Here's my latest from my main blog, where I have a lot more on what is wrong with the Wall Street bailout--
http://www.uspirg.org/consumer
Statement of U.S. PIRG’s Ed Mierzwinski on Defeat of Wall Street Bailout
“Today the House of Representatives listened to concerned Main
Street voters and taxpayers and defeated a defective Wall Street
bailout. The flawed $700 billion package requested by the Bush administration
had been fast-tracked to address the still-real threat of a financial
markets meltdown. Any chance the bill would be worth passing fell apart
when the Administration blocked the addition of real protections for
homeowners and taxpayers and cynically insisted on provisions that made
the bailout more like ice cream for the financial industry than tough
medicine. That sweetness for Wall Street and bitter pills, and big tax
bills, for Main Street doomed the bill in the House. If serious about addressing the problem, Congress must make its
number one priority protection for taxpayers by protecting homeowners
from foreclosure (civil rights/labor/consumer letter). They must include a mandatory court-supervised
program for modifying loan terms so people can pay their mortgages and
stay in their homes. That will both lower the cost of the bailout and
also preserve home values for their neighbors in communities across the
country. The Congress should also improve the bill’s vague and inadequate
limits on executive compensation and improve accountability for the
spending of the $700 billion taxpayer dollars on the table. It is quite simple: If a company is going to rely on the taxpayer
for cash, then taxpayers, not failed CEOs, deserve first choice of any
bonuses and commissions for its success. We will oppose any new bill before adjournment that fails to place Main Street first. We also call on Congressional leaders to commit to addressing in the
first 100 days of the next Congress a broader set of financial system
regulatory reforms and of the economic stimulus package for Main Street
that has stalled.” [Addendum: More on what should be done to fix the bailout is in this broader coalition letter. Of course, much more needs to be done to restructure our financial system to make the financial system fairer to Main Street and also to make sure Wall Street and the regulators don't fail us again. Moreon that later.]
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