Tim Johnson Home Page
Return to previous page
  For Immediate Release  
  Contact: Phil Bloomer  
  Phone: (217) 403-4690  
October 7, 2008
 
REP. JOHNSON COMMENTARY ON BAILOUT VOTE
 

    

 

Washington, D.C. -  As most of you know by now, I opposed the $700 billion bailout bill that passed the House of Representatives last Friday by a vote of 263-171.

This unprecedented government intrusion into the marketplace carries no guarantees the taxpayers will be made whole. It is a gamble on the part of the Administration and Congressional leaders. It was a gamble I was not prepared to take on the part of the American taxpayer.

For the sake of employers stretched thin by lack of credit, I hope this gamble pays off. For the sake of seniors and others who rely on stock market investments to get by, I hope this gamble pays off as well. For the sake of millions of us who have responsibly built nest eggs and paid our mortgages on time, I hope the gamble reaps great rewards.

In short, I hope I am wrong and that this government-manufactured "stimulus" returns us all to a time of productivity and prosperity. Events of the last few days suggest otherwise.

Nevertheless, I hope my colleagues can set aside their differences and that with the American people, we can remain vigilant in working out of this crisis. Secretary Paulson has been awarded broad new discretion and money to right this wrong. I will work and pray for wisdom and prudence as he proceeds.

My objective in opposing this plan was not to kill necessary intervention or regulation, but to forge changes in the approach. By rejecting the original package, which I also opposed, some progress was made and greater oversight was included in the final version. But the end product leaves much to be desired, and I believe puts taxpayers and our economy at much greater risk. There were many valid ideas in circulation to encourage the private sector to take on more of the risk, to shore up the banking industry to provide liquidity, to push private capital into the marketplace and to rein in profligate lending practices.

Simply buying up Wall Street’s bad debt with taxpayer debt is, I believe, a short-sighted response thrust upon a Congress forced to act precipitously based on the politics of fear. It doesn’t take much courage to spend other people's money, and that’s just what they’re doing with ours now.

Further, our leaders knew they could not pass this on its merits alone, so they loaded it with special interest tax breaks for television production, wool research, wooden arrow construction and similar extraneous provisions.

Congress may have passed this legislation but there are not any winners in this debate, at least among the rank-and-file taxpayers. I cast what I continue to believe was the most responsible and conscientious vote and I gladly accept responsibility for that decision. I just wish Wall Street would accept responsibility for its actions. In the meantime, I will continue to work to restore confidence and accountability in our government and our financial institutions. As I’ve said before, we are in this mess because people in privileged positions made unwise, and extremely risky decisions. And I will not be part of the same mistake.

 

###

Click here to print this page