{"id":3776,"date":"2008-09-29T13:27:00","date_gmt":"2008-09-29T19:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/09\/udall-pearce-opposed-bailout-bill-wilson-supported-it\/"},"modified":"2008-09-29T13:27:00","modified_gmt":"2008-09-29T19:27:00","slug":"udall-pearce-opposed-bailout-bill-wilson-supported-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/09\/udall-pearce-opposed-bailout-bill-wilson-supported-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Udall, Pearce opposed bailout bill; Wilson supported it"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article has been updated.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

They haven\u2019t agreed on much during this campaign, but New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>\u2019s two U.S. Senate candidates agreed today that the proposed $700 billion bailout bill was a bad idea.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Their reasons might differ, but U.S. Reps. Steve Pearce<\/a>, R-N.M. and Tom Udall<\/a>, D-N.M., both voted against the bill. They were among 133 Republicans and 95 Democrats who joined forces to defeat the proposal.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>\u2019s third member of the House, Republican Heather Wilson<\/a>, was among the minority who voted for the bailout bill. For a list of how each member of the House voted, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Udall, in a statement released by his office, said the Bush administration and its allies have spent eight years allowing Wall Street \u201cto gamble with America<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>\u2019s economy, and the results have been devastating for Main Street<\/st1:address><\/st1:street>.\u201d He said the bailout bill \u201cstill contains significant flaws\u201d and has \u201cvirtually no protections for American taxpayers.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cCongress made significant changes to the president\u2019s proposal, but I believe we should have taken more time to get this right,\u201d Udall said. \u201cFour hundred of the nation\u2019s leading economists, including three Nobel laureates, have asked Congress to take more time to improve this proposal, and we should have heeded that advice.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Pearce has not released a statement about today\u2019s vote. Wilson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>, in a statement released by her office, said, \u201cNo one wanted to be in this situation today.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI felt it was important for Congress to act to stabilize our financial markets,\u201d Wilson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said. \u201cToday\u2019s bill was a \u2018work out,\u2019 not a \u2018bailout,\u2019 and had protections for taxpayers and homeowners. The bill would have given needed liquidity to the financial industry and let taxpayers share in the profits as mortgage markets recover. \u2026 I will continue to work with my colleagues to find a solution and move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Pearce announced his opposition<\/a> to the bailout proposal last week, saying it would establish a dangerous precedent and would lead to \u201cdramatic tax increases.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cThe federal government doesn\u2019t bail average Americans out of their school loans, car payments or mortgages. If we expect average Americans to make good decisions and own up to them, we certainly should expect the same of Wall Street,\u201d Pearce said last week.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Udall explains his vote<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

In the statement his office released today, Udall included a list of what he said were flaws in the proposal:<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cThe Treasury is given unprecedented power to spend taxpayer money without adequate oversight or an actual plan for fixing the systemic problems that led America to this crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cCorporate executives who ran their companies into the ground can still walk away with millions in taxpayer-funded golden parachutes.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cTaxpayer dollars are being spent to bail out foreign companies whose governments are doing nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cLittle is being done to help responsible homeowners. Tens of thousands of families could lose their homes. More importantly, families who had nothing to do with failed mortgages could lose billions in assets as foreclosures continue to drive down property values.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI believe we must take action to protect middle-class families and to make our economy produce jobs again,\u201d Udall said. \u201cBut I cannot vote for a Wall Street bailout that does not solve the underlying problems with our economy. I will continue working with my colleagues to reform America<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>\u2019s financial markets so Wall Street is not allowed to make the same mistakes over and over again.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI will also continue fighting to support middle-class New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> families that find themselves struggling in an economy devastated by the irresponsible acts of others,\u201d Udall said. \u201cThey are the true victims of the Bush administration\u2019s reckless neglect of our economy. We must do what’s right for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

What happens now is unclear. The House has adjourned and isn\u2019t scheduled to return to work until after the Nov. 4 election, the Washington Post<\/a> is reporting. House leaders from both parties are in private meetings.<\/p>\n

\n

Pearce explains his vote<\/span> (update, 1:45 p.m.)<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Pearce, in a statement released by his office, said New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> taxpayers \u201cwere not protected under this legislation.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI strongly disapprove of putting taxpayers on the hook in order to bailout the Wall Street firms that got us in to this crisis. Those who made risky decisions should own up to them,\u201d Pearce said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cWe still need solutions. This bill was not our only option. We now need to rewrite the bill to incorporate real taxpayer protections, market solutions instead of massive government intervention and correct the abuses that caused the problem,\u201d Pearce said. \u201cGoing forward, legislation should include accountability for those who created the mess, transparency so investors can make informed decisions, limitations on leveraging so financial institutions are not allowed to overextend, end \u2018naked\u2019 short selling and favor market principles over government intrusion.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI have cosponsored an alternative to today\u2019s bill that more closely reflects these principles and truly protects the taxpayer, creates market incentives to create capital and reforms certain investment vehicles so we\u2019re not back here faced with the same problem,\u201d Pearce said.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article has been updated. They haven\u2019t agreed on much during this campaign, but New Mexico\u2019s two U.S. Senate candidates agreed today that the proposed $700 billion bailout bill was a bad idea. Their reasons might differ, but U.S. Reps. Steve Pearce, R-N.M. and Tom Udall, D-N.M., both voted against the bill. They were among […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3776\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}