Republican congressman rips Paulson

Republican Rep. Steve Pearce (N.M.) lit into Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on Thursday, calling him the “fox in control of the hen house” and questioning his objectivity in dealing with the current economic crisis.

{mosads}Pearce, in an uphill battle with Democratic Rep. Tom Udall for New Mexico’s open Senate seat, ripped the Republican appointee for his time as an executive with Goldman Sachs investment bank and suggested Paulson is the wrong person to be dealing with such issues in the Bush Administration’s $700 billion bailout proposal.

"Paulson was Chief Executive Officer at Goldman Sachs, one of the companies involved in creating the financial crisis," said Pearce. "I don't think anyone should be confident that he will hold accountable those who got us into this, nor that he will institute the proper reforms to prevent it from happening again."

Pearce’s Senate campaign noted that Paulson received “more than $16 million in compensation” during his last year as CEO. Pearce said he was deeply concerned that Paulson would have such “unchecked power” in dealing with crisis, without sufficient reform of the system.

Polling in the race has consistently showed Udall with a large lead for retiring Sen. Pete Domenici’s (R) seat. Pearce defeated Rep. Heather Wilson for the GOP nomination earlier this year.