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Monday, September 29, 2008
NM-Sen: Udall Explains His No Vote on Bailout Bill
The campaign of Dem Senate candidate Tom Udall layed out the reasons for his no vote today on the bailout bill in a
diary on Daily Kos, (where you can weigh in on your views):
Tom Udall wanted me to get you this statement as quickly as possible, now that the bailout bill has gone to a vote:
I cannot in good conscience vote for a rushed $700 billion taxpayer funded bailout to shore up Wall Street while ignoring our middle class and the nation's underlying economic flaws that caused this crisis in the first place. I will, however, continue fighting to do what's right and fix our financial markets to prevent similar crises from occurring again.
Tom Udall laid out his priorities for any bailout bill that he could support last week:
"The Administration's proposal, as it has been presented to Congress, needs significant changes. First, any plan that puts taxpayer money at risk must ensure that taxpayers get paid back before shareholders, bondholders or executives—so that corporate CEOs do not get a golden parachute while taxpayers are left to pay the bill.
“Additionally, Congress should act further to keep Americans in their homes by addressing the crisis in the mortgage industry as well as the one in the financial sector. Any economic package that allows tens of thousands of Americans to lose their homes is simply inadequate.“Finally, there must be accountability. If we invest taxpayer dollars to protect our financial markets, we should make sure that money is spent effectively and efficiently, with proper oversight and accountability. No administration should be given unlimited authority over the spending of $700 billion or more of taxpayers’ dollars. Any bailout plan needs to ensure that those managing the bailout are responsible to Congress and the American people.”
Tom has carefully considered the current version of the bailout bill, and has decided that it falls short. It does not meet the principles he laid out at the time this bailout was proposed, and does not address those who are hurt the most by this crisis. Tom Udall knows that we can do better.
September 29, 2008 at 06:08 PM in 2008 NM Senate Race, Corporatism, Crime, Economy, Populism | Permalink
Comments
The question is...
will the Dems go with the liberal wing's more strict requirements or will they go with the GOP's more lax requirements to get the votes?
Posted by: qofdisks | Sep 30, 2008 5:38:39 PM
Today the Senate will vote on this bailout bill. According to this morning's Albuquerque Journal the senate is adding in clauses that will make more Republicans happy but still does nothing more to punish .. or keep from further rewarding the perpetrators of this mess, does nothing more for those on the street who are very much in need of help, and does nothing further to address that which caused this mess in the first place. On top of that, the Senate strategy is to create a condition to where the house has no choice but to vote YES on this bill.
Representative Udall says he voted NO on this past house bill because it does nothing to help the middle class folks who are in danger of losing their homes, ignores the economic flaws that caused this crisis in the first place, and it doesn’t assure that the taxpayers will be paid back before shareholders in these bailed out financial institutions reap further financial gain or other rewards such as ‘golden parachutes’.
As stated in an earlier posting, it's been my belief that Tom Udall voted NO on that bill for reelection reasons rather than for reasons of helping our country attempt to put this terrible financial mess behind us.
Now with this bill, a bill that’s even worse (from a liberal perspective), a bill that is more than likely going to pass in the senate and then be sent to on the house, what's Tom Udall to do this time. If he votes NO (likely against the tide), in this case it may very well hurt, rather than help, his chances for reelection.
If the bill stays as is (the senate version) and Tom Udall again votes NO, I’ll know that I was wrong on believing that his vote last week was political and my respect for him will have returned to its earlier prominence.
Posted by: Kenneth Cooper | Oct 1, 2008 9:43:42 AM
