Joel Award: Judy Biggert

It is time to give out the Joel Award. The award goes any celebrity, pundit, blogger or politician that purposely contradicts himself or herself.



"I would urge my colleagues to support — oppose this amendment. And stop talking about jobs, let’s focus on the substance of these amendments."

Rep. Judy Biggert (R-IL), urging lawmakers to stop talking about the lack of new jobs.

On Feb. 25, 2010, Biggert was asking "where are the jobs" when she was attacking Democratic economic policies and endorsing Republican proposals. Shockingly: Biggert was against mark-to-market accounting. Biggert fails to say in what manner she opposes the use of mark to market. Is Biggert aware all banks use mark-to-market accounting practices? I'm guessing Biggert used mark-to-marketing in her statement because Enron used it to inflate their revenue. Biggert is implying that Democrats support Enron.




If Biggert is really against mark-to-market then she can propose legislation to ban all financial institutions from using the accounting practice. I doubt Biggert will ever do such a thing. It is also silly for Congress to start legislating accounting. There is nothing wrong with mark-to-market. Enron being an energy company wasn't suppose to use mark-to-market. Enron CFO Andrew Fastow used mark-to-market to falsely show profits that didn't exist. Fastow was embezzling pension fund money to himself. The SEC complaint makes fun wonky reading. Fastow is currently residing in prison.