{"id":3799,"date":"2008-10-03T12:37:00","date_gmt":"2008-10-03T18:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/10\/congress-oks-bailout-pearce-udall-vote-against-it\/"},"modified":"2008-10-03T12:37:00","modified_gmt":"2008-10-03T18:37:00","slug":"congress-oks-bailout-pearce-udall-vote-against-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/10\/congress-oks-bailout-pearce-udall-vote-against-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Congress OKs bailout; Pearce, Udall vote against it"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

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

Though the U.S. House reversed courses today and voted to approve the economic bailout bill, New Mexico<\/st1:state><\/st1:place>\u2019s two U.S. Senate candidates refused to switch sides and voted with the minority against it. <\/p>\n

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

The final vote was 263-171 in favor of passing the legislation, a huge shift from the 228-205 defeat of a prior version of the bill in the House on Monday. In the interim, hundreds of pages were added to the bill, including a number of tax breaks and Sen. Pete Domenici\u2019s mental health parity legislation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

Since it\u2019s already been approved on a 74-25 vote by the Senate, the bill now heads to the president, who is expected to sign it.<\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>Reps. Steve Pearce<\/a> and Tom Udall<\/a> voted against today\u2019s bill, as they did on Monday. Rep. Heather Wilson<\/a> voted for it, just like she did earlier this week.<\/p>\n

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

Udall, the Democratic Senate candidate, said in a news release that the bill \u201cstill lacks key principals.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\u201cFour days ago, I opposed a bailout plan that did too little for homeowners, too much for executives and nothing to prevent Wall Street from repeating the mistakes that got us into this crisis,\u201d he said. \u201cThe core bailout bill brought before the House today is almost identical. It will still put New Mexico<\/st1:state> and U.S.<\/st1:country-region> taxpayers on the hook for $700 billion to bail out Wall Street, the very people whose irresponsibility helped to undermine America<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>\u2019s economy and threaten the jobs and life savings of millions of American families.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>The office of Pearce, Udall\u2019s Republican opponent, has not released a statement since today\u2019s vote. In announcing on Thursday that he would vote against the bailout bill<\/a>, Pearce said the bill contains some \u201cpraiseworthy\u201d provisions, but most are \u201cunrelated to the financial crisis and add billions in wasteful pork projects and payoffs to special interests.\u201d He has also said the middle class should not have to pay \u201cfor the mistakes of the rich.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Udall was also critical in today\u2019s statement of the Senate\u2019s adding of \u201cunrelated provisions\u201d at the expense of \u201cconcentrating on fixing this deeply flawed proposal.\u201d He said he has long supported many of the tax cuts in the bill and mental health parity legislation, but said they should be voted on \u201cbased on their own strong merits, and not forced into a $700 billion taxpayer bailout, a plan that will have a large and widespread impact for generations that has been rushed through with serious flaws and many problems left unaddressed.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

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

In explaining her vote on today\u2019s bill, Wilson said in a news release that a \u201cfailure of our financial system will hurt every American who has a 401(k) or needs a car loan or can\u2019t close on the house they want to buy because banks are stopping lending to banks.\u201d She also cited the tax provisions as important for boosting the economy.<\/p>\n

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

Senate candidates agree that action is necessary<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Pearce has said action is necessary. He was a co-sponsor on a GOP alternative to the bailout bill that included a guarantee from the U.S. Treasury of up to 100 percent for bank losses resulting from mortgage-backed securities that failed prior to the proposal being enacted. The alternate bill included other provisions, including a two-year suspension of capital gains. You can read a summary by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

Udall, in today\u2019s statement, agreed that America<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> is facing a serious crisis and Congress must take action.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cBut we cannot let fear and artificial timelines drive our decision-making,\u201d he said. \u201cOur solution should meet the demands of the day without producing more economic hardships in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Udall said the bill gives the treasury secretary too much power to spend taxpayer money without adequate oversight, doesn\u2019t do enough to prevent corporate executives from taking millions of dollars for themselves, bails out foreign companies whose governments are doing nothing to help them and does too little to help \u201cresponsible homeowners.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Udall also called for Congress to work on \u201ca new a new framework for our financial system.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\u201cIn this hour of crisis, we have a rare opportunity to protect future generations from the turmoil we have seen. We must seize this opportunity, not simply bail out the very people who created this crisis,\u201d he said. \u201cToday\u2019s vote was difficult, but I believe it is what\u2019s right for New Mexico<\/st1:state>\u2019s Third Congressional District and the people of New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> and our nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Update, 1 p.m.<\/p>\n

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

The president has already signed the bailout bill into law.<\/p>\n

\n

Update, 3:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

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

Pearce said in a news release that he doesn\u2019t believe \u201caverage American taxpayers who made responsible decisions, lived within their means and pay their mortgages and rent on time\u201d should have to bail out \u201cWall Street billionaires or corporations who knowingly gave out bad loans.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\u201cMiddle-class New Mexicans should not see their taxes raised by thousands of dollars while those who got us in this mess walk away with the profits,\u201d he said. \u201cThose who have brought us to this position through their own greed should be held accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Pearce said he supports some of the provisions in the bill, including some of the tax credits, but they\u2019re not related to the financial crisis.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI voted against the bill because I think we can craft a better solution that does not put the economic stability of future generations in jeopardy,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need to protect middle-class taxpayers, reform the system so we\u2019re not faced with the same problems down the road and hold accountable those who caused the problem. We need the right solution that finds market alternatives instead of making government larger.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Pearce said today\u2019s vote \u201ctests who we are as a people. It was not a political vote, but a principled one. I respect all the votes today as honest and honorable. My continued belief is that the economy works best when we lower taxes and let individuals be responsible for their own choice and their own lives.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n

A prior version of this posting incorrectly characterized Udall\u2019s vote on a procedural issue that preceded the actual vote on the bill.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article has been updated. Though the U.S. House reversed courses today and voted to approve the economic bailout bill, New Mexico\u2019s two U.S. Senate candidates refused to switch sides and voted with the minority against it. The final vote was 263-171 in favor of passing the legislation, a huge shift from the 228-205 defeat […]<\/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-3799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3799","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=3799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3799\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}