Bachmann rejects bailout plan she calls “impractical”
St. Cloud Times,
Sep 29, 2008 -
Sixth District Rep. Michele Bachmann voted against a $700 billion package Monday to rescue the nation’s financial industry.
“Unfortunately, the bill we have before us does not address the credit crisis,” Bachmann, a member of the House Financial Services Committee, said on the House floor. “Let’s embrace a more practical solution before we tie a $700 billion bailout around the necks of the taxpayers.”
Despite calls by Republican and Democratic leaders to approve the measure, 133 Republicans and 95 Democrats voted against it. House leaders said they want to bring the bill up for another vote later in the week.
The stunning 228-205 vote against the bill sent stock prices sharply lower, and the Dow Jones industrial average finished the day down 778 points.
The House scene was chaotic after the bill failed, but leaders later said they planned to keep working on a bipartisan solution. The House and Senate are on recess starting at sundown Monday until sundown Wednesday to observe the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashana.
Bachmann said she would support a plan that counted on Wall Street to bail itself out and requires institutions to insure troublesome assets.
"The plan I support would break up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, government sponsored enterprises that are at the heart of this crisis, so that the encumbered taxpayer no longer backs them, implicitly or explicitly, and so that they do not artificially grow larger than the market will allow," Bachmann said.
“Furthermore, the plan I support suspends capital-punishing tax rates to bring more capital into the U.S. markets rather than our foreign competitors," she said.
“My colleagues and I stand ready and willing to negotiate with any parties on a plan that will help stabilize our financial markets and relieve the liquidity crisis without exposing taxpayers to a $700 billion bailout debacle.”
The bill had changed drastically from the Treasury Department’s three-page proposal made a little more than a week ago. The 110-page legislation would have added oversight from Congress and two agencies, provided the $700 billion in increments rather than all at once and given the government some stock in companies that participate in the program.
Bush administration officials worked with congressional leaders over the weekend to reach an agreement that would have allowed banks and financial institutions to sell off some bad mortgage-related assets so they could continue to make loans to U.S. businesses.
But many opponents said the massive government intervention into the private financial markets wouldn’t stop home foreclosures or help the economy.
Contact Pamela Brogan at pbrogan(AT)gns.gannett.com
