Post your congressmen/senator's replies here (on bailout)

[PatriotLegion]

Tim Bishop - 1st District New York

09/29/08

Washington, DC—Today Congressman Tim Bishop issued the following statement regarding the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act. Although Congressman Bishop and over 200 Republicans and Democrats voted for the bill, it was defeated. As a result, Congress is currently working on a revised financial rescue bill.

“I stand with the thousands of Long Islanders who have contacted me over the last week to condemn the catastrophic failure on Wall Street. Today, we face an economic crisis as serious as any that has faced this nation. As many experts have noted, this crisis was accelerated by the Bush policies of lax regulation and poor oversight. For nearly a decade, anti-regulation fervor seriously damaged the rule of law in our financial markets and allowed unregulated deals to undermine the historic strength of America’s financial system.

“This crisis started on Wall Street but without decisive action, credit markets will freeze and middle class Long Islanders will suffer. Frozen credit markets mean housing prices would further plummet as no one could qualify for a mortgage, basic car loans will require a nearly perfect credit score, small businesses won’t be able to make their payrolls, and credit card interest rates will soar. On Long Island, we are already seeing the credit shortage negatively affect the local construction industry which in turn threatens jobs and other supporting businesses.

“I share the anger and have heard the voices of those who have contacted me, many of whom have urged me to oppose any legislation. If this effort was just to protect those on Wall Street from their poor decisions, I would vote no. If this were the original plan that would have given a blank check to the Bush Administration for a bailout, I would vote no. However, after careful study of the issue and deep deliberation, I have concluded we must pass this compromise.

“We find ourselves with two choices, one bad; the other catastrophic. While voting no would allow me to express my anger, I fear it would cripple our economy and harm the very middle class families I have made it my life’s work to help. This is a compromise I can reluctantly support because it will avert a crisis and help get our economy back on track.

“As I considered the recovery proposals, I was guided by three core principles:

“First, the cost of doing nothing and allowing our country’s economy to suffer widespread financial failure far outweighs the costs of taking decisive action. Our nation’s leaders must do everything within their power to ensure that Americans’ jobs and hard-earned money are not lost. We must act to rescue the troubled credit and financial markets to stabilize our economy and insulate Main Street from Wall Street.

“Second, in calling for an alternative plan, I believe we must make it a priority to reimburse taxpayers for every dime as the plan begins to work in the future. Congress made it clear to the Administration that there will not be a blank check or any form of handout to Wall Street “with no strings attached.” We insisted upon aggressive and independent oversight of how the money is used and an equity stake for taxpayers to realize a return on our investment. Our plan protects taxpayers by requiring the government and Wall Street to pay every single dollar back to the American people.

“Third, I insisted that action be taken to stem the tide of foreclosures, so that families can stay in their homes. Home foreclosures are predicted to rise to 2.5 million in 2008. The government must implement a plan to reduce foreclosures as it buys troubled financial assets like mortgage backed securities. To help keep more families in their homes, the bill substantially expands eligibility for badly-needed mortgage refinancing. As the new owner of a stake in hundreds of thousands of mortgages, the government will now work more directly and effectively with loan servicers to make problem loans more affordable (by reducing principal or interest rates, or lengthening the time to pay back the mortgage). We cannot afford the local and national financial repercussions of more and more homes falling into foreclosure.

“The final bipartisan legislation brought before Congress included these core principles I have outlined. After many conversations with Long Islanders, financial experts and other leaders, I determined to support this legislation because it is the best way forward to put America on the path to economic recovery. However our job is not finished. We must focus our anger and frustration at reversing the failed policies which led us into this crisis in order to bring the rule of law back to Wall Street. We must turn swiftly toward comprehensive and long-term regulatory overhaul of the market structure to ensure that such a fiasco never again threatens our nation.

“Americans have shown time and again that we can rise above the toughest challenges with our unbeatable determination and ingenuity. I believe that we can solve this crisis, and so I will continue to work with Republicans and Democrats to find a solution.”

 

[billjarrett]

Another letter from Obama today, looks like he hasn't seen how much last weeks "help" really helped, and wants to do some more damage:

Dear William:

Thank you for writing to share your ideas and concerns about the current state of the U.S. economy.

From Wall Street to Main Street, the U.S. economy is in trouble. We have suffered 760,000 lost jobs since the beginning of this year, over a million families have lost their homes to foreclosure with millions more at risk, and many banks and other financial institutions are struggling to stay afloat. The bailout of investment bank Bear Stearns, the federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the Federal Reserve’s emergency intervention to save AIG, and recent troubles at Washington Mutual and Wachovia demonstrate the seriousness of the situation we face.

In response to the crisis in our financial markets, Congress passed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (H.R. 1424). This legislation, which became public law on October 3, 2008, authorizes the Treasury Secretary to invest $700 billion in the purchase of bad assets from financial institutions, improving market liquidity and attempting to keep credit flowing to small businesses and consumers.

The President’s original bailout proposal amounted to a blank check for billions of taxpayer dollars to the Treasury to bail out banks, with no oversight or accountability. I rejected that proposal and insisted upon provisions to preserve homeownership, protect taxpayers, limit windfall payments to executives, and provide rigorous oversight. The bill that passed included those provisions, and I believe it was a necessary step to getting our economy back on track. Please feel free to go to my Senate website, www.obama.senate.gov, to read or view a video of my full remarks from the Senate floor on the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act.

We urgently need a second emergency economic stimulus plan to avert an even more serious economic recession. I will continue to call on my colleagues and the Bush administration to provide fiscal relief for state and local governments that are struggling with falling revenues and tighter credit as well as emergency investments in infrastructure to save American jobs. We must do everything we can to prevent this crisis from turning into a major economic catastrophe.

Thank you for writing. Trust that I will continue to fight for real economic relief for families and communities across America.

Sincerely,

Barack Obama
United States Senator


P.S. Our system does not allow direct response to this email. However, if you would like to contact me again, please use the form on the website: http://obama.senate.gov/contact/