Congressman Patrick McHenry issued the following statement regarding his third vote against taxpayer-funded bailouts:
“This is without question one of toughest votes I have taken in my four years in Congress. I continue to believe that action is needed to stabilize our financial markets but this is not the right approach. For American taxpayers, $850 billion is an enormous price to pay for an experimental plan that can not promise market stability or fundamental reforms to avoid future turmoil.
“The U.S. Treasury has bailed out a number of financial institutions and yet the problem persists. While reasonable people can come to different conclusions, I believe this is evidence that the strategy of taxpayer-funded bailouts is not the most effective course of action. Why then must we continue to pursue the same basic approach that Secretary Paulson has employed with little success?
“Should another round of bailouts not bring lasting stability to our markets, I sincerely hope that we try the approach that I am advocating. We can utilize strategies to fix our markets without requiring taxpayers to bankroll the government’s knee-jerk reaction to take unprecedented ownership of the markets.
“I will continue to encourage the Securities and Exchange Commission to address the root causes of the liquidity problems that have stopped our credit markets from working. I will support initiatives that will allow for a capital infusion into our markets to help create jobs and grow our economy. And perhaps the most important move to restore long-term stability, this Congress must reform failed government institutions, starting with Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.”
