Congress Agrees to Bailout Wall Street without Considering Alternatives or Consequences
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
On October 3rd, the House passed the revised version of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (H.R. 1424) by a vote of 263 to 171. After weighing the new proposal and its potential ramifications carefully, I voted against the $700 billion taxpayer-funded government purchase program for a second time because I am still unconvinced this is the right way to help the economy. This bill is not a long-term solution to the problems we face.
Beginning with the Bear Stearns failure in March, followed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG and culminating with the latest legislation, the federal government has pursued a strategy of injecting an alarming increase in taxpayer dollars into the markets to prop up our financial institutions. Each time, the price tag for taxpayers gets higher and the corresponding temporary stability in our markets is shorter.