Carbondale Bytelife

As I did earlier this week after the vote on a similar bill, I wanted to share with you my statement following the vote on the economic bailout legislation today.

"On Monday, the House of Representatives voted down the first version of this historic legislation. The message that was clearly sent by this defeat was that we needed to slow down and make sure we get this right, because we may only get one chance. However, instead of looking at alternatives, the Senate leadership simply retained the original Paulson approach and added $100 billion in tax breaks. While I support expanding Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation limits to $250,000, I do not see how turning a $700 billion bill into an $800 billion bill benefits our economy.

"Ultimately, what the additions to this bill cannot hide is that at its core, it is no different from the proposal we voted on Monday. It still asks too much from taxpayers and not enough from the financial services industry. The Wall Street bankers that helped get us to this point need to be paying to help right our economy. We can still take a step back and listen to the chorus of voices – from economists to our constituents - calling for a more thorough evaluation of our options. I am still very concerned that we will come to regret the long-term ramifications of this action. After close consideration, I believe the bill before us today is worse than the original legislation, and I again voted no."