:''Not to be confused with a prison "bailout", which is the act of paying money, or "bail", to a court on behalf of a person in jail in order to release them, if a court sentence permits, or between the time of apprehension of the person by law enforcement and the court date.''

In economics, a bailout is an act of loaning or giving capital to an entity (a company, a country, or an individual) that is in danger of failing, in an attempt to save it from bankruptcy, insolvency, or total liquidation and ruin; or to allow a failing entity to fail gracefully without spreading contagion.

Overview

A bailout could be done for mere profit, as when a predatory investor resurrects a floundering company by buying its shares at fire-sale prices; for social improvement, as when, hypothetically speaking, a wealthy philanthropist reinvents an unprofitable fast food company into a non-profit food distribution network; or the bailout of a company might be seen as a necessity in order to prevent greater, socioeconomic failures: For example, the US government assumes transportation to be the backbone of America's general economic fluency, which maintains the nation's geopolitical power. As such, it is the policy of the US government to protect the biggest American companies responsible for transportation—airliners, petrol companies, etc.—from failure through subsidies and low-interest loans. These companies, among others, are deemed "too big to fail" because their goods and services are considered by the government to be constant universal necessities in maintaining the nation's welfare and often, indirectly, its security.

Emergency-type government bailouts can be controversial. Debates raged in 2008 over if and how to bailout the failing auto industry in the United States. Those against it, like pro-free market radio personality Hugh Hewitt, saw this bailout as an unacceptable passing-of-the-buck to taxpayers. He denounced any bailout for the Big Three, arguing that mismanagement caused the companies to fail, and they now deserve to be dismantled organically by the free-market forces so that entrepreneurs may arise from the ashes; that the bailout signals lower business standards for giant companies by incentivizing risk, creating moral hazard through the assurance of safety nets (that others will pay for) that ought not be, but unfortunately are, considered in business equations; and that a bailout promotes centralized bureaucracy by allowing government powers to choose the terms of the bailout. Others, such as economist Jeffrey Sachs have characterized this particular bailout as a necessary evil and have argued that the probable incompetence in management of the car companies is insufficient reason to let them fail completely and risk disturbing the (current) delicate economic state of the United States, since up to three million jobs rest on the solvency of the Big Three and things are bleak enough as it is. In any case, the bones of contention here can be generalized to represent the issues at large, namely the virtues of private enterprise versus those of central planning, and the dangers of a free market's volatility versus the dangers of socialist bureaucracy.

Furthermore, government bailouts are criticized as corporate welfare which encourages corporate irresponsibility.

Governments around the world have bailed out their nations' businesses with some frequency since the early 20th century. In general, the needs of the entity/entities bailed out are subordinate to the needs of the state.

Themes

From the many bailouts over the course of the 20th century, certain principles and lessons have emerged that are consistent:

Central banks provide loans to help the system cope with liquidity concerns, where banks are unable or unwilling to provide loans to businesses or individuals. Lending into illiquidity, but not insolvency, was articulated at least as early as 1873, in ''Lombard Street, A Description of the Money Market,'' by Walter Bagehot.

Let insolvent institutions (i.e., those with insufficient funds to pay their short-term obligations or those with more debt than assets) fail in an orderly way.

Understand the true financial position of key financial institutions, through audits or other means. Ensure the extent of losses and quality of assets are known and reported by the institutions. Banks that are deemed healthy enough (or important enough) to survive require recapitalization, which involves the government providing funds to the bank in exchange for preferred stock, which receives a cash dividend over time.

If taking over an institution due to insolvency, take effective control through the board or new management, cancel the common stock equity (i.e., existing shareholders lose their investment), but protect the debt holders and suppliers.

Government should take an ownership (equity or stock) interest to the extent taxpayer assistance is provided, so that taxpayers can benefit later. In other words, the government becomes the owner and can later obtain funds by issuing new common stock shares to the public when the nationalized institution is later privatized.

A special government entity is created to administer the program, such as the Resolution Trust Corporation.

Prohibit dividend payments, to ensure taxpayer money are used for loans and strengthening the bank, rather than payments to investors.

Interest rate cuts, to lower lending rates and stimulate the economy.

Reasons against bailouts

Signals lower business standards for giant companies by incentivizing risk

Creates moral hazard through the assurance of safety nets

Promotes centralized bureaucracy by allowing government powers to choose the terms of the bailout

Instills a corporatist style of government in which businesses use the state's power to forcibly extract money from taxpayers.

Paul Volcker, chairman of Barack Obama's White House Economic Recovery Advisory Board, said that bailouts create moral hazard: they signal to the firms that they can take reckless risks, and if the risks are realized, taxpayers pay the losses, also in the future. ''"The danger is the spread of moral hazard could make the next crisis much bigger"''.

On November 24, 2008, American Republican Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) wrote, "In bailing out failing companies, they are confiscating money from productive members of the economy and giving it to failing ones. By sustaining companies with obsolete or unsustainable business models, the government prevents their resources from being liquidated and made available to other companies that can put them to better, more productive use. An essential element of a healthy free market, is that both success and failure must be permitted to happen when they are earned. But instead with a bailout, the rewards are reversed – the proceeds from successful entities are given to failing ones. How this is supposed to be good for our economy is beyond me.... It won’t work. It can’t work... It is obvious to most Americans that we need to reject corporate cronyism, and allow the natural regulations and incentives of the free market to pick the winners and losers in our economy, not the whims of bureaucrats and politicians."

Costs

In 2002, World Bank reported that country bailouts cost an average of 13% of GDP.

