Thursday, February 04, 2010

Corey says Kanjo has "Zero" chance of winning

“There is zero chance Paul Kanjorski defeats Lou Barletta. Zero,” Corey O’Brien told POLITICO in an interview. “I may be wrong about that, but I’m not good at negative numbers. Republicans are giddy about this race.”

He said the Massachusetts miracle helps his campaign and Kanjo can't rely on the President's coattails this time out predicting "we’re going to win this primary.”

He then attacked the seniority argument.

“If seniority was the benchmark, you’d never run against anyone. His seniority has gotten us 10 percent unemployment, his seniority has not developed any regional vision for the future… and his seniority has brought a lot of Wall Street money in his coffers,” O’Brien said. “Every single day, I’m chipping away at Kanjorski. People in the 11th district want a change in Washington.”


Senior member of Congress Kanjorski had this to say about the AIG bonuses today:

WASHINGTON - Congressman Paul E. Kanjorski (D-PA), the Chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises, expressed aggravation and disappointment about reports that American International Group (AIG) will pay $100 million in bonuses to employees at the very business unit that caused the company to lose tens of billions of dollars and seek a federal bailout. These bonuses only highlight the need for the Kanjorski amendment which will prevent the existence of companies that are deemed "too big to fail," like AIG.

"I am deeply disappointed that AIG has, yet again, failed to halt excessive employee bonuses after receiving access to more than $180 billion in taxpayer money to keep the company afloat," said Chairman Kanjorski. "AIG is a shining example of why we cannot allow companies to become "too big to fail." The Kanjorski amendment will make it so that in the future, companies including AIG, will not be able to become so interconnected that they could severely damage the American economy if they collapse. Last year, I held two hearings on these issues, including one where the then CEO of AIG testified. I will continue to examine these matters as Congress works to ensure that the government swiftly winds down its support for AIG."

Chairman Kanjorski added, "The House passed a Wall Street reform bill which includes this amendment. Just last month, the President expressed his support for a similar proposal. Now, the Senate must do its part by passing Wall Street reform legislation which includes the Kanjorski amendment or similar language in the larger bill. AIG's bonuses only reemphasize that we must take action as soon as possible to better protect the American taxpayers and the American economy. I look forward to the day when the phrase ‘too big to fail' is no longer a part of our vocabulary."

Chairman Kanjorski has been a leader in crafting landmark Wall Street reform legislation to work to prevent future financial crises and better protect every American. H.R. 4173, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, passed in the House in December. The bill includes the Kanjorski amendment which would work to prevent another situation like we encountered with AIG. Specifically, the amendment would empower federal regulators to rein in and dismantle financial firms that are so large, inter-connected, or risky that their collapse would put at risk the entire American economic system, even if those firms currently appear to be well-capitalized and healthy. Therefore, American taxpayers should no longer be on the hook for bailouts, as financial companies would not be able to become "too big to fail."


Here is a picture of Corey and Kanjo in happier times (2008)





via The Scranton Guardian

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I guess O'Brien thought that it would be easy to beat Kanjo and that was why he delivered Lackawanna County to him last election, which is the reason he beat Barletta. Isn't it a little discouraging that last year O'Brien was telling people how great Kanjo was and now he doesn't have one good thing to say about him. Kanjo must have had a really really bad year in O'Brien's eyes.

Anonymous said...

If O'Brien was powerful enough to deliver Lankawana to Kanjo last year then you can believe that he is absolutely too powerful to beat now. I sse Cory as being the victor. Kanjo has money but he will need it to explain his record and family ventures on the public dollar. Kanjo should just retire without embarassment and then Cory will be a walk. Barletta is still hurtting over his lost investment in his last run and who the hell would donate to him now? His home town record is not something one would bragg about. Just atsrt calling Cory Mr. Congressman and get used to it.

Anonymous said...

Corey supported Kanjorski as the lesser of two evils. He was a fervent Obama supporter and didn't think that sending a Republican from our District would be the wisest thing.

I am supporting him because he's honest and has a genuine desire to see our region prosper.

Anonymous said...

I agree with 2:57. I will support Corey because he will make a good represenative. Besides, I'm sick to death of Paul Maher running around like a mini me for Kanjo.