PRESS RELEASE: Bridgeport Congressional Candidate, Rick Torres, Blasts Banking Reform as Diversionary Tactic

Congressional Candidate, Rick Torres, Blasts Banking Reform as Diversionary Tactic
A press release from Rick Torres, a U.S. congressional candidate in Connecticut’s 4th district, found it's way into my email box. The release is impressive:

Rick Torres, candidate in Connecticut’s 4th congressional district, today urged the president to resist further regulation of the banking industry. In a statement issued today, Torres said, “Lack of regulation was not the cause of our present financial crisis. The exact opposite is true.”

Torres pointed to the creation of the now bankrupt Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to President Carter's Community Reinvestment Act of 1977, to President Clinton's 1999 forcing of banks to lower their lending standards to increase the number of loans to 'distressed inner city areas', and to the Federal Reserve's policy of keeping interest rates artificially low for the few years leading to the crisis.

“Banks never gave out risky loans prior to these government initiatives,” Torres continued. “But when the government started to use the free market for social engineering, banks no longer acted prudently. This caused our financial crisis.”

According to Torres, President Obama’s push for banking regulation is nothing more than a populist move to distract voters from the public rejection of his other policies in the face of the voter backlash in Massachusetts’ election on January 19th.

“Not only is his push for more banking reform dangerous, but the timing is suspicious. I suspect this is merely a ploy to distract voters from Tuesday’s election in Massachusetts, where the public soundly defeated his other attempts to regulate our economy,” Torres noted.

“Allow banks to act in their own self interest, without government manipulation, they won’t give risky loans. It’s that simple.”

Of course, the social engineering that Torres speaks of resulted in much of the money, that the Federal Reserve printed, ending up where Torres identifies, but the crisis, itself, was ultimately a monetary/Fedeal Reserve event, and would have occurred in some fashion even without the disastrous housing legislation. That said, Torres appears to be a very strong liberty oriented candidate. Check out his very creative web site, here.

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WOR RADIO 710 AM: Bridgeport Republican Rick Torres: President Obama is more like the Fidel Castro regime that my family ran away from!

Republican Rick Torres told WOR that:

Republicans have failed miserably to engage themselves in this argument (that the Republican party is for the rich and the Democratic party is for the poor). My allegiance is to get the poor back on their feet and to enjoy this country that so many of us take for granted.

It worries me that whenever there’s a new government program or agency, that much more of our freedom is swallowed up! He (President Obama) to add another 9 to 15% with cap and trade and health care. That’s on the verge of converting this free society to a socialist society that no longer worries about the free market.

One of the things in my background you should understand is that my family is in Cuba. That’s why I say that we are on verge of knocking on socialism.

All of those plans (health care, unemployment benefits, jobs) are socialist plan in nature. Socialism is when the government tries to do for us what we should do for ourselves. What I’ll tell you is that statement is based on fact and our government is out of control.

So we need to get government out of lives. I live in the people. I believe in “you”. A health care bill is an effort for the government to provide us with health care. That should be in the people’s hands, not the government’s hands.

I content that anytime the government “creates jobs” that it will have destroyed others in the process.

Rick Torres is a life-long Bridgeport resident, a successful small-business owner, and a true leader and steward of public good in his neighborhood, community, and city.

He prides himself in being a Constitutional scholar, and is running to be the kind of a citizen legislator envisioned by our Founders.

Rick was born in Bridgeport in 1959. His father, Juan, a Cuban immigrant and a political activist whose radio program had been shut down by the Batista regime, welcome the Cuban Revolution. In 1961, Juan took his family back to Cuba, to help Castro lead his native land out of tyranny—or so he thought. It took Juan only a couple of months to become disillusioned with the communist dictator, and another 5 years to secure a permission to leave Cuba again. Thus, in 1967, Rick and his brother were brought back to Bridgeport—with not much more than the clothes on their backs.

Today a successful self-made businessman and perhaps the most respected Republican in Bridgeport. He ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2003. He served as a city Republican Town Committee chairman before being forced out after endorsing Democratic state Rep. Christopher L. Caruso in the 2007.

SOURCE: http://www.wor710.com/pages/6498815.php?

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03/08/10 Americans for Prosperity Applauds U.S. House Candidate Rick Torres -Signs No Climate Tax Pledge

The free market grassroots group Americans for Prosperity (AFP) today applauded Connecticut U.S. House candidate Rick Torres (4th District) for signing the group’s “No Climate Tax Pledge.” Torres joins more than 395 lawmakers and candidates on the federal, state and local levels pledging to “oppose legislation relating to climate change that includes a net increase in government revenue.”

“The one thing elected officials should agree on is that global warming shouldn’t be used as an excuse to hike taxes on citizens and businesses,” said AFP Vice President for Policy Phil Kerpen. “We encourage all of Connecticut’s elected officials and candidates for elected office to sign the pledge.”

Cap-and-trade took its first step toward enactment last year when the U.S. House narrowly passed the Waxman-Markey energy tax bill, which escaped the lower chamber by a scant seven votes despite significant bipartisan opposition. The Senate has struggled to pass companion legislation, with key Democratic senators openly expressing opposition to attempting to pass the energy tax bill.

President Obama has made no secret of his support for the bill, which would be the largest tax increase in American history. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has scored the House plan as an $846 billion increase in federal revenue, a burden that will be borne by taxpayers and consumers for decades to come.

“Using the guise of climate change to transfer dollars from hard-working citizens to bureaucratic big government is unacceptable,” said Kerpen. “Regardless of their stance on global warming, this should be common ground for all of our elected officials at all levels of government.”

The pledge is available online at www.NoClimateTax.com. AFP does not endorse candidates. All elected officials and candidates are encouraged to sign the pledge and go on the record in opposition to using the climate change issue to increase taxes and grow the size of government.

Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is a nationwide organization of citizen leaders committed to advancing every individual’s right to economic freedom and opportunity. AFP believes reducing the size and scope of government is the best way to safeguard individual productivity and prosperity for all Americans. AFP educates and engages citizens in support of restraining state and federal government growth, and returning government to its constitutional limits. AFP has more than 975,000 members, including members in all 50 states, and 30 state chapters and affiliates. More than 60,000 Americans in all 50 states have made a financial investment in AFP or AFP Foundation.

For more information, visit www.americansforprosperity.org

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Bridgeport Resident Rick Torres Contrasts Himself From Competitors

Rick Torres, candidate in Connecticut’s 4th Congressional district, today highlighted what he believes to be the critical distinctions between him and his rivals in the race.

“While I believe anyone who runs for office to better our country deserves respect, only certain policies warrant support,” Torres said.

“Labels are too often misleading, which is why policies matter.”

To illustrate, Torres points to a recent press release by rival Rob Merkle, who professes to be a fiscal conservative. In the release, Merkle claims to be a ‘”small business owner who strives to reduce the size, reach and burden of the federal government.”

“His policies do anything but reduce the size of government,” Torres notes. “He is merely another big-government Republican.”

Torres points to just two of the many big government solutions Merkle advocates:

1. In a poor attempt to 'help' the economy, Merkle praises the SBA loan program. “The Small Business Administration is a government agency which actually takes taxpayer monies and decides who to loan it to. It is another form of corporate welfare,” Torres says.

2. Another of Merkle’s poor attempts to revive the economy is virtually identical to the 'jobs plan' of Barack Obama. It is to “mandate” banks to make loans to small businesses. Torres points out that banks are private enterprises. “Government mandating banks to give loans to property owners resulted in the near collapse of our economy. Yet Merkle wants the government to repeat this same mistake and hopes for a different outcome.”