Cases

1970 - Penn Central Railroad

1971 - Lockheed Corporation

1980 - Chrysler Corporation

1984 - Continental Illinois

1991 - Executive Life Insurance Company, by states assessing other insurers

1998 - Long-Term Capital Management, by banks and investment houses, not government (see LTCM page).

2003 - Parmalat

2008 - The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc.

2008 - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

2008 - The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. bailed out by the federal government and Berkshire Hathaway

2008 - Morgan Stanley bailed out by The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ

2008-2009 - American International Group, Inc. multiple times

2008 - Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008

2008 - 2008 United Kingdom bank rescue package

2008 - Citigroup Inc.

2008 - General Motors Corporation and Chrysler LLC- though not technically a bailout, a bridge loan was given to the auto manufacturers by the U.S. government, this is referred to by most as a bailout

2009 - Bank of America to help it absorb known losses that were much greater than revealed to shareholders incurred by its buyout of Merrill Lynch

2009 - CIT Group $3 billion by its bondholders in a failed attempt to avoid a bankruptcy. This bailout only delayed the bankruptcy.

2009 - Dubai and Dubai World bailed out by Abu Dhabi

Irish banking rescue

Irish banks suffered substantial share price falls due to a lack of liquidity in finance available to them on the international financial markets. Currently, solvency is being revealed as the most serious concern as doubtful loans to property developers, still undeclared in bad debt provisions, come into focus.

Swedish banking rescue

During 1991–1992, a housing bubble in Sweden deflated, resulting in a severe credit crunch and widespread bank insolvency. The causes were similar to those of the subprime mortgage crisis of 2007–2008. In response, the government took the following actions:

Sweden's government assumed bad bank debts, but banks had to write down losses and issue an ownership interest (common stock) to the government. Shareholders were typically wiped out, but bondholders were protected.

When distressed assets were later sold, the profits flowed to taxpayers, and the government was able to recoup more money later by selling its shares in the companies in public offerings.

The government announced the state would guarantee all bank deposits and creditors of the nation’s 114 banks.

Sweden formed a new agency to supervise institutions that needed recapitalization, and another that sold off the assets, mainly real estate, that the banks held as collateral.

This bailout initially cost about 4% of Sweden's GDP, later lowered to between 0–2% of GDP depending on various assumptions due to the value of stock later sold when the nationalized banks were privatized.

U.S. Savings and Loan Crisis

In response to widespread bank insolvency as a result of the Savings and Loan crisis, the United States established the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) in 1989.

US TARP and related programs

In 2008-9 the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve System bailed out numerous very large banks and insurance companies, as well as General Motors and Chrysler. Congress at the urgent request of President George W. Bush passed the Troubled Asset Relief Program or "TARP", funded at $700 billion. The banks have largely repaid the money and the net cost of TARP may eventually be in the range of $30 billion. The bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac, which insure mortgages, totals $135 billion by October 2010, and could be much higher, depending on the future of the housing and mortgage markets.

The issue of federal bailouts of the banks and big corporations became a major issue of the 2010 elections, with the Tea Party movement in particular focusing its attack on bailouts.

See also

Automotive industry crisis of 2008–2009

Bankruptcy

Brown Bailout

Bubble (economics)

Cash flow

Crédit Lyonnais

Debtor-in-possession financing

Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008

Financial crisis

Financial crisis of 2007–2010

Late 2000s recession

Lender of last resort

Nationalization

Stock market crash

Subprime mortgage crisis

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

Lemon socialism

The Great Depression

References

Further reading

"Financial crisis : Carping about the TARP: Congress wrangles over how best to avoid financial Armageddon", ''The Economist'', September 23, 2008

"Behind the Bailout" — ''NOW'' on PBS 09/26/2008

IMF Study Laevan and Valencia September 2008

Wright, Robert E. ed. ''Bailouts: Public Money, Private Profit'' (New York: Columbia University Press, 2009).

Wright, Robert E. ''Fubarnomics: A Lighthearted, Serious Look at America's Economic Ills'' (Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus, 2010).

External links

The Bailout Reader - A resource against bailouts from a libertarian perspective

Bailout Bandwagon - Video satire about bailouts and the economic impact on everyday citizens

Toxic Assets Reduction Plan Release by The Justice Dept: 23Mar2009

United States

NoBailout.org - An anti-bailout website with an updated list of elected officials in support of bailout

New Deal in the 21-st Century

Category:Debt Category:Word of the year

ar:كفالة إنقاذ مالية cs:Dotace de:Bail-out (Wirtschaft) es:Rescate financiero kk:Дотация, демеу қаржы lt:Dotacija pl:Dotacja pt:Bailout ru:Дотация fi:Pelastuspaketti sv:Bailout uk:Дотація

Image name	Alan Grayson high res.jpg
name	Alan Grayson
state	Florida
district	8th
term start	January 3, 2009
term end	January 3, 2011
preceded	Ric Keller
succeeded	Daniel Webster
party	Democratic Party
birth date	March 13, 1958
birth place	New York City, New York
alma mater	Harvard College (A.B.)Harvard Kennedy School (M.P.P.)Harvard Law School (J.D.)
profession	Attorney
residence	Orlando, Florida
spouse	Lolita Grayson
website	www.graysonforcongress.com
religion	Judaism

Alan Mark Grayson (born March 13, 1958) is the former U.S. Representative for , serving from 2009 until 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

The district includes just over half of Orlando, including Downtown, Winter Park, significant portions of unincorporated Orange County, as well as Celebration, Walt Disney World and parts of Lake County, Marion County and Ocala. Grayson was defeated for re-election in 2010 by Republican Daniel Webster.

