelby said before giving his opinion on the current state of the healthcare system. “What the Democrats want to do is create national healthcare and it will not improve our healthcare. When we’re talking about solving our healthcare problems, I think we should help those who are underinsured and not put everyone under the same system.”



Gun control

Shelby re-iterated his opinion of the current state of the Democrat-controlled Congress. “The Democrats are always going to try to go through the front door, or the back door or however they can go to take your guns or control your guns… I’ll never vote for gun control.”



Zero Meth

During the proceedings, St. Clair District Attorney Richard Minor thanked Shelby for providing funds for the county’s Zero Meth campaign, which is aimed at reducing the use and distribution of the terrible drug.

An attendee of the meeting gave anecdotal evidence that the hospital she is employed by sees 3-5 methamphetamine-addicted children born in its facility each month.

“I think it’s a good program,” Shelby said of Zero Meth. “If you’ve ever been around meth, you see what it can do.” He said that users of the drug “are destroying themselves.” He said that the drug “makes killers out of decent persons. It’s right under the radar screens.”