Before becoming a state legislator and then U.S. Congresswoman for MN CD-6, Michele Bachmann was a tax lawyer; so when it comes to things financial, unlike other congresscritters, she didn’t just fall off the turnip truck.
In the following press release, Michele has laid out the beginnings of what I think is the best plan yet put forward:
Bachmann Statement on the $700 Billion Wall Street Bailout Bill"
Today marks a historic moment for America as a solid bipartisan majority of Congress rejected the fatally flawed Paulson Plan. Standing shoulder to shoulder with taxpayers, we declared that we can do better.
"As I’ve stated previously, this plan was rushed, unworkable, and short-sighted. A majority of House Republicans have parted ways with President Bush on this plan and we demand that alternative proposals be put on the table. There is universal agreement that this plan was bad, but its supporters claimed it was the only option. There were alternatives available, but Speaker Pelosi and the Administration chose to ignore them and used every parliamentary trick in the book to stifle debate. Now, they will have to listen to the voices of American taxpayers who refuse to open their checkbooks to Wall Street to write a $700 billion check with no strings attached.
"I support a plan that would have Wall Street bail itself out, not hardworking taxpayers, by requiring institutions to insure troublesome assets that are causing today’s credit crunch. It would suspend mark-to-market accounting, which forces companies to take losses on artificially devalued assets on an artificial timetable, to give investors more confidence.
"The plan I support would break up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — government sponsored enterprises that are at the heart of this crisis — so that the encumbered taxpayer no longer backs them — implicitly or explicitly — and so that they do not artificially grow larger than the market will allow. We cannot pass legislation that sets America up for a Groundhog Day reprise of this mess and that means changing the problem at its core – the GSEs.
"Furthermore, the plan I support suspends capital-punishing tax rates to bring more capital into the U.S. markets rather than our foreign competitors. And, the plan ensures the Federal Reserve’s attention is focused on long-term price stability rather than short term economic growth. Finally, it requires the US Treasury to write rules keeping executives who made the risky decisions from personally profiting from them with excessive compensation or golden parachutes all at the expense of taxpayers. We can’t have a market that only condones risky behavior. The balance between risk and reward is an important part of the free market.
"My colleagues and I stand ready and willing to negotiate with any parties on a plan that will help stabilize our financial markets and relieve the liquidity crisis without exposing taxpayers to a $700 billion bailout debacle."
It is my fervent hope that cooler heads prevail, and a rush-to-action without forethought will not be the order of the day. But at the same time, we need to hold those who are accountable, accountable. As I commented on Noodles’ post:
If something is to be done, the blame game needs to be played. If we do not take stock of what was done wrong, history will invariably repeat itself. I’m just not willing to fork over 700 billion dollars and then forget about it, and go on back to "business as usual" only for the same thing to happen again 10 years down the road. Today, the stock market gained much of what it lost yesterday.. (so I don’t believe that a depression-era crash is imminent) Rome wasn’t built in a day, and this mess wasn’t created overnight. To go ahead and "do something" just because it’s expected is a fools’ errand. Time must be taken to come up with a comprehensive plan that will avoid the gladhanding and other crap that got us into this mess.
The bottom line is that the CEOs, congresscritters and their close allies who were involved in and complicit with creating this mess need to literally do a perp walk. This ‘closure’ of the issues will serve a two-fold purpose; first, it will let investors and retirement fund holders know that those who are guilty have been brought to justice; second, it will send a clear message that further abuses will not be tolerated.
As for the solution to actually getting out of this mess, I believe that Congresswoman Bachmann’s plan provides an effective roadmap toward economic recovery.
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