Early life and education

Grayson was born in the Bronx, New York. He graduated from Bronx High School of Science in 1975 and worked his way through Harvard College as a janitor and nightwatchman, graduating with an A.B. ''summa cum laude'' in economics in 1978. He was also a member of Phi Beta Kappa and was in the top 1% of his class. He returned to Harvard for graduate studies. In 1983, he earned a J.D. ''magna cum laude'' from Harvard Law School and Masters of Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government. Additionally, he completed the course work and passed the general exams for a Ph.D. in government.

Grayson wrote his masters thesis on gerontology and in 1986, he helped found the non-profit Alliance for Aging Research (AAR) in Washington, D.C., and served as an officer of the organization for more than twenty years.

Law career

Grayson was employed as a law clerk at the Colorado Supreme Court in 1983, and at the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals from 1984 to 1985, where he worked with judges Abner Mikva, Robert Bork, and two judges who later joined the U.S. Supreme Court: Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia. He was an associate at the Washington D.C. firm of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson for five years, where he specialized in contract law.

In 1991 he founded the law firm Grayson, Kubli which concentrated on government contract law. He was a lecturer at the George Washington University government contracts program and a frequent speaker on the topic. In the 2000s, he worked as a plaintiffs' attorney specializing in whistleblower fraud cases aimed at Iraq war contractors. One contractor, Custer Battles, employed individuals who were found guilty of making fraudulent statements and submitting fraudulent invoices on two contracts in 2003 the company had with the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq. On behalf of his clients, Grayson filed suit under the False Claims Act and its ''qui tam'' provisions. The jury verdict was more than $13 million, which was upheld on appeal in April 2009. The case remains the only successful prosecution of those who profited illegally from the war in Iraq. The Iraq war contractor fraud case brought Grayson his first national attention. In 2006, a ''Wall Street Journal'' reporter described Grayson as "waging a one-man war against contractor fraud in Iraq" and as a "fierce critic of the war in Iraq" whose car displayed bumper stickers such as "Bush lied, people died".

President of IDT Corp.

Grayson made his fortune as the first president of IDT Corporation (International Discount Telecom), which pioneered competition and discount pricing in the long-distance telecommunications industry and became a $2-billion-a-year Fortune 1000 company.

U.S. House of Representatives

Grayson is considered a progressive Democrat and he represented a district that was historically Republican. He supported Barack Obama in 2008. He was a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, of which he was vice-chairman.

Committee assignments

Committee on Financial Services

*Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government-Sponsored Enterprises

Committee on Science and Technology

*Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight

*Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics

Legislation head sponsored by Grayson

Pay For Performance Act (H.R. 1664)

Public Option Act (H.R. 4789)

War Is Making You Poor Act (H.R. 5353)

Shareholder Protection Act (H.R. 4790)

Paid Vacation Act of 2009 (H.R. 2564)

Political positions

Federal Reserve transparency

During his first term in office, Grayson supported Ron Paul's Audit the Fed legislation. Grayson gained attention for exchanges with Federal Reserve System Vice Chairman Donald Kohn and Inspector General Elizabeth A. Coleman. The 5-minute examination of Coleman in the House Financial Services Committee was posted on the Congressman's official YouTube page. As of December 2010, it has been viewed more than 3.4 million times.

In March 2009, following the AIG bonus payments controversy, Grayson joined with fellow freshman Democrat Jim Himes of Connecticut to introduce the Grayson-Himes Pay for Performance Act, legislation to require that all bonuses paid by companies that had received funds under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 be "based on performance". The bill was co-sponsored by eight other members of the House. On March 26, the bill was approved by the House Financial Services Committee by a vote of 38-22 and on April 1, the bill was passed by the full House of Representatives by a vote of 247-171.

Grayson was a co-sponsor of the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009, which would provide additional provisions to audit the Federal Reserve, including removing several key exemptions.

Economic stimulus

Grayson made it a priority to increase the amount of federal money coming back to the 8th Congressional District. He often said that people in the 8th District have been "exporting taxes and importing debt." During his first year in office, the amount of federal grant dollars returning to the district nearly doubled (98% increase). The Congressman established a grant notification system. The system notifies subscribers immediately when a federal grant opportunity in their areas of interest becomes available. He also hired a full-time grants coordinator, who focused solely on helping people navigate the federal grants process.

Congressman Grayson twice broke ranks with Democratic leadership and joined Republicans to oppose the raising of the federal debt limit (Roll no. 46, 2/4/10, Roll no. 988 12/16/09). He said at the time of the February vote, "We need to live within our means. We need to eliminate wasteful spending. If we did those two simple things, we would not need to raise the debt limit."

Grayson supported the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and has been outspoken in favor of extending unemployment benefits for Americans who have lost their jobs. The Congressman argues that the government has never cut off unemployment insurance when the unemployment rate was higher than eight percent. Grayson also voted for the FDA Oversight of Tobacco Products, which gives the FDA power to regulate tobacco products.

On a September 2009 ''Alex Jones Show'' segment, Grayson criticized Federal Reserve Chair Bernanke's senior adviser Linda Robertson, saying "Here I am the only member of Congress who actually worked as an economist, this lobbyist, this K-Street whore, is trying to teach me about economics!" Robertson had previously worked as a lobbyist for Enron. Grayson's language was widely criticized as inappropriate, and Grayson apologized.

