The Second Round of the Bailout Mistake

Floor Speech

THE SECOND ROUND OF THE BAILOUT MISTAKE -- (House of Representatives - January 15, 2009)

Mr. Speaker, the second half of the Wall Street bailout is being jammed at this House today--again, with a cursory review by the committees that should be meeting their constitutional responsibilities. I have a simple question:

Why would any Member trust the very same group who engineered the first bill to do it to America again?

That first bill has not worked. It has made the foreclosure crisis worse, which is at the heart of what is wrong with this economy. Yet Wall Street was handsomely showered with taxpayer billions, and they then thumbed their noses at Main Streets across this country.

I wouldn't expect anything from Treasury in the way of sensitivity to regular folks. Its job is to sell U.S. debt on Wall Street and to collect taxes. They're not designed to do real estate lending or housing workouts or real estate accounting. That's the job of the FDIC, of the SEC and of HUD. They should be in the lead in the mortgage workout process. And frankly, we ought to quadruple the number of financial crimes analysts at the FBI.

I repeat: Why would Congress allow itself to be hoodwinked not once but twice into making the same big mistake? I urge my colleagues to vote no on the second Wall Street bailout bill. Instead let's do what works for the American people by solving the home foreclosure crisis first.

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