May '10 Nevada Government—U.S. Senator John Ensign Column

US Sets New Record Deficit For Month Of April

Each American Household Owes $696 to US Government to Pay off April Deficit

May 12, 2010 – Washington, D.C. – Senator John Ensign today addressed reports that show the United States posted an $82.7 billion deficit in April, the largest on record for this month and nearly four times the $21 billion shortfall that was recorded for April of just last year.

“I’ve said it before and I will keep saying it until we start to make some drastic changes in this country, I am absolutely in fear for the future of our country,” said Ensign. “We’ve all seen the recent news reports and footage from Greece and I fear that we are only a few years away from this scenario playing out in the streets of America if we do not stop spending and borrowing money as if we have an endless supply because we do not.”

In April of 2009, each American family owed $176 to pay off that month’s deficit of $21 billion. The latest numbers released for April 2010 drastically increase the debt burden on each American household because they now owe $696 each to pay off the $82.7 billion deficit for that month. The April 2010 deficit is roughly equal to the yearly budgets of the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice, combined.

US Should Not Support Companies In Business With Iran

May 12, 2010 – Washington, D.C. – Senator John Ensign, a member of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, today attended a hearing on Iran sanctions and questioned why the United States government continues to do business with companies doing business with Iran in clear violation of the Iran Sanctions Act.

“Iran has continued to thumb its nose at the international community as it steams toward its goal of developing a nuclear weapon,” said Ensign. “There is a lot of frustration out there, on both sides of the aisle, about the sanctions against Iran that are simply being ignored. If we really want to get serious on rogue regimes like Iran, the Administration needs to enforce current law and stop sending taxpayer money to companies that do business with them. Additionally, the refined petroleum sanctions currently being debated by Congress cannot have huge loopholes that foreign companies can literally drive an oil tanker through.”

Senator Ensign joined a bipartisan group of senators to question why the State Department continues to ignore the will of Congress in terms of sanction enforcement. View footage of Senator Ensign’s questions at today’s hearing.

Fannie Mae Needs Another Taxpayer Bailout

May 10, 2010 – Washington, D.C. – Senator John Ensign today commented on Fannie Mae’s request for another $8.4 billion in taxpayer money after reporting an $11.5 billion net loss for the first quarter. Last week, Freddie Mac asked for an additional $10.6 billion, bringing the taxpayers’ tab for both companies to $145 billion.

“The enduring memory of the home foreclosure crisis will not be the thousands of Americans who’ve lost their homes over these past few years, it will be the untold amount of taxpayer dollars that have been handed over to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” said Ensign. “Americans are on the hook for bailing out these two companies every single time their numbers inch into the red, and yet, there is no plan in place to ensure that these bailouts will eventually end. The financial reform bill does nothing to address the threat that Fannie and Freddie pose to our country, and the amendment that I offered to the bill to do exactly that was defeated.”

Last week, Senator Ensign received a vote on his amendment to protect taxpayers from future bailouts of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by restricting their size so that they do not continue to be ‘too big to fail’.

Ensign Amendment Would Protect Taxpayers From More Bailouts Of Fannie, Freddie

May 7, 2010 – Washington, D.C. – Senator John Ensign received a vote in the Senate last night on an amendment that he offered to the financial reform bill that would protect taxpayers from future bailouts of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by restricting their size so that they do not become 'too big to fail'. Taxpayers are on the hook for these government-sponsored entities since they have grown large enough to threaten the stability of the economy in another downturn.

"Just this week, Freddie Mac made headlines for asking for more than $10 billion in additional taxpayer money," said Ensign. "Because of the way that the government-takeover of these companies was structured, Americans are on the hook for funding Fannie and Freddie every single time that their books dip into the red, and not only is that unfair, it's simply unsustainable. Real reform of the financial system means that we limit the risk that these companies pose to our economy by not allowing them to become 'too big to fail' again."

Senator Ensign's amendment would limit the size of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac so that they do not exceed 3% of the GDP. Currently, the financial reform bill does nothing to address the risk that these two government sponsored entities pose to our economy and the American taxpayer.

The amendment failed in a vote of 35-59.