FreedomWorks Blasts House Vote for $700 Billion Wall Street Bailout
WASHINGTON, DC. FreedomWorks, the national grassroots organization, today sharply criticized the House of Representatives for voting to pass a $700 billion bailout of failed investment banks on Wall Street and around the world.
FreedomWorks organized an aggressive grassroots campaign against the Dodd-Frank-Paulson plan that included launching the web site NoWallStreetBailout.com, which gathered 60,000 signatures against the bill in little over a week’s time. FreedomWorks members across the country made phone calls, sent emails, and made office visits opposing the bill.
FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe commented, “This legislation that will fundamentally alter the face of American capitalism for at least a generation. Allowing investment banks to dump $700 billion in ‘troubled assets’ on the taxpayer is akin to inviting a vampire into the house. If you live, you certainly won’t be the same person when you wake up the next morning.”
“This plan is the wrong approach to a very real problem in the economy. Capital is more scarce as the housing bubble deflates, yet instead of addressing higher risk premiums in short-term credit markets, Congress and the Bush Administration are giving a $700 billion blank check to a Treasury Secretary who has been wrong about the crisis every step of the way.”
“There is a very real possibility that the Dodd-Frank-Paulson plan will not work. Overpaying for toxic assets from failed banks – including foreign banks– is an extremely inefficient way to re-capitalize the financial sector. It’s also morally wrong to give tax dollars as welfare to private companies, and the process rewards the worst actors in the market.”
“Further, the bailout was passed in a panicked rush that makes a mockery of the normal legislative process. The ‘hearings’ on the bill were a sham that permitted no alternative viewpoints, there were no committee markups, and the Senate used technicalities to originate the bill and load it with unrelated measures. The political leaders who used public fear tactics to advance this legislation and shut down any debate abused their position of trust.”
“It is remarkable that a bipartisan majority in Washington neither understands nor respects the economic freedom that is the source of American prosperity. When did we lose confidence in the liberty that makes America truly special?”
“FreedomWorks salutes the Members of Congress who stood up to the fear-mongering and voted against this government power grab, and we’ll work hard to make sure citizens remember who voted for it in the days and weeks ahead.”
