Rep. Aderhot Op-Ed: Why I Voted Against The Bailout

The vote that I cast in opposition to the $700 Billion Bailout Plan is one of the most difficult votes I have cast since my time as representative of the 4th Congressional District of Alabama and definitely the most difficult vote during this 110th Congress.

However, it became increasingly clear over the past few days that this proposed bailout plan did not have the support of the American people. It is true that changes to the overall plan had been made before the vote, but still the American people did not support this proposal.

The Administration's proposal amounted to the largest corporate bailout in American history and it is one that I was not comfortable supporting. There are no easy answers to the current disarray in our economy but there are alternatives to massive government spending that we need to explore.

Now that this bailout legislation has failed, Congress must keep working to address this problem in a way that is acceptable to the American people. We can’t proceed with the same bill. Congress must put together a proposal that will not only work but will restore the trust of the American people.

The House of Representatives is the people’s House and the people’s House must have the confidence of the American people.

Many Americans have been worried about the statements that have been made about this issue. I want to encourage the people of Alabama and elsewhere to not react too quickly on reports that our economy may be heading towards serious decline. It’s important for us to strategically and methodically think through these challenges by taking the appropriate time to craft a substantive solution.

As a conservative, I have a serious problem when the government intervenes too much in our economy. Congress should act, but it should act in a way that protects the integrity of our free market and protect the American taxpayer from more debt and higher taxes. And when Congress acts, I believe that policymakers must act decisively, and most importantly, correctly.

I have cosponsored a bill that provides responsible alternatives to the $700 Billion Economic Plan. The “Free-Market Protection Act of 2008” is a bill that intends to help Wall Street “workout” of this crisis, rather than force the taxpayers into a “bailout”.

This bill uses voluntary private capital, not taxpayer capital, which will help the system recover properly. This alternative bill also focuses on reforming a failure in government institutions and corporate accountability.

Congress must not embrace a cure that may do more harm than good to the financial market. In my opinion, Congress should go back to the drawing board to debate a plan that doesn’t bailout the financial industry, but helps the problems facing the financial market while protecting hard-working Americans.  This is what the people of America want. This is what the great citizens of Alabama deserve.

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For release on September 28th, 2008. For more information, please contact

Darrell “DJ” Jordan at (202) 226-7602.