Cantwell Says Bailout Bill Not the Right Solution

Statement

Cantwell Says Bailout Bill Not the Right Solution

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) issued the following statement after the vote on the economic rescue and tax extenders package. Cantwell voted no. The measure passed by a vote of 74 to 25:

"The people of Washington state sent me here to fight for sound fiscal policy. I have led the fight for taxpayers in my state to get the fairness they deserve with the state sales tax deduction. I have led the fight for rural communities in my state and across the country to be treated fairly with payments for the federal land in their counties. I have fought long and hard to break the partisan stalemate on a bold new clean energy tax policy and unleash the power of solar and renewables. I support these provisions in the bill.

"And while I put my full support behind these tax relief measures, I believe that bold action is needed to solve our current financial crisis. I am just not for this action. I am in favor of putting the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government behind solving this financial crisis, but I do not support turning the keys of the U.S. Treasury over to the private sector. I don't believe it's the government's job to pick winners and losers in corporate America.

"I advocate that we take three immediate actions to not only get our capital markets back on a stable footing, but ones that get our country back on a path to economic recovery. One, have the Department of Treasury make equity investments in financial institutions so taxpayers get a share of the good assets as well as the troubled assets. This can ensure better protection for the taxpayer. Second, we should immediately launch both a Congressional oversight committee and a private, independent panel to identify the culprits and devise regulatory reforms to correct the problems that caused this crisis. Third, we must take action to stabilize housing prices for all Americans to stem the tide of foreclosures.

"While there are parts of this emergency rescue bill I am supportive of, such as expanding FDIC bank deposit coverage to $250,000 and implementing more reasonable accounting rules, I am not supportive of a structure where the government only gets companies' bad assets. This approach leaves the government with less resources, the troubled companies with less working capital, and in the end may not solve the market's underlying financial problems. If the government were to make more traditional cash equity infusion into these companies it would spur ten to twelve more times private sector investments into the stressed capital markets."

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