Quad-City Times

Imagine this: You are a small business owner who depends on a community bank to borrow for supplies and make your payroll. Or a parent paying tuition. Or a John Deere employee who has worked hard their entire life to build up a modest savings for retirement. All of a sudden, credit becomes frozen, several student loan providers shut down operations all together, the stock market plunges, and thousands of people see drastic declines in their 401k.

Stop imagining. We are there. It is ordinary working families —not Wall Street executives — who face the greatest danger from the current financial crisis. The time for action is now.

The original plan proposed by President Bush was completely unacceptable. It was nothing more than a $700 billion handout to Wall Street. It gave unregulated authority to the Secretary of the Treasury-to spend taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars without any accountability. The president’s plan did virtually nothing to prevent more Americans from losing their homes, and provided no return to the taxpayers funding it. Finally, his plan did nothing to limit compensation for top executives who made the disastrous decisions. At a time when we need to more closely regulate Wall Street, the president’s package actually rewarded it.

Last Monday, I voted for a much different plan. It was a politically unpopular vote. But I believe it was in the best interests of my constituents and the nation. The financial rescue package I supported was not a bailout. It was a loan that required taxpayers to be paid back in full. It had strict independent oversight provisions and limits on executive compensation. It provided the federal government the authority to loan money to certain financial institutions so they could resume lending to ordinary Americans. This would have allowed more families to afford their homes, cars and tuition payments and enabled our farmers to continue buying equipment, seed and fertilizer. Regrettably, it failed to get the votes necessary for passage.

After that failed vote, I made clear the importance of going back to the drawing board and crafting new bipartisan legislation that also protects Main Street from Wall Street.

The new rescue package passed by both the House and Senate maintains the core principles of the original bill and does even more for those at risk of foreclosure by allowing the government to renegotiate mortgage terms. As someone who lost my home growing up, this is a provision I fought for.

I am also pleased that it includes the extension of tax incentives for the production of alternative forms of energy, including wind, solar, biodiesel and geothermal-which have been stalled in the Senate. This will allow the many agricultural producers in our area to grow and prosper, helping pave the way to economic recovery.

In the end, these were not easy votes. But when it comes to the current financial crisis, I believe too much is at stake not to act.

Rep. Phil Hare represents Illinois’ 17th Congressional District.