Health care reform

In response to Republican arguments that the Obama administration's preferred health care bill was too long and complicated, Grayson on March 9, 2010, introduced H.R. 4789, the Public Option Act (sometimes called the Medicare You Can Buy Into Act), a short four-page bill which would allow all citizens and permanent residents of the United States to buy into the public Medicare program at cost. The bill immediately attracted high praise from the progressive blogosphere, and even critics of public health care plans conceded its "nearly irresistible" simplicity. The bill attracted 82 co-sponsors and was referred to the Ways and Means Committee.

Grayson later voted for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. He voted in support of Eliminating Adjustments of Medicare Rates of Payment. He also voted against Republican substitutes for the health care amendment and insurance law amendments.

Civil rights

Grayson voted in support of the Hate Crimes Expansion Act, which expands the definition of hate crimes and strengthens enforcement of hate crime laws. He also voted for the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Grayson supported the Paycheck Fairness Act, a bill that allows victims of wage discrimination to sue for punitive damages.

Environment

Grayson voted for the House's 2009 American Clean Energy and Security Act (also known as the Cap and Trade Bill). A main reason he supported it was the promise from the White House and the Speaker of the House for a $50 million "Hurricane Research Center" in Central Florida, paid for with research dollars set aside in the bill. Grayson noted after the passage of the ACES Act his concern about our dependence on foreign oil, the need to promote green technologies and renewable energy sources, and the job creation from the bill (an estimated 95,000 jobs in Florida). "This bill unleashes American ingenuity to solve the energy crisis. It lets us solve our problems by being Americans and thinking our way out of it. We will become an international energy power," he said in a news release.

The BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico affected Florida's number one industry, which is tourism. The lack of a relief well prevented company officials from shutting down the leak immediately. Instead, it took months to drill a new relief well, while millions of gallons of oil gushed into the Gulf each week. In response, Grayson introduced the Emergency Relief Well Act (H.R. 5666). It requires that an emergency relief well be drilled at the same time as any new exploratory well.

Defense

Congressman Grayson has been an outspoken critic of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In May 2010, he introduced the "War Is Making You Poor Act" (H.R. 5353). The bill requires the President to fund the wars from the Department of Defense's FY '11 base budget of $550 billion. It uses the $159 billion in "supplemental funding" to eliminate federal income taxes for everyone's first $35,000 a year. The bill does not necessitate an end to the wars or mandate a cut-off date. In addition to the tax cuts, the bill cuts the federal deficit by $15.9 billion.

The Congressman has tried to combat wasteful spending by government defense contractors by introducing his "Gold Plating Amendment." The amendment requires that cost or price account for half of the evaluation of bids for defense contracts. The law at the time allowed for cost to account for only one percent of the evaluation. The amendment passed as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 2647) in June 2009. However, the language was stripped from the final bill during the conference committee between Senate and House leaders. Congressman Grayson worked successfully to get the amendment inserted into the IMPROVE Acquisition Act, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives on April 28, 2010.

Grayson voted for the 2009-2010 Defense Appropriations, which authorizes $681 billion of appropriations for the Department of Defense. He also supported the 2009-2010 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Authorizations, which provided $46.18 billion in appropriations for 2009-2010.

Combating Federal Waste, Fraud, and Abuse

Grayson has worked to combat federal waste, fraud, and abuse. In the September 6, 2009 edition of The New York Times, columnist Gretchen Morgenson thanked Congressman Grayson for uncovering the fact that, due to the federal bailout of mortgage finance giant Fannie Mae, taxpayer money had been funding the legal defense fees for former top executives at the institution. Grayson requested information about these legal costs after a June 2009 hearing of the House Financial Services Committee. The Congressman’s work uncovered that, between September 6, 2008 and July 21, 2009, taxpayers spent $6.3 million defending Fannie Mae executives Franklin Raines, J. Timothy Howard, and Leanne Spencer. Taxpayers paid an additional $16.8 million to cover legal expenses of workers at the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, Fannie’s former regulator.

In September 2009, Congressman Grayson used a parliamentary maneuver called an “extension of remarks” to provide crucial instruction on H.R. 3221, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009, a bill that, among other things, included a provision that prohibited funding for ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now). Grayson’s extension of remarks directed that the legislation defund ''any'' organization that cheats the federal government, not just ACORN. The defunding measure passed the House with a final vote of 253-171. Grayson also encouraged the public to report companies covered by the bill and set up a method to report offending companies via his Congressional web site.

“Teach the Constitution Week”

On September 14, 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives passed Congressman Grayson’s “Teach the Constitution Week” resolution (H.Res. 686). The bill urged high schools to spend one week each September teaching the United States Constitution to high school seniors and also encouraged students to petition the government on an issue of personal importance to them to demonstrate their understanding of their rights and responsibilities as citizens of the United States. The non-partisan resolution was passed by a voice vote and featured 222 co-sponsors.

New Frontier Congressional Gold Medal Act

On the 40th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969, the U.S. House of Representatives passed Congressman Grayson’s New Frontier Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2009 (H.R. 2245). The bill asked the President to present Congress’s highest civilian honor, the Congressional Gold Medal, to Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin Jr., and Michael Collins, as well as John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth. Only about 200 medals have ever been awarded in the country’s history. The New Frontier Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2009 passed the House unanimously on July 20, 2009.

Controversial public remarks

Grayson quickly gained a reputation as an elected official who was "not shy about his opinions." He was unrestrained in his criticism of right-wing positions, politicians, and pundits, particularly those employed by and/or frequently appearing on Fox News Channel. His sharp characterizations in public remarks earned him national attention both positive and negative.

