Because of the overwhelming amount of correspondence my offices have received, I thought it might be helpful to recap some of the “bailout” events of the last few months:

I think all of us in Washington – Republicans and Democrats – understand that our financial markets are under enormous pressure as a result of the collapse of the subprime housing market and that Congress needed to do something to prevent our financial system from completely collapsing. However, the initial proposal offered by the Bush Administration – all 3 pages – was unacceptable to both sides of the aisle as it amounted to nothing more than handing the Treasury Secretary a blank check for $700 billion with no Congressional oversight.

The second proposal, which was entirely authored by my Democrat colleagues, was perhaps even worse. Regrettably, instead of starting over and crafting a better bill, the Senate simply passed the flawed bailout bill loaded up with earmarks and sweeteners, and then the House followed suit on October 3rd. Although I voted against the bailout both times it was brought before the house, the second bill was approved, and it was quickly signed into law by President Bush.

I am still convinced the bailout was not a good idea – and so far it hasn’t done much to calm the turmoil in our financial markets – but I do believe one of the best things we can do now is to engage in diligent oversight of the Treasury Department’s Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) to ensure that the American people get some kind of return on this investment; and work to comprehensively reform Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Securities and Exchange Commission to prevent this crisis from ever happening again.

I expect Congress to reconvene in December to discuss the bailout packages for the “Big 3” automakers. My staff and I have not received any specific details of what the package will contain.

Posted by Dan Burton (11-25-2008, 09:08 AM) filed under

---

Comments No Comments.

---

Submit a Comment

Name:
E-Mail: