U.S. Congressman José E. Serrano ~ Representing the people of the 16th District of New York

Serrano Votes Against Bailout Citing Lack of Focus on Mortgages, Common People

Congressman José E. Serrano voted against the bailout package today, citing the legislation’s lack of a solution for homeowners facing foreclosure, and a lack of focus on the average American.

“I understand the need to shore up our nation’s big banks to prevent a larger problem, but I cannot support such an action if it does nothing to help the millions of people facing foreclosure. Leaving them out of this package is shortsighted and guarantees that we will have to address the problem in the next Congress.

“We must face the fact that the crisis in Wall Street stems from a mortgage crisis on Main Street. If we only bail out Wall Street, we have not addressed the root cause of the problem.

“This is a tax on my constituents – the working people – to erase the consequences of the bad judgment of the fat cats down on Wall Street. I cannot support such a bill.

“Where was this concern over the past year when our communities have suffered from the mortgage crisis? For them we were told: ‘they got in over their heads and must take responsibility for their actions.’ But when the rich bankers get in over their heads, we’re told they must be rescued.

“The other downside for working families that no one is mentioning is that when the bill for this bailout comes due, we’ll be told that we cannot afford many of the programs that help regular people—programs like healthcare and education. So not only are we ignoring them now, but we’ll be forced to ignore them in the future as we pay off the debt from this package. That’s a bad deal twice over.

“If this package had been balanced—bailing out Wall Street and Main Street, I would have been more inclined to support it. I am sad to say that it was not balanced.”

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