Health care

In September 2009, during the debates leading to the passage of the Affordable Health Care for America Act by the House in November, Grayson summed up the "Republican health care plan" as "'Don't get sick, and if you do get sick, die quickly.'" His remarks were widely condemned by Republican politicians but, according to Grayson, were well received by his constituents. Grayson reported that his comments resulted in over 5,000 campaign contributions and that the positive emails he received outnumbered the negative ones by a four-to-one margin; the comments also generated funds from the Democratic National Committee towards his upcoming 2010 campaign race. Grayson raised $347,000 for his reelection campaign during the third quarter, much of it attributed to his remarks.

He defended his comment and in a House Floor speech stated, “I apologize to the dead and their families that we haven't voted sooner to end this holocaust in America." Grayson, who is Jewish by birth, apologized to the Anti-defamation League for those offended by his generic use of "holocaust". He also maintained that Congressional Republicans have failed to offer a feasible plan. In October 2009 he launched www.NamesOfTheDead.com, a website to "memorialize Americans who die because they don’t have health insurance." He subsequently read stories of the dead submitted through the ''Names of the Dead'' site on the House floor.

Political campaigns

Grayson is the second Democrat to represent this district since its formation after the 1970 census (it was the 5th District from 1973 to 1993 and has been the 8th District since 1993). The only other Democrat to represent this district, Bill Gunter, gave it up after only one term to run for the United States Senate in 1974.

2006

In 2006, Grayson first entered into electoral politics, losing the 2006 Democratic primary for Florida's 8th Congressional District to Charlie Stuart, a prominent local businessman and center-right Democrat. Stuart went on to lose the general election to incumbent Republican Congressman Ric Keller. In late 2007, Grayson announced that he would run again for the 8th District seat, and again faced Stuart in the primary. During the primary, his campaign retained the services of Bill Hillsman.

2008

In the August 26, 2008 Democratic primary, Grayson prevailed, receiving 48.5% of the vote. Stuart trailed with 27.5%, with three other candidates splitting the remaining 24%. During the general election campaign, Grayson maintained a consistent lead over Keller, who had barely eked out renomination in the Republican primary over attorney Todd Long. On Election Day, Grayson received 172,854 votes, or 52%, to Keller's 159,490 votes, or 48%. Although Keller won three out of four counties in the district, Grayson won by a margin of 55% to 45% in Orange County, home to Orlando and by far the largest county in the district. Grayson was also helped by a massive voter registration drive by the Democratic Party in the 8th District that gave Democrats a slight edge in registered voters.

2010

Grayson was challenged by Republican nominee Daniel Webster, Florida TEA Party nominee Peg Dunmire, Independent candidate George Metcalfe, and write-in Florida Whig Party candidate Steve Gerritzen.

Grayson ran a September 2010, commercial calling Webster a "draft-dodger," (Webster had received student deferments and a draft classification as medically unfit for service), and a later 30-second commercial calling Webster "Taliban Dan" and warning viewers that "Religious fanatics try to take away our freedom, in Afghanistan, in Iran and right here in Central Florida." Grayson's ads were criticized for editing video mid-sentence to make Webster appear to be saying things he did not say. Grayson released a toned-down version without the edited video or Taliban references in early October.

Grayson was targeted by conservatives and conservative groups in commercials and the media, and on the Internet. On Glenn Beck's radio show, Sarah Palin agreed with a co-host's remark, "It’s okay if the Republicans lose every seat in the Senate and the House except for one. As long as that one is Alan Grayson losing." Conservative Newsweek columnist George Will called Grayson "America's worst politician." Grayson was also heavily targeted in attack ads funded by groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the 60 Plus Association. The Chamber of Commerce ads were in turn criticized by Grayson and his supporters as "deeply dishonest".

Grayson was endorsed by 8th District resident, former Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder (D-CO), who characterized Webster as having "13th-century views" on women's issues. Former DNC Chair and Vermont governor Howard Dean called Grayson a "healthcare hero." Grayson received more votes for "progressive hero" from Democracy for America than any other candidate in the country. Moveon.org, in an appeal to its members, termed Grayson "a populist hero who's never afraid to call out the pernicious corporate influence in Washington."

Grayson conceded the race on the evening of November 2 after Webster showed a clear lead. Election results were: Grayson 38% Webster 56%

2012

On the evening of July 11, 2011, Grayson announced in an e-mail to supporters and via Daily Kos that he planned to run once again for Congress.

Personal life

Grayson was ranked as the 11th-wealthiest member of Congress in 2010, based on financial disclosure forms with a minimum net worth of $31.41 million, according to ''Roll Call''. Grayson disclosed that his attorney fees and costs for the war contractor case had exceeded $4 million.

While pursuing the whistleblower cases, Grayson worked from a home office in Orlando, where he lives with his wife and five children.

References

External links

Alan Grayson for U.S. Congress ''official campaign site''

Alan Grayson: "Bipartisanship Has Become Code Word for Appeasement" - video report by ''Democracy Now!''

Category:1958 births Category:Living people Category:American businesspeople Category:American health activists Category:The Bronx High School of Science alumni Category:Florida Democrats Category:Florida lawyers Category:Harvard Law School alumni Category:Jewish members of the United States House of Representatives Category:John F. Kennedy School of Government alumni Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Florida Category:Whistleblowing

de:Alan Grayson he:אלן גרייסון pl:Alan Grayson sh:Alan Grayson sv:Alan Grayson

Name	Nigel Farage
Honorific-suffix	MEP
Office	Europe of Freedom and Democracy President
Term start	1 July 2009 (de facto)
Predecessor	(post established)
Office	Leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party
Term start	5 November 2010
Predecessor	Jeffrey Titford
Term start1	27 September 2006
Term end1	27 November 2009
Predecessor1	Roger Knapman
Successor1	Lord Pearson of Rannoch
Constituency mp2	South East England
Parliament2	European
Term start2	15 July 1999
Birth date	April 03, 1964
Birth place	Kent, England, United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Party	UK Independence Party
Spouse	Gráinne Hayes (1988-?, divorced)Kirsten Mehr (1999-present)
Children	4
Alma mater	Dulwich College
Website	Nigel Farage MEP
Footnotes	}}

Nigel Paul Farage (; ; born 3 April 1964) is a British politician and is the Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), a position he previously held from September 2006 to November 2009. He is a current Member of the European Parliament for South East England and co-chairs the Eurosceptic Europe of Freedom and Democracy group.

