NEPA_Revolution
09-24-2008, 04:19 PM
I called his office today and told his people why I was against the bailout. I recommend that we call and help change his mind.
Washington, DC Office:
2188 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-3811
(202) 225-6511
(202) 225-0764 (fax)
Luzerne County Office:
The Stegmaier Building
7 North Wilkes-Barre Boulevard
Suite 400 M
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702-5283
(570) 825-2200
(570) 825-8685 (fax)
Lackawanna County Office:
546 Spruce Street
Scranton, PA 18503
(570) 496-1011
(570) 496-6439
Monroe County Office: (by appointment only)
102 Pocono Boulevard
Mount Pocono, PA 18344-1412
(570) 895-4176
His statement in the news paper today
AMERICANS are understandably anxious about recent turmoil in our economic markets and what impact it will have on them. In just a few short days, the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke have taken unprecedented actions by seizing American International Group (AIG), while working to allow the orderly dissolution of the investment bank Lehman Brothers.
Now Secretary Paulson is asking the Congress to enact comprehensive legislation to stabilize the American economy by allowing the federal government to purchase assets held by other private companies and then sell those assets at a time when their value can more reasonably be determined. The federal government has not intervened in the private marketplace in such a sweeping manner since the Great Depression.
Secretary Paulson and Chairman Bernanke have made a compelling case that the loss of confidence in our capital markets will lead to a complete meltdown of our financial system, unless we pass this emergency legislation. Capitalism relies upon the free flow of money to fund job-creating businesses, home mortgages, student loans and other consumer credit. When people are afraid to lend money, it endangers the jobs, savings accounts, the pensions and the homes of average Americans.
Secretary Paulson has designed a method by which the federal government would buy – at a deep discount – assets that currently no one is willing to buy. These assets include home mortgages that have been combined in such complex packages there is great uncertainty about their underlying value. Secretary Paulson considers these purchases to be investments by the federal government, which could return a substantial proportion of their value to American taxpayers once the market has settled down.
Imagine you bought a home for $100,000 and now want to sell it. However, if no one wants to buy it at any price, it could be considered to have no value. Secretary Paulson is in essence proposing that the federal government purchase your home for $80,000, with the hope that it can be sold at a later point for at least $80,000. He is asking the federal government to serve as a market of last resort to give the private sector time to properly value assets that cannot currently be sold at any price.
The current economic crisis started with the explosion of housing prices in many areas of the country and the development of exotic subprime mortgages made to people who could not afford to pay them back. The collapse of the subprime mortgage market then infected the prime mortgage market, which in turn infected the entire financial system. This crisis is not limited to the United States; it is a global crisis.
Secretary Paulson believes that the situation is so dire that Congress must act within the next week in order to avoid economic collapse. I agree. For the good of our nation, we must put aside partisanship and ideological considerations to save the American economy. Then we must write new laws to improve the regulation of Wall Street, control excessive greed and protect against future risks to our entire economic system. We also must understand how this crisis happened so that it never happens again.
We cannot undertake these other necessary steps within the timeframe available to us, but I was heartened by the full commitment by both Secretary Paulson and Chairman Bernanke to work with the Congress in developing a new regulatory structure.
Everyone in America is invested in the survival of our financial system. As chairman of the House Financial Services Capital Markets Subcommittee, I will be working closely with Secretary Paulson to craft legislation that protects the American taxpayer and does not reward the cowboy capitalists who took reckless risks. We must act now to safeguard the way of life of average Americans who played no role in creating this crisis. I am committed to doing just that.
Credit to http://www.timesleader.com/opinion/commentary/Swift__bipartisan_bailout_action_needed_COMMENTARY _PAUL_KANJORSKI_09-24-2008.html
Washington, DC Office:
2188 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-3811
(202) 225-6511
(202) 225-0764 (fax)
Luzerne County Office:
The Stegmaier Building
7 North Wilkes-Barre Boulevard
Suite 400 M
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702-5283
(570) 825-2200
(570) 825-8685 (fax)
Lackawanna County Office:
546 Spruce Street
Scranton, PA 18503
(570) 496-1011
(570) 496-6439
Monroe County Office: (by appointment only)
102 Pocono Boulevard
Mount Pocono, PA 18344-1412
(570) 895-4176
His statement in the news paper today
AMERICANS are understandably anxious about recent turmoil in our economic markets and what impact it will have on them. In just a few short days, the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke have taken unprecedented actions by seizing American International Group (AIG), while working to allow the orderly dissolution of the investment bank Lehman Brothers.
Now Secretary Paulson is asking the Congress to enact comprehensive legislation to stabilize the American economy by allowing the federal government to purchase assets held by other private companies and then sell those assets at a time when their value can more reasonably be determined. The federal government has not intervened in the private marketplace in such a sweeping manner since the Great Depression.
Secretary Paulson and Chairman Bernanke have made a compelling case that the loss of confidence in our capital markets will lead to a complete meltdown of our financial system, unless we pass this emergency legislation. Capitalism relies upon the free flow of money to fund job-creating businesses, home mortgages, student loans and other consumer credit. When people are afraid to lend money, it endangers the jobs, savings accounts, the pensions and the homes of average Americans.
Secretary Paulson has designed a method by which the federal government would buy – at a deep discount – assets that currently no one is willing to buy. These assets include home mortgages that have been combined in such complex packages there is great uncertainty about their underlying value. Secretary Paulson considers these purchases to be investments by the federal government, which could return a substantial proportion of their value to American taxpayers once the market has settled down.
Imagine you bought a home for $100,000 and now want to sell it. However, if no one wants to buy it at any price, it could be considered to have no value. Secretary Paulson is in essence proposing that the federal government purchase your home for $80,000, with the hope that it can be sold at a later point for at least $80,000. He is asking the federal government to serve as a market of last resort to give the private sector time to properly value assets that cannot currently be sold at any price.
The current economic crisis started with the explosion of housing prices in many areas of the country and the development of exotic subprime mortgages made to people who could not afford to pay them back. The collapse of the subprime mortgage market then infected the prime mortgage market, which in turn infected the entire financial system. This crisis is not limited to the United States; it is a global crisis.
Secretary Paulson believes that the situation is so dire that Congress must act within the next week in order to avoid economic collapse. I agree. For the good of our nation, we must put aside partisanship and ideological considerations to save the American economy. Then we must write new laws to improve the regulation of Wall Street, control excessive greed and protect against future risks to our entire economic system. We also must understand how this crisis happened so that it never happens again.
We cannot undertake these other necessary steps within the timeframe available to us, but I was heartened by the full commitment by both Secretary Paulson and Chairman Bernanke to work with the Congress in developing a new regulatory structure.
Everyone in America is invested in the survival of our financial system. As chairman of the House Financial Services Capital Markets Subcommittee, I will be working closely with Secretary Paulson to craft legislation that protects the American taxpayer and does not reward the cowboy capitalists who took reckless risks. We must act now to safeguard the way of life of average Americans who played no role in creating this crisis. I am committed to doing just that.
Credit to http://www.timesleader.com/opinion/commentary/Swift__bipartisan_bailout_action_needed_COMMENTARY _PAUL_KANJORSKI_09-24-2008.html