Dorgan Presses for Action to Address the Financial Crisis
Senator Dorgan's Fights to Strengthen the Economy and Protect Taxpayers
The financial wreckage that has caused the collapse of Wall Street investment banks has posed a serious threat to our nation's economy.
Brokers, mortgage banks, hedge funds, and investment banks all were part of a carnival of greed in recent years, trading securities that turned out to be nearly worthless. Each took a piece of the pie on each trade, and earned stratospheric incomes. Regulators who were supposed to be protecting the American people were willfully blind.
This reckless excess has brought our country's economy to the edge. And it's not over.
Opposed $700 Billion Wall Street Bailout
In September, Congress gave the Treasury Secretary $700 billion, which he said he urgently needed to prevent an economic collapse.
I voted against the $700 billion dollar fund for the Treasury Secretary. I agree that we need to act to get our economy moving again, but I could not support a plan to shovel taxpayer dollars to the same Wall Street firms that steered our economy into the ditch without including measures to stop the reckless behavior that caused this financial wreckage. To stabilize our economy for the future, we must implement new oversight of hedge funds and derivatives, as well as effective regulation of our largest financial institutions.
Also, we must restore the protections that were in place after the Great Depression. In 1999, when the Glass-Steagall Act was repealed, I was one of only eight Senators to oppose the repeal of these banking regulations. I said then this bill will "raise the likelihood of future massive taxpayer bailouts. It will fuel the consolidation and mergers in the banking and financial services industry at the expense of customers, farm businesses, family farmers, and other..." I wish I had been wrong. But now we have to restore those protections.
Protecting Taxpayers
To get our economy moving in the right direction, and to ensure that taxpayers are protected, I propose the following:
- Prohibit the payment of big bonuses in the firms that are getting the federal bailout money.
- Attach conditions to any money that is being used for the bailout to protect taxpayers and to make sure the funds are used for the purpose intended, and to prohibit the reckless business practices that created this crisis.
- Restrict further mergers by big banks. The last thing that our country needs is more banks that are deemed "too big to fail." It makes no sense to allow some of the banks that steered our economy into the ditch to become bigger through mergers.
- Immediately create a Federal Investigative Task Force to investigate and establish accountability for this financial crisis. Criminal behavior should be investigated and prosecuted.
Investing in Jobs and America's Future
We cannot afford to lose more jobs in this already weak economy. Stopping further job cuts, and putting people back to work builds the consumer base and starts to restore faith in the economy. We need a recovery plan that makes significant investments instead of just giving people checks. I have called for:
- Putting people to work by investing in public works projects such as roads, bridges, water infrastructure, schools and libraries. This country desperately needs an infrastructure overhaul, and this is the perfect opportunity.
- Investing in new energy technologies and cutting-edge research and development that will fuel our nation's economy for the next generation. Boosting funds and creating tax credits for renewable energy production and other innovative technologies will not only create jobs in the short-term, but will also provide a foundation for new economic growth throughout our entire country.