Farage was a founding member of the UKIP, having left the Conservative Party in 1992 after they signed the Maastricht Treaty. Having unsuccessfully campaigned in European and Westminster parliamentary elections for UKIP since 1994, he gained a seat as an MEP for South East England in the 1999 European Parliament Election — the first year the regional list system was used — and was re-elected in 2004 and 2009. Farage describes himself as a libertarian and rejects the notion that he is a conservative.

In September 2006, Farage became the UKIP Leader and led the party through the 2009 European Parliament Election in which it received the second highest share of the popular vote, defeating Labour and the Liberal Democrats with over two million votes. However he stepped down in November 2009 to concentrate on contesting the Speaker John Bercow's seat of Buckingham in the 2010 general election.

At the 2010 General Election, Farage failed to unseat John Bercow and received only the third highest share of the vote in the constituency. Shortly after the polls opened on 6 May 2010, Nigel Farage was injured in an aircraft crash in Northamptonshire. The two-seated PZL-104 Wilga 35A had been towing a pro-UKIP banner when it flipped over and crashed shortly after takeoff. Both Farage and the pilot were hospitalised with non-life-threatening injuries.

In November 2010, Farage successfully stood in the 2010 UKIP leadership contest, following the resignation of its leader, Lord Pearson of Rannoch. Farage was also ranked 41st (out of 100) in ''The Daily Telegraph'''s Top 100 most influential right-wingers poll in October 2009, citing his media savvy and his success with UKIP in the European Elections. Farage was ranked 58th in the 2010 list compiled by Iain Dale and Brian Brivati for the Daily Telegraph.

Background

Farage was educated at Dulwich College before joining a commodity brokerage firm in London. He ran his own brokerage business from the early 1990s until 2002. In his early 20s Farage was diagnosed with testicular cancer but made a full recovery.

Farage has been married twice. He married Gráinne Hayes in 1988, with whom he had two children: Samuel (1989) and Thomas (1991). In 1999 he married Kirsten Mehr, a German national, by whom he has two more children, Victoria (born 2000) and Isabelle (born 2005).

Farage has also penned his own memoirs, entitled "Fighting Bull." It outlines the founding of UKIP and his personal and political life so far.

Political career

Conservative Party

Active in the Conservative Party from his school days, Farage left the party in 1992 when John Major's government signed the Treaty on European Union at Maastricht.

UKIP and the European Parliament

Farage became a founding member of UKIP in 1993.

He was elected to the European Parliament in 1999 and re-elected in 2004 and 2009. Farage is presently the leader of the thirteen-member UKIP contingent in the European Parliament, and co-leader of the multinational eurosceptic group, Europe of Freedom and Democracy.

UKIP party leadership

On 12 September 2006, Farage was elected leader of UKIP with 45% of the vote, 20% ahead of his nearest rival. He pledged to bring discipline to the party and to maximise UKIP's representation in local, parliamentary and other elections. In a PM programme interview on BBC Radio 4 that day he pledged to end the public perception of UKIP as a single-issue party and to work with allied politicians in the Better Off Out campaign, committing himself not to stand against the MPs who have signed up to that campaign (ten in all at this moment).

At his maiden speech to the UKIP conference on 8 October 2006, he told delegates that the party was "at the centre-ground of British public opinion" and the "real voice of opposition". Farage said: "We've got three social democratic parties in Britain — Labour, Lib Dem and Conservative are virtually indistinguishable from each other on nearly all the main issues" and "you can't put a cigarette paper between them and that is why there are nine million people who don't vote now in general elections that did back in 1992."

At 10pm on 19 October 2006, Farage took part in a three-hour live interview and phone-in with James Whale on national radio station talkSPORT. Four days later, Whale announced on his show his intention to stand as UKIP's candidate in the 2008 London Mayoral Election. Farage said that Whale "not only has guts, but an understanding of what real people think". However Whale later decided not to stand and UKIP was represented by Gerard Batten. He stood again for UKIP leadership in 2010 after his successor Lord Pearson stood down. On the 5th November 2010 it was announced Farage had won the leadership contest.

Westminster elections

Farage had unsuccessfully contested UK parliamentary elections for UKIP five times, both before and after his election as an MEP in 1999. Under the 2002 European Union decision to forbid MEPs from holding a dual mandate, if he was ever elected to the House of Commons, he would have to resign his seat as an MEP.

When he contested the Bromley & Chislehurst constituency in a May 2006 by-election, organised after the sitting MP representing it, eurosceptic Conservative Eric Forth, died, Farage came third, winning 8% of the vote, beating the Labour Party candidate. This was the second-best by-election result recorded by UKIP out of 25 results, and the first time since the Liverpool Walton by-election in 1991 that a party in government had been pushed into fourth place in a parliamentary by-election on mainland Britain.

2010 UK General election

On 4 September 2009 Farage resigned as leader of UKIP to concentrate on his campaign to become Member of Parliament for Buckingham at Westminster in the 2010 general election. He later told Times journalist Camilla Long that UKIP internal fights took up too much time.

He stood against Buckingham MP John Bercow, the newly elected Speaker of the House of Commons, despite a convention that the speaker, as a political neutral, is not normally challenged in his or her bid for re-election by any of the major parties.

On 6 May, on the morning the polls opened in the election, just before eight o'clock Farage was involved in a light aircraft crash, suffering injuries described as non-life-threatening. A spokesperson told the BBC that "it was unlikely Mr Farage would be discharged from hospital today [6 May] Although his injuries were originally described as minor, his sternum and ribs were broken, and his lung punctured. The Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) report said that the aeroplane was towing a banner, which caught in the tailplane, forcing the nose down.

Farage came third with 8,401 votes. Bercow was re-elected, and John Stevens, a former Conservative MEP (Defected to Lib-Dems), who campaigned with "Flipper the Dolphin" (a reference to MPs flipping second homes) came second with 10,331.

On 1 December 2010, the pilot of the aircraft involved in the accident was charged with threatening to kill Farage. He was also charged with threatening to kill an AAIB official involved in the investigation into the accident. In April 2011, Justin Adams was found guilty of making death threats. The judge said the defendant was "clearly extremely disturbed" at the time the offences happened adding "He is a man who does need help. If I can find a way of giving him help I will."

Alternative Vote referendum, May 2011

Farage declared himself personally in favour of the Alternative Vote system of May 2011, saying first-past-the-post is a "nightmare" for UKIP. However, the party's stance has to be decided by its central policy making committee.

Controversies and whistleblowing

Copyright infringement

In 1999 the BBC spent four months filming a documentary about his European elections campaign but didn't show it. Farage, then head of UKIP's South East office, asked for a video and got friends to make illegal copies which were sold for £5 through the UKIP magazine. Surrey Trading Standards investigated and Farage has admitted the offence.

Expenses disclosure

In May 2009, ''The Guardian'' reported that Farage had said in a speech to the Foreign Press Association that over ten years as a member of the European Parliament he received and spent nearly £2 million of taxpayers' money in expenses and allowances, on top of his £64,000 a year salary.

The former Europe Minister, Denis MacShane, said that this showed that Farage was "happy to line his pockets with gold". Farage called this a "misrepresentation", pointing out that the money had been used to promote UKIP's message, not salary, but he welcomed the focus on the issue of MEP expenses, claiming that "[o]ver a five year term each and every one of Britain's 78 MEPs gets about £1 million. It is used to employ administrative staff, run their offices and to travel back and forth between their home, Brussels and Strasbourg." He also pointed out the money spent on the YES campaign in Ireland by the European Commission was "something around 440 million", making the NO campaign's figure insignificant in comparison.

Jacques Barrot

On 18 November 2004, Farage announced in the European Parliament that Jacques Barrot, the French Commissioner designate, had been barred from elected office in France for 2 years, after being convicted in 2000 of embezzling £2 million from government funds and diverting it into the coffers of his party. He claimed that French President Jacques Chirac had granted Barrot amnesty. Although initial BBC reports claimed that, under French law, it was illegal even to mention the conviction, the prohibition in question only applies to French officials in the course of their duties. The president of the Parliament, Josep Borrell, enjoined him to retract his comments under threat of "legal consequences".However, the following day it was confirmed that Barrot had received an 8 month suspended jail sentence in the case, and that this had been quickly expunged by the amnesty decided by Chirac and his parliamentary majority. The Commission's president, Jose Manuel Barroso admitted that he had not known of Barrot's criminal record when appointing him as a Commission vice-president. The Socialist and Liberal groups in the European Parliament then joined UKIP in demanding the sacking of Barrot for failing to disclose the conviction during his confirmation hearings.

José Manuel Barroso

During the spring of 2005, Farage requested that the European Commission disclose where the individual Commissioners had spent their holidays. The Commission did not provide the information requested, on the basis that the Commissioners had a right of privacy. The German newspaper ''Die Welt'' reported that the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso had spent a week on the yacht of the Greek shipping billionaire Spiro Latsis. It emerged soon afterwards that this had occurred a month before the Commission under Barroso's predecessor Romano Prodi approved 10.3 million euro of Greek state aid for Latsis' shipping company. It also became known that Peter Mandelson, then a member of the Commission, had accepted a trip to Jamaica from an unrevealed source.

Farage persuaded around 75 MEPs from across the political divide to back a motion of no confidence in Barroso, which would be sufficient to compel Barroso to appear before the European Parliament to be questioned on the issue. The motion was successfully tabled on 12 May 2005, and Barroso appeared before Parliament at a debate on 26 May 2005. The motion was heavily defeated. A Conservative MEP, Roger Helmer, was expelled from his group, the European People's Party - European Democrats (EPP-ED) in the middle of the debate by that group's leader Hans-Gert Poettering as a result of his support for Farage's motion.

Joseph Daul

In January 2007, the French farmers' leader Joseph Daul was elected the new leader of the European People's Party–European Democrats (EPP-ED), the European Parliamentary grouping which then included the British Conservatives. The UK Independence Party almost immediately revealed that Daul had been under judicial investigation in France since 2004 as part of an inquiry into the alleged misuse of public funds worth €16 million (£10.6 million) by French farming unions." It was not suggested that Daul had personally benefited, but was accused of "complicity and concealment of the abuse of public funds." Daul accused Farage of publicising the investigation for political reasons and threatened to sue Farage, but did not do so though the court dropped all charges against him.

Prince Charles

Prince Charles gave a speech to the European Parliament on 14 February 2008, in which he called for EU leadership in the war against climate change. During the standing ovation that followed, Farage was the only MEP to remain seated and went on to describe the Prince's advisers as "naïve and foolish at best." Farage continued: "How can somebody like Prince Charles be allowed to come to the European Parliament at this time to announce he thinks it should have more powers? It would have been better for the country he wants to rule one day if he had stayed home and tried to persuade Gordon Brown to give the people the promised referendum [on the Treaty of Lisbon]." The leader of the UK Labour Party's MEPs, Gary Titley, accused Farage of anti-Royalism. Titley said: "I was embarrassed and disgusted when the Leader of the UK Independence Party, Nigel Farage, remained firmly seated during the lengthy standing ovation Prince Charles received. I had not realised Mr Farage's blind adherence to right wing politics involved disloyalty and discourtesy to the Royal Family. He should be thoroughly ashamed of himself and should apologise to the British people he represents."

Herman Van Rompuy

After the speech of Herman Van Rompuy on 24 February 2010 in the European parliament, Farage—to protests from other MEPs—addressed the first long-term President of the European Council saying that he has the "charisma of a damp rag and the appearance of low grade bank clerk", also asserting that Van Rompuy's "intention is to be the quiet assassin of European democracy and of European nation states." He also referred to Belgium as a "non-country", and that "nobody in Europe" knows who Van Rompuy is, nor how he was elected. Van Rompuy commented afterwards, "There was one contribution that I can only hold in contempt, but I'm not going to comment further." After refusing to apologise for behaviour that was, in the words of the President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, "inappropriate, unparliamentary and insulting to the dignity of the House", Farage was reprimanded and had his right to ten days' allowance (expenses) rescinded. The President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, said after his meeting with Farage:- 'I defend absolutely Mr Farage's right to disagree about the policy or institutions of the Union, but not to personally insult our guests in the European Parliament or the country from which they may come. [. . .] I myself fought for free speech as the absolute cornerstone of a democratic society. But with freedom comes responsibility - in this case, to respect the dignity of others and of our institutions. I am disappointed by Mr Farage's behaviour, which sits ill with the great parliamentary tradition of his own country. I cannot accept this sort of behaviour in the European Parliament. I invited him to apologise, but he declined to do so. I have therefore - as an expression of the seriousness of the matter - rescinded his right to ten days' daily allowance as a Member'. Questioned by Camilla Long in the article entitled "brimming over with bile and booze" in which she appeared to make light over his fight against cancer, Farage declared it wasn't abusive, it was right.

Views on the Euro

From taking office as a UKIP MEP in 1999 Farage has often voiced opposition to the "Euro project". His argument is that "a one size fits all interest rate" can not work for countries with structually different economies, often using the example of Greece and Germany to emphasise contrast. He predicted the need for 'bail outs' before European Commission and European Central Bank officials admit that these are necessary. Farage predicted that Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain would all require such assistance. To date Spain is the only predicted country that have not asked for a 'bail out' but Farage warns: "You can ignore the markets if you want to but in time the markets will not ignore you". Farage also reinforces Germany's argument that Italy "should never have joined the Euro" but has not explicitly predicted the need for similar assistance. Farage predicts that if the situation continues it will lead to violence due to the peoples inability to "determine their own futures through the ballot box" as it will become the only "logical" tool to enable them to escape from their "economic prison" i.e. The Eurozone. He proclaims "I can only hope and pray that the euro project is destroyed by the markets before that really happens." Farage strongly opposes the use of 'bail outs' and claims "buying your own debt with tax payers money" will not solve the problem and that "if we do the next debt crisis won't be a country" "it will be the European Central Bank its self".

Electoral performance

Nigel Farage has contested several elections under the United Kingdom Independence Party banner:

Itchen, Test and Avon, European Parliament Election 1994 - 12,423 votes, representing 5.2% of total votes cast

Eastleigh by-election, 1994 - 952, 1.4%

Salisbury, 1997 general election - 3,332, 5.7%

European Parliament election, 1999 - elected member for South East England from party list

Bexhill and Battle, 2001 general election - 3,474, 7.8%

European Parliament election, 2004 - elected member for South East England from party list

South Thanet, 2005 general election - 2,079, 5.0%

Bromley and Chislehurst by-election, 2006 - 2,307, 8.0%

European Parliament election, 2009 - elected member for South East England from party list.

Buckingham, 2010 general election - 8,410, 17.4%

Footnotes

References

2002 Amnesty law

Penal Code, articles L133-9, L133-10, L133-11

External links

UKIP profile

Profile at European Parliament website

Official website of the UK Independence Party in the European Parliament

Political group in the European Parliament

Category:1964 births Category:Living people Category:United Kingdom Independence Party politicians Category:Members of the European Parliament for English constituencies Category:Critics of the European Union Category:People from Farnborough, London Category:Old Alleynians Category:Leaders of the United Kingdom Independence Party Category:British libertarians Category:UK Independence Party MEPs Category:MEPs for the United Kingdom 1999–2004 Category:MEPs for the United Kingdom 2004–2009 Category:MEPs for the United Kingdom 2009–2014

br:Nigel Farage cs:Nigel Farage cy:Nigel Farage de:Nigel Farage et:Nigel Farage es:Nigel Farage fr:Nigel Farage it:Nigel Farage nl:Nigel Farage pl:Nigel Farage ro:Nigel Farage simple:Nigel Farage fi:Nigel Farage sv:Nigel Farage