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Rep. McDermott Votes No on Senate Bailout Bill
October 03, 2008

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Rep. McDermott speaking on the House floor Watch this floor speech

Rep. McDermott entered the following statement into the Record to explain his no vote on the Senate bailout bill.

The Senate dug an enormous ditch alongside Main Street, and they want the House to drive into it.  That is exactly where the President has driven this economy over seven years.

On Thursday morning, the morning after the Senate passed a very different bailout bill, two things happened. The filings for new unemployment benefits hit a seven year high, and a number of telephones melted in my congressional office as my constituents called in with their opinions.

By the thousands, the people of the 7th Congressional District are absolutely enraged by what the Senate did. Senate Republicans blocked Senate Democrats from legislation that delivers for Main Street. Senate Republicans demanded the pot be sweetened.  But they left out the millions of Americans who can’t find a job and are running out of benefits.  And they left out a lot of other Americans too.

With economic times getting tougher by the day, Senate Republicans have no problem telling the American people to go it alone. Last week, the House passed on a strong bi-partisan vote a stimulus package to help Main Street America.  But Senate Republicans said no; they were willing to help Wall Street but look the other way for Main Street. 

One caller said they were stunned that the Senate included a call for the Securities and Exchange Commission to alter a fundamental way assets are valued. It is called mark-to-market accounting and let me quote an NPR report. 

“The Council of Institutional Investors and the CFA Institute oppose a suspension of mark-to-market — also known as "fair value" — accounting because, in their opinion, the rule offers investors transparency.

In other words, suspending the rule is like letting the fox into the henhouse.  The other day I said I voted in favor of the House bailout bill because I trusted Democratic leaders who worked tirelessly to represent Main Street.   I still do, but Senate Republicans changed all that. 

When Republicans force a bill that ignores the plight of Americans, but includes so-called sweeteners, that is not worthy of support.  When Republicans force a bill that slips in more earmark spending, that is not worthy of support.

When Republicans force a bill through that includes an accounting gimmick, that is not worthy of support.  The Senate dug an enormous ditch alongside Main Street, and they want the House to drive into it.

That is exactly where the President has driven this economy over seven years.When Senate Republicans set the agenda, that’s just another way of saying they are following the orders of a President who long ago lost the trust of the American people.  That is not how we are going to restore the trust with the American people.  And that is why I voted against the Senate Republican bailout.

There is no question that we need a rescue plan, but the Senate has just made matters worse - and that is pretty hard to do in this economy. Government has a role to play in calming the markets and addressing the economic crisis, but the more we learn, the more convinced I am the latest Senate plan is taking us in the wrong direction. 

There are two models that have worked and which should serve as foundation blocks that we can build upon in a short period of time to produce a plan the American people trust and believe in.  During the Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt developed a Home Loan Housing Corporation that stabilized the housing market and helped homeowners work through the crisis. 

More recently, in the 90s, Sweden stepped in and assumed temporary control of the financial system, cleaned up the mess and got out.  There are models available that we can use to quickly produce a solution that the American people will actually believe in.  There is a credit crisis in America to be sure, but there is no question today that there is also a trust crisis in America, every bit as damaging and debilitating.  We cannot solve the first crisis before we address the second crisis. 

Since the current Administration precipitated this, we should be focused on building a foundation for a new Administration to restore the faith and trust of the American people as we work to restore the trust and credit of our financial system.